With the right support anything is possible. Montagna tried too much too quick. He acted like an agressor, and with doing so you make enemies.

Forming alliegiances with Ontario families doesn't make you a boss in Montreal. But obviously there wasn't much resistance to taking out the Rizzuto leadership.

I think Montagna and the Violi brothers organized the Rizzuto killings while Montreal mafiosi stayed on the sideline. After the killings Montagna tried to establish a new leadership. He probably felt secure enough to go to a meeting unarmed and without a bodyguard.

Big mistake .

Old Genco never would have let him go!

I could tell you that if its quiet in Montreal for the next 6 months then we know that Vito is back in action. All lot of quys are waiting on the sidelines to see what happens when he gets out. He still has many loyalists waiting for him. Hamilton/Toronto guys are probably trying to figure out how to get knew players to take control of Montreal. Sal didn't work out and many don't want the heat. Know this, many big guys in Montreal ate very well with Vito. Its gonna take the outsiders a lot to turn things around. Sal was an outsider and very eager for money and power as he had a knew life to earn in new territory.

I'm getting a little confused now about you're opinion on this matter, Dave.

Over at the real deal forum you agree that this has nothing to do anymore with ethnicities. And it was you who said that the new boss was going to be a Sicilian.

EuroDave, you have so much insight, where do you get it all? Are you in LE or have a family member or close friend who is? How hard is it to get cops or detectives to talk about on going investigations?

Yes, but how come that he felt secure enough? That says something. And the guy obviously wasn't stupid.

I don't know, Sonny. But he was obviously mistaken in feeling that way.

It's all about the money.........but in the end, the Rizzutos and close family members ate very well without getting their hands dirty. They became too good for the streets and lived a life of luxury, nice cars, legitimate businesses etc......greedy and comfortable.

It's time for new players and the Montreal mafia scene will be more diverse than it once was where Sicilians dominated top-to-bottom. At the end of the day, everybody wants a piece of the pie.

Vito and his triumphant return?

Highly unlikely when he comes out and if he settles back in Montreal, he will be watched like a hawk by law enforcement here. Old man Nick barely left his home.

The Rizzutos are overplayed, over-extended, old news and done. Time for new players.

Sounds a lot like the resentment that Paul Castellano's subordinates had for him here in New York.

Compare,

You should see the homes these people live in. Google mafia-row or mafia street in Montreal and that will give you an idea of how the lived, as compared to many others. They sent their kids to the best private schools, some became lawyers, they had investments all over the city and country, the donated money etc...

The Rizzuto regime somewhat resembles that of Castellano.

It doesn't matter how rich or how well you try to pretend to be legal and a legitimate business man because at the end of the day, these scumbags make money by taking of advantage of societies weakest.

Eat or be eaten right?

Or, when you eat alone you die alone.

Six on one hand, half-a-dozen on the other .

You answer like a politician.

But do you still think the new boss is going to be a Sicilian?

Based on what you state about the Rizzutos being too good for the streets, I think this would also apply to someone like Di Maulo, which I why I really doubt he would be the new boss. It's been stated that he's very rich and has legitimate businesses just like the Rizzutos. Why would he risk all that? The guy is also pushing 70. Yet everyone thinks he's the new powerhouse.

Both media sources and others have claimed that Di Maulo is not interested to become the new boss but rather play a more secondary role. Like you said, the guy is 70.

As for the new boss, he might well be a Sicilian even though the Violi-Ontario families were mostly responsible for the Rizzuto decline. Montreal still has a large Sicilian population and therefore they need and want somebody who represents their interests.

Whether that means the new boss will be a Sicilian or not remains to be seen. The Montreal mafia has always been culturally diverse but for the last 30 years the Sicilians were at the top. Things will probably be more evenly distributed in the future.

And that's all anyone really needs to know about these guys.

They think the average shmuck works 9-5.

The average shmuck doesn't get a bullet in the head infront of his family during breakfast

Technically speaking he was hit in the neck.

I agree with what pizzaboy said here.

Also, very well said, antimafia. It's nice to see you again and always nice to read your posts.

it's not ridiculous since bonanno's are stronger than montreal mafia by far, no matter montreal is actually more violent that's only because the lack of anti-mafia laws in canada nothing more
bonanno's in ny have 150 or more made members and they are full of zips they could easily send zips to montreal and kill whoever they want

How many bonnano capos would really want to go along with a plan like that in another country?

Whats happened to joseph ducarme?

the zip faction

orite but how many people are in the zip faction and how powerful are they in the bigger picture?

Bonnanos are busy extorting hot-dog vendors and getting eastern-european prostitutes, not planning to take over the Montreal mob.

Sal was a zip and close to them and look where it got him.....dead. This is a Canadian thing.

It's not the 50s

The bonnanos seem more of a regional group as in most of their main activities would probably stay in the new york area. And i dont think any of the families today would go out their way to start trouble with another group especially in a different country.

i agree the bonnano's have a hard time handling things in NY let alone taking on another country. i honestly think that there will be no retaliation from them over sal.

Exactly........with all the heat from Law Enforcement these days and recent prosecutions, do you really think the Bonnanos would risk going to war with another crime family in another country when they can barely take on local matters?

the new bonanno leadership is different, all the rats are on massino side and they are finished
basciano is closer to the zips than the old guard, vinny tv is close too, nicky santoro the same... toto catalano is free since 2009 (coincidence?) and i think he's the boss now
catalano said sal could take over montreal when he was deported in 2009

and if bonanno's can't take over montreal i really can't seee like a bunch of nobody in granby could because a debt in 2005 lol
the bonanno's lost millions because of rizzuto's since 99

Nice to see you as well, carmela. Also nice to read your posts again.

I perhaps should have mentioned a few other details about Montagna and his deportation:

[*]He had dual citizenship (Canadian, Italian) but not American citizenship.

[*]He almost received his green card several years ago. If he had received it, he would not have been deported.

[*]Even back in April 2009, when he was deported -- he chose to go to Canada rather than Italy -- his lawyer was wrangling to try to have Montagna stay in the US, as this was Montagna's wish. After Montagna was deported, he still wanted to return to the US, and his lawyer continued to fight for this on Montagna's behalf till reality set in: Montagna would not be able to return.

Nevertheless, I cannot give short shrift to Montagna's activities (including meetings) in Quebec and especially in Ontario once he knew that a return to the US was not in the cards. (I am especially curious as to who his contacts in Ontario were before he was deported.) While the attempted murder of Raynald Desjardins and the murders of Lorenzo Lo Presti and Montagna make clearer, for some posters, who is or was on whose side, I am still perplexed by Domenico Arcuri Jr.'s helping to introduce Montagna to Desjardins and by Lorenzo Lo Presti's association with Montagna (assuming this is true). Arcuri's and Lo Presti's respective families descend from the Rizzutos' hometown in Sicily, and I have reasons for suspecting the likelihood of Arcuris and Lo Prestis intermarrying with Rizzutos and Cammalleris, both in Montreal and Toronto.

The Arcuris of Montreal and Giacinto Arcuri of Toronto (a noted mafioso in Ontario's underworld) were known to have established ties to the Bonanno Family in New York: Domenico Arcuri Sr. (Domenico Jr.'s father) and Giacinto Arcuri are related to Giuseppe Arcuri, a New York soldier in the Bonanno Family. Giuseppe, who died in 2001, co-owned a pizzeria in Long Island with Gerlando Sciascia, and according to The Sixth Family co-author Adrian Humphreys, there apparently were Montreal Mafia members who attended Giuseppe's wake.

Law enforcement has speculated that Domenico Arcuri Sr. wed, many, many years ago, the niece of Nicolino Alfano, a New York Bonanno.

If Montagna was representing Rizzuto-organization interests before the murder of Nick Rizzuto Sr., would Montagna have told Nick Rizzuto Sr. that the latter's reign was over? If Montagna was representing the interests of Sicilian members of the Montreal Mafia such as Domenico Arcuri Jr. and Lorenzo Lo Presti, and the latter were part of a group that was fed up with the Rizzutos' reign, then perhaps these individuals might be deemed as renegades in the Rizzuto faction -- but I have trouble understanding this.

Bear in mind that Lorenzo Lo Presti grew up living next door to Vito and Nick Rizzuto Sr. Lo Presti was the one who identified his father's body at the morgue in 1992. I don't believe that, according to Sal Vitale, Gerlando Sciascia killed or arranged to kill Joe Lo Presti. I don't see Lorenzo and the Arcuris betraying Nick Sr. and Vito; however, much of the internal fighting in the Montreal Mafia in the last few years is a result of betrayals, the formation of factions, and the switching of allegiances.

Excellent, well researched post, antimafia. Welcome to the boards .

And interesting to note is that Domenico Arcuri, Sr. was apparantly connected and/or respected enough to have been present at the Bono wedding in New York in 1980, where many big names were present. Mafia Inc. also states that Arcuri was liked by Bonanno capos back in the 1970s.

And another interesting thing is that Arcuri worked for Violi's right-hand man, Pietro Sciarra (apparantly also from Agrigento), who was the first victim of the Rizzuto take-over. After this, Arcuri probably switched to the Rizzuto's.

Therefore I think he could be the logical successor as head of the Montreal mafia. I wouldn't be suprised if it were actually the Arcuris who set Montagna up.