http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/13/...m-a-u-s-prison/

Domenico Manno, the uncle of Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto, was released from a U.S. prison Thursday morning and is on his way back to Montreal, where the elderly mobster will be reunited in grief with a family under attack.

Mr. Manno, 79, was instrumental in propelling the Rizzuto family to the top of Canada’s underworld in 1978 when he helped in the slaying of Paolo Violi, the reigning Mafia chieftain at the time.

That dramatic murder in a Montreal ice cream parlour signalled the changing of the guard from the Calabrian-led Mafia faction to the Sicilian-led faction under the leadership of Nicolo Rizzuto, Vito Rizzuto’s father.

“Domenico Manno was turned over to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this morning. ICE is in the process of effectuating his removal from the United States,” said Ross Feinstein, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman.

Mr. Manno was held in Fort Dix correctional institution in New Jersey.

The National Post has learned that Mr. Manno will be arriving in Montreal by dinner time Thursday.

Mr. Manno was charged in the U.S. in 1994 for a drug trafficking conspiracy that brought heroin and cocaine from South America into Canada through the U.S. After an extradition battle, he pleaded guilty in 1998.

His own lawyer, at the time, referred to him as the “Don Corleone” figure in the drug conspiracy, a reference to the Mafia boss in The Godfather movie.

“Manno is acting throughout this whole conspiracy, and there’s a guy named Rizzuto who’s on top of Manno,” court was told.

As part of that plea agreement, Mr. Manno agreed to forfeit $250,000.


THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzVito Rizzuto, right, head of the Montreal Mafia, speaks with his attorney Jean Salois after a hearing in Montreal in 2004.
He later appealed his sentence, arguing he thought he would be transferred to serve his sentence in Canada and not ever have to pay the fine. When told this was wrong, he was outraged and sought to reduce the fine, claiming he was broke. His appeal was denied.

He has since quietly done his time.

Previously, Mr. Manno received a seven-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Paolo Violi.

Mr. Manno was born into Mafia royalty in Cattolica Eraclea, the village in Sicily where the Rizzuto clan came from; he is the son of Antonino Manno, who was the recognized Mafia boss of a large area of Sicily’s south-west.

The Manno and Rizzuto families have been entwined for generations. Mr. Manno’s sister, Libertina, married Nicolo Rizzuto, Vito’s father; and Vito’s sister, Maria, later married Mr. Manno’s cousin, Paolo Renda.

Related
The Rizzutos’ Sicilian roots: Tracing the Quebec mob’s ties to Cattolica Eraclea
Montreal police probe possible Mafia hit on man found riddled with bullets in SUV
Mr. Manno first tried to emigrate from Italy to the United States, arriving in New York in 1951 but was expelled, according to U.S. immigration files. He later came to Canada, settling in Montreal.

Stocky, strong and steeped in the Mafia tradition, he was a mainstay of the Sicilian mob faction as it fought to carve a strong presence in Montreal.

Despite being the son of the old Mafia boss in Sicily and being older than Vito Rizzuto, he appeared to graciously accept the clan’s leadership skipping over him when it was passed from Nicolo.

In October, Vito Rizzuto was released from a U.S. prison where he served a sentence for a triple mob murder. In Mr. Rizzuto’s absence, the family has been under attack.

Nicolo Rizzuto was shot dead in 2010, Paolo Renda was kidnapped in 2010 and is presumed dead. Also killed have been Vito Rizzuto’s eldest son, Nick, and others close to Mr. Rizzuto.

What happens to Mr. Manno in Canada remains an open question.

Although he was a long-time resident of Canada, he never became a Canadian citizen, according to U.S. court documents.

“Manno is not a Canadian citizen, but rather merely a ‘landed resident,’” a government memo entered into court says.

Further, he could well become entangled in the continuing underworld power struggle in Montreal.

Also among those murdered is Agostino [BadWord]. It was alongside Mr. [BadWord] that Mr. Manno plotted the Violi murder.

National Post