Again we have sloppiness creeing into III. Altobello, badly played, is supposed to be a long time friend of Vito, and Connie's Godfather. Never mind that his name never came up in I or II either as the head of a family which he seemed to be, or a capo regime.
Suddenly this "old friend" from Staten Island appears, and not only does he control Joey Zasa in New York, but he also has super secret international connections which somehow motivate him to double cross Michael.