Vito Rizzuto - the Canadian Godfather - plead non guilty

Vito Rizzuto, who many experts consider is the Godfather of the entire Sicilian Mafia installed in Canada, plead non guilty to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, like...couple of days ago. (saw it on t.v.)
He was arrested on may 2003.

The man they call the Canadian Godfather
By Adrian Humphreys - National Post, February 26, 2001

MONTREAL - Lino was devastated. He could not talk sense into his son.That is when he paid a visit to Vito Rizzuto. "I told him how my boy was ruining his life. He said: 'There is nothing more important than family,' " Lino says. Lino does not know what -- if anything -- Vito did. "But I know my son dropped this nonsense and never sees that woman again," Lino says. "For me and for my family, he made night into day." Why would Lino go to Vito Rizzuto, a 55-year-old Montreal man, with such a personal problem? "He is le Parrain; il Compare," he says, calling Vito, first in French and then in Italian, the Godfather.

He is not the only one who calls Vito Rizzuto the Godfather. Police officers, Mafia turncoats, law enforcement reports from several countries, organized crime specialists and underworld sources all point to Vito as the new boss of the Mafia in Canada. "He is definitely a leader. The family has a lot of clout; people do listen to them," says Detective-Sergeant Pietro Poletti, a Montreal police officer who has probed organized crime.

"Vito is allegedly the boss of the Mafia in Canada," says Antonio Nicaso, an international authority on organized crime. "He is at the very top, the most capable and respected alleged boss in all of Canada." Even Revenue Canada describes Vito as "the Godfather of the Italian Mafia in Montreal." Being perceived as a boss and being convicted of criminal activity clearly do not equate. Despite his notoriety, Vito has not been convicted of any criminal offence since 1972, although he has twice faced serious drug charges and repeatedly been named in police investigations and court proceedings. It is a charmed life that has earned him a reputation as Canada's Teflon Don -- a mafioso against whom charges never stick.

Vito Rizzuto stands six feet tall, with a medium build, and is always elegantly dressed. His hair is greying, well trimmed and brushed back over his head. He speaks fluent Spanish, Italian, French and English, and has close associates in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. He lives in an immense house in a posh Montreal neighbourhood, yet Revenue Canada says he claimed no income for several years in the 1980s. And recently, police sources say, the disparate strands of his colourful life have wound together to make him the most important man in Canadian crime.

More...

Isn't it sad that everybody and I mean #ing everybody knows he's a damn criminal and yet they can't even put a #in' charge on him! Such a lovely society... I bet the bastard have friends really high up the latter.


[Edited on 8-12-2003 by m0rbid]

Yeah I know a bit about the mob in Canada. Montreal mobsters take their orders directly from NYC, which is mob headquarters in the US. A close second in the US is Chicago of course.

In Ontario, Toronto is run by mobsters in Hamilton which take their orders from Buffalo NY. A well known name in Buffalo NY is Gambino.

Many immigrants from Italy to Canada directly came from Sicily, so it is no surprise that there is big time mob activity in this country.

Years ago I had a small business that did services for homeowners including repairs etc. I did a lot of work in a wealthy suburb of Toronto where many Italians live. I did work for people with multi-million dollar homes that drove #tly old vans and claimed they were plumbers with a few helpers. Yeah, I said, hope it works out the same for me too. LOL, unfortunately it didn't.

No matter where I went in this large community, whenever the subject of the mob came up it either brought a good deal of sympathy or people just shut the frok up!

Never drank so much wine in my life though!

neo i assume you are referring to the gambino family..but that family is as good as dead..it died with gotti or maybe even before that with paulie..i would say the most powerful family now is the Genovese family..which has crews in vegas nyc and pittsburgh..most of their business is legit now..but growin up in a sicilian family i can tell u the mafia doesnt exist......i cant tell anymore bout this as i was taught about omerta at a young age

USAF,

the Gambino's I was talking about are in Buffalo and western NY. They are still very much around.

Obviously since you are Italian your closeness to this subject is better than mine. But I have been told that the Mob is much underground these days or in legit business If they do take someone out, chances are it is done so carefully that no one would suspect foul play. But I have heard that many of their traditional businesses have been taken over by bikers, foreign gangs and posses.

The Mob is now in big business like counterfeiting, white collar crime, high end robberies and thefts, major drug wholesaling, and other assorted operations. On the contrary they are still around from what I hear, just very low key.

they r still around but like i said and u said most of their business is legit..they r not the way they used to be..la casa nostra died a long time ago..the mafia is just a shadow of its former self..but hits still do occur...

USAF,

but there still is large scale illegal activity going on all the same.

I have also heard that the mob is involved in illegal immigration rackets and importation of prostitues etc.

i wouldnt doubt it..i've been in the military for a while so i havent been around it in a long time..the guys i used to know who were in it...never talked bout what they did..so i dunno..all i know is they're always there when i need a favor

Yeah all the same you got to have some respect for the mob they did believe in family...

these upstarts today man...

they sure did..they took care of one another thats what it was all about..i have alot of respect for them..they helped me out of a couple big things..but its a shame that it just aint the same

I like to think of myself as a bit of a specialist in organized crime. As far as it goes, the traditional Sicilian familes have the lion's share of illegal revenue. However, a major upsurge has begun with Asian criminals coming over, in particular Triads and Yakuza. While they remain mainly small-time and mostly restricted to 'Chinatown' areas, they ARE moving in.

here's a breakdown of what I know:

The Mob is still alive and kicking, but it has lost a lot of ground due to a great deal of pressure from government agencies. This has created a power vacuum that is currently filled by various ethnic mafias, posses, and bikers. However, survival of the fitest still applies to organized crime, and the Mob is moving away from low-level crimes. It is, indeed, moving into higher end and mostly white collar crime.Theft,counterfitting , 'legitimate bussiness interests' (bought with dirty money, of course) and major fraud are more La Costra Nostra's staples these days.

The Triads are still mainly restricted to 'chinatowns' of major cities where they make an uneasy coexistance with the Yakuza. It isn't somethign they enjoy, but its more a neccesity as Tongs/Triads aren't a major force in Canada yet. Almost all of their revenue comes form illegal smuggling, particularly immigrants, drugs, and electronics. Most of the rest of it comes from gambling parlors. The Yakuza provides some competition, but it has proved relatively minor so far. They, however, on the move up. They have turned an eye towards the distribution of their goods, and are actively recruiting from Chinese and Korean neighborhoods. Also, more and more they are turnign to protectionas a source of money.

The Yakuza are rapidly becoming felt in cities all over canada, particularly Vancouver. Toronto has a prescence of Yakuza, but they are still in the asian district mostly with the Triads. The yakuza's interests lie mainly in prostitution and protection. However, unlike other mobsters who demand protection, the Yakuza actually deliver a mediocrum of protection. Theya re making a name for themselves, however growth is slow as most oyabun refuse to accept non-Japanese people as kobun. Expect more power shifting towards them as japanese corporations move over to Canada, bringing sokaiya- shareholder meeting men- with them. They have begun several gambling parlors as well. Expect blood between the triads and yakuza soon over gambling in particular....that, and they never were too fond of one another.

No, I'm not a made man, nor kobun, nor sze kau. I just make a point of knowing who's who aroudn the block. Hope this has helped.


DE

The mod is still alive and kicking of course.

Thanks all for your interesting contributions.

Neo, what you said made sense, after all, New York is really not that far away from here (Montreal).

Kinda off topic, but the other they, police officer found a corpse that had head and hands cutted off (weren't found) and the killers even removed all the tatoos that were on the corpse.

This doesn't look like some bikers crime. I thought it could have been mob related. Mobsters used to be more carefull than bikers.

And the latest big Godfather who was arrested around here was Frank Cotroni, but my father (wich I've been discussing this a little with him) think that Rizzuto is even bigger than Cotroni was. Cotroni is still in prison.

[Edited on 9-12-2003 by m0rbid]