Jul 28 2007
Montreal mafia languishes in leader-less limbo
De Champlain said he once considered Gallo a potential leader of the Rizzuto organization because of his reputation as a diplomat in Montreal’s underworld.
But Gallo’s life sentence makes holding a high-profile position in a criminal organization unworkable, de Champlain said. His parole can be suspended at any moment based on much less evidence than is required to charge someone with a crime.
On the surface, Gallo lived a quiet life after being released on parole in the early 1980s.
According to the Quebec business registry, he owns a holding company based in Town of Mount Royal. Years ago, he started a job as manager of the Solid Gold strip club. But because such places tend to draw organized crime figures, Correctional Service Canada decided it was not an appropriate occupation for someone on parole for the rest of his life, Sarrazin said. Meanwhile, Gallo’s family has owned and operated a popular bakery and restaurant in Little Italy for several years.
But even before the Project Colisee investigation, police investigators received information alleging that Gallo was still active in organized crime.
Dany Kane, a former biker underling who turned informant and helped the police investigate the Hells Angels in 2000, told his police handlers that the gang twice sent him to meet with Gallo and Mucci to discuss drug-trafficking issues. According to the notes Kane filed, Gallo complained about the presence of drug dealers controlled by the Hells Angels inside a bar on St. Laurent Blvd. Gallo wanted them out. Kane relayed the message to Hells Angels boss Maurice (Mom) Boucher, who replied that the bikers would discuss the problem only if Gallo paid $50,000 he owed another Hells Angel.
The two other men de Champlain considered as possible successors to Rizzuto were Francesco Arcadi and Joseph (Jos) Di Maulo.
Arcadi was one of the more important figures arrested in Project Colisee. Police sources allege he had been acting as a sort of street-level boss.
“But he was not considered the overall leader,” said de Champlain, who is also the author of the book, Mobsters, Gangsters and Men of Honour.
As for Di Maulo, a mobster who is not afraid of publicity and was very active during the 1970s, “I have since heard from sources who say he does not appear to be interested in the job,” de Champlain said.
A likely successor doesn’t appear to be waiting in the wings among the younger members of the Rizzuto organization, either, de Champlain added.
“Among the people arrested in Project Colisee were many Mafiosi who were first-generation (Canadians) and had the old values from Italy,” he said. “The younger generations were born in Quebec. I’m not sure that they have the same perceptions of Mafia traditions. The new generation doesn’t have the same discipline as their parents.
“The generation that is coming, I don’t think they’re ready. I could be wrong, but I have my doubts.”
Montreal mafia languishes in leader-less limbo - Paul Cherry - CanWest News Service - Saturday, July 28, 2007 - http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/9-0&fd=R&url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html%3Fid%3D0f409bf5-1fb3-4883-8526-3c60ee356b1f%26k%3D21896&cid=0&ei=O1GwRp2yOYT20QHCr9n6Bw
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