Vito Rizzuto's uncle is released from an American prison
Domenico Manno, the uncle of Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto, was released from a U.S. prison this 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 to have Paolo Violi, the reigning Mafia chieftain, killed.
The 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.
He 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 term for drug trafficking and plead guilty.
Prosecutors at the time called him the “Don Corleone” figure in the drug conspiracy, a reference to the Mafia boss in The Godfather movie.
In October, Vito Rizzuto was released from a U.S. prison where he served a sentence for a triple mob murder conspiracy. In Mr. Rizzuto’s absence, the family has been under attack, with his son
Previously, he received a seven-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Paolo Violi.
What happens to Mr. Manno in Canada remains an open question.
Born in Cattolica Eraclea, the village in Sicily where the Rizzuto clan came from, he was a long-time resident of Canada but never became a Canadian citizen, according to U.S. court documents.
Further, he could well become entangled in the continuing underworld power struggle in Montreal that has claimed the lives of several family members and close associates.
Among those murdered recently was Agostino Cuntrera. Mr. Manno and Mr. Cuntrera were both convicted of conspiracy to murder Paolo Violi.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/13/don-corleone-figure-who-helped-install-rizzuto-family-to-top-of-canadian-mafia-released-from-a-u-s-prison/
0 comments:
Post a Comment