Criminals, cops, underworld experts and a whole lot of other people are waiting to see what happens next following the death on Monday of a Montreal Mafia boss whose influence was said to be world-wide.
Vito Rizzuto died from complications from pneumonia at the age of 67, leaving what experts say is a significant power vacuum. How it will be filled is still anyone’s guess as Rizzuto’s reach stretched well beyond Canada, extending to South America and Europe.
One thing appears pretty certain. His death likely signals the end of the Rizzuto family’s decades-long influence because no successors sharing his family name are expected to emerge to replace him.
Who will fill the void is a matter of conjecture, but as one organized crime expert notes, “Organized crime can’t remain leaderless.”
Rizzuto was viewed as a charismatic, natural leader who had an ability to maintain a delicate measure of peace with his Sicilian clan’s rivals, including Calabrians in Ontario as well as Montreal’s bikers and street gangs.
Observers say the secret of the Rizzuto family’s success was not violence, but the ability to build political and financial connections in Canada and other parts of the world.
The family’s lengthy hold on power was eventually crippled following Rizzuto’s extradition to the United States in 2006, two years after his arrest by Canadian authorities.
In 2007, Rizzuto was convicted on racketeering charges in a U.S. court for his role in the 1981 murder of three members of New York’s notorious Bonanno crime family members. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, minus time served while awaiting extradition.
The Rizzuto family also sustained a major blow in 2006 following Operation Colisee, a five-year police investigation that led to mass arrests in the largest sweep against the Italian Mafia in Canadian history.
Rizzuto returned to Canada in 2012 after spending six years in a US prison and took back the reins of power, but the last 14 months have been marked by an increase of violence–violence that could escalate.
While he was away, his son, Nick Jr., and his father, Nicolo, were both murdered. His brother-in-law, Paolo Renda, disappeared and several key Rizzuto allies were killed when a faction within the Mafia attempted to usurp the Sicilian family.
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