Vincenzo Cotroni (Redirected from Vic Cotroni)

Vincenzo Cotroni
Vic Cotroni.jpeg
Born1911
DiedSeptember 16, 1984(1984-09-16) (aged 72–73)
Resting placeNotre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal
NationalityItalian
Other namesVic, "The Egg"
CitizenshipCanadian
OccupationCrime boss
Spouse(s)
Maria Bresciano (m. 1928)
ChildrenRosina Baldelli
Parent(s)Nicodemo Cotroni
RelativesMarguerita Cotroni (sister)
Palmina Cotroni (sister)
Giuseppe Cotroni (brother)
Frank Cotroni (brother)
Michel Cotroni (brother)
Dino Bravo (nephew-in-law)
AllegianceCotroni crime family,
Bonanno crime family
Conviction(s)Extortion (1975)
Criminal penaltySix years' imprisonment; served six months on appeal

Vincenzo "Vic" Cotroni (Italian: [vinˈtʃɛntso koˈtroːni]; 1911 – September 16, 1984), also known as "The Egg", was an Italian-Canadian capodecina of the Montreal-based Cotroni crime family, considered a branch of the Bonanno crime family.

Early life and family

Cotroni (Americanized as Vincent Cotroni) was born in 1911 in Mammola, Calabria, Italy. In 1924, he immigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada with his two sisters, Marguerita and Palmina, and his brother Giuseppe; his two other brothers, Frank and Michel, were later born in Montreal.[1] Rather than attend school, he worked briefly as a carpenter and then as a professional wrestler under the name "Vic Vincent".[2][3] Cotroni became a Canadian citizen in 1929.[1]

By the age of twenty, Cotroni had accumulated a lengthy record of minor offenses, bootlegging with local bootlegger Armand Courville. The charges included theft, possession of counterfeit money, illegal sale of alcohol, assault and battery.[2][4] In 1928, Cotroni was charged with rape against Maria Bresciano, but the charge was dropped when Maria agreed to marry him in May 1928 and later had a child, Rosina.[1][2] In 1942, Cotroni bought a bar and nightclub with Courville.[2]

Cotroni had become involved in organized crime in the late 1920s, and in the 1930s was involved in "baseball bat elections" where he served as "muscle" for the Quebec Liberal Party and the Union Nationale, beating up supporters of rival parties and stuffing ballot boxes.[5] As a result of Cotroni’s work in "baseball bat elections", the Cotroni family enjoyed the protection of Quebec politicians for decades afterwards.[6][4] Cotroni was uncle by marriage to professional wrestler Dino Bravo, believed by authorities to be involved in his organization for some time.[7]

Mobster and Montreal's boss

While he was already an extremely successful and politically connected individual in Montreal's underworld, Cotroni's biggest opportunity came when Carmine "Lilo" Galante, an influential member of the New York based Bonanno crime family, arrived in Montreal in 1953. Galante planned to make Montreal a pivotal location in the importation of heroin from over seas for distribution in New York City and across the United States in the French Connection. Galante also demanded a "street tax" from gambling houses, night clubs, after-hours lounges, prostitutes, and abortionists.[8][9] In 1957, due to Galante's strong-arm extortion tactics, the Canadian Government deported him back to the United States.[10]

By the 1960s, Cotroni owned a limousine, a duplex in Rosemont and a brand new home in Lavaltrie. The house featured marvellous marble floors, an enormous conference room, a walk-in industrial sized refrigerator, a built-in movie screen, six bathrooms, and expensive crystal chandeliers. Cotroni also donated large sums of money to Montreal churches and charities, and was the father of two children; a daughter with his wife Maria and a son with his French-Canadian mistress.[11]

Cotroni liked to keep a low profile and didn't appreciate when Maclean's, an informative Canadian magazine referred to him as the "godfather" of Montreal in one of their articles. Cotroni, with lawyer Jean-Paul Ste. Marie, sued the magazine for $1.25 million in damages. The judge concluded that Cotroni's reputation was "tainted" and only awarded him an insulting $2: one dollar for the English version of Maclean's and another for the French version.[12]

In the late 1960s, the Cotronis had violent feuds with French-Canadian mobster Richard Blass, with Cotroni associate Joe Di Maulo doing much of the enforcing.[13]

Activities and decline

In 1974, Cotroni was subpoenaed to stand before the Quebec government's Commission d'enquête sur le crime organisé (CECO) inquiry into organized crime. He was sent to jail for one year on a contempt charge because his testimony, the Commission concluded, was "deliberately incomprehensible; rambling, vague, and nebulous".[14] His lawyer eventually won a reversal but only after Cotroni had spent several months behind bars. Later that year, Cotroni and Paolo Violi were over-heard on a police wiretap threatening to kill Hamilton mobster Johnny Papalia and demanding $150,000 after he used their names in a $300,000 extortion plot without notifying or cutting them in on the score.[15] The three were convicted of extortion in 1975 and sentenced to six years in prison. Cotroni and Violi got their sentences appealed to just six months, but Papalia's was rejected.[16]

In the late 1970s, Cotroni transferred the day-to-day activities of the family to his Calabrian compatriot Paolo Violi, a capodecina together with Nicolas Dilorio, Frank Cotroni and Luigi Greco.[17] Cotroni's role became more that of an adviser to the younger Calabrian.[18][19]

As tension grew with power struggle between the Calabrian and Sicilian factions of the family, a mob war began.[20] Violi complained about the independent modus operandi of his Sicilian 'underlings', Nicolo Rizzuto in particular. "He is going from one side to the other, here and there, and he says nothing to nobody, he is doing business and nobody knows anything," Violi said about Rizzuto. Violi asked for more 'soldiers' from his Bonanno bosses, clearly preparing for war, and Violi's boss at the time, Vic Cotroni remarked: "Me, I'm capodecina. I got the right to expel."[20] On January 22, 1978, Paolo Violi, Cotroni's heir to the throne, was assassinated by the family's Sicilian faction led by Rizzuto. Cotroni remained sheltered in his Lavaltrie home for weeks after the murder as he had most likely approved the hit on Violi.[21][22] By the 1980s, the Rizzuto crime family emerged as Montreal's pre-eminent Mafia crew after the turf war.

Death

Cotroni died of cancer on September 16, 1984. The procession from the Church of the Madonna della Difesa to Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery was made up of some 45 vehicles, 23 of them laden with wreaths and floral tributes, a 17-piece brass band, about 300 people, including members of his family and associates.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Le parrain discret: vie et carrière de Vincenzo Cotroni" (in French). quebec.huffingtonpost.ca. 14 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 245
  3. ^ La filière canadienne : Le grand classique de l'histoire du crime au Québec. Jean-Pierre Charbonneau p. 41
  4. ^ a b La filière canadienne, p. 42
  5. ^ Auger and Edwards The Encyclopedia of Canadian Organized Crime p.63.
  6. ^ Auger and Edwards The Encyclopedia of Canadian Organized Crime p.63.
  7. ^ "Dino Bravo". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. March 22, 1993.
  8. ^ Idem, p. 289
  9. ^ "Legends of the Morgeti: Before Nicolo Rizzutto". morgeti.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  10. ^ Capeci, Jerry (2004). The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books. ISBN 1-59257-305-3.
  11. ^ L'attentat, p. 159
  12. ^ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 254
  13. ^ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 270
  14. ^ "How a 1970s inquiry exposed mobsters and educated Quebeckers". theglobeandmail.com. 15 December 2010.
  15. ^ "The shot heard around the underworld". Ottawa Citizen. 7 June 1998. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  16. ^ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 326
  17. ^ L'atentat, p. 65
  18. ^ La Presse, 1er décembre 1973
  19. ^ Idem, p. 63
  20. ^ a b "The man they call the Canadian Godfather". National Post. February 26, 2001. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  21. ^ Idem, p. 69
  22. ^ "The man they call the Canadian Godfather". National Post. February 26, 2001. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  23. ^ "The passing of a godfather". macleans.ca. October 1, 1984.
  24. ^ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 280

This page was last updated at 2019-11-13 07:30 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari