Frank Cotroni

Francesco "Frank" Cotroni (1931 – August 17, 2004), also known as "The Big Guy", was an Italian-Canadian Mafia boss of the Cotroni crime family in Montreal.

Family and criminal activities

Frank Cotroni was born in Montreal in 1931. His brother, Vincenzo Cotroni, was 20 years older born in 1911 in Mammola, Calabria, Italy, immigrated to Montreal in 1924 with family.[1]

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.[2]

In 1975, with connections with the Bonanno crime family of New York, Frank Cotroni was convicted in the United States of smuggling $3 million worth of cocaine into New York City through Mexico and sentenced to 15 years in prison; he was paroled after four years on the condition he not return to the United States.[3] While in prison, Frank met fellow inmate French-Canadian Réal Simard, nephew of Armand Courville, a long-time associate of Vic Cotroni, Simard would become Frank's driver and eventual hitman upon their release in 1979. Frank considered Simard a nephew.[4]

"Unlike traditional Mafia crime bosses, who dealt exclusively with Italian associates, Cotroni forged ties with outside criminal groups. He was more a product of Quebec society than a product of the traditional underworld [whose parents were from the Calabria region of southern Italy]. And he was one of the first to open doors to criminals of other ethnic backgrounds."

—Antonio Nicaso, an expert Mafia journalist.[3]

During the violent Mafia war with the Sicilian Rizzuto crime family in Montreal, Paolo Violi (who was acting capo for Vic Cotroni) and his brothers were murdered along with others through the mid 1970s to the early 1980s until the war ceased.[5][6][7] The Calabrian faction continued to operate with Frank as acting boss for his ill brother after the early 1980s. In June 1981, Simard murdered Giuseppe Montegano, a low-level cocaine dealer in Montreal, at Frank's son Francesco's private club, as he was suspected of being police informant and had hostilities with Francesco.[8] Under the Cotroni's orders, Simard then killed Michel Pozza in September 1982, who was a reputed money launderer for the Crotroni family, but could no longer be trusted after shifting allegiance to the Sicilian Rizzuto crime family.[8] In 1983, Cotroni was indicted by a Connecticut grand jury on one count of conspiring to traffic in heroin with five other men in New York City, and three counts of illegally transporting more than $5,000 from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Montreal.[3]

In July 1983, Frank sent Simard to Ontario where he met with Johnny Papalia in Hamilton on behalf of Frank.[9] Frank seized the Ontario market with Simard bringing Quebec strippers to Toronto clubs, where he allowed Papalia to put his pinball machines in his clubs.[9] In November 1983, Simard and associate Richard Clément killed Mario Héroux, but unknowingly only severely wounded Robert Hétu, in their Toronto hotel room after they conspired to kill Clément.[10] Hétu testified against Simard and Simard was arrested and convicted, until he became informant against Frank Cotroni and the family; this resulted in an eight-year sentence for manslaughter against Frank, Francesco and two associates in 1987 for the Montegano murder.[11][12][13]

On September 16, 1984, Vic Cotroni died of cancer, leaving Frank as boss. Cotroni lost his court fight against extradition in June 1989 and agreed to face the charges in Connecticut on the condition that he serve his time in Canada.[3] He was released from prison in 2002 after serving four years of a seven-year sentence for conspiring to import 180 kilograms of cocaine into Canada in 1996.[3]

Later years and death

In the final two years of Frank's life, he released a cookbook, Cuisine des souvenirs et recettes (Kitchen of Memories and Recipes), published by a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The cookbook included spaghetti and pizza recipes, but also features traditional Quebec dishes of beans and pork. In the foreword, Cotroni recalled childhood memories of home-cooked Italian meals and delicious dishes at local restaurants and cabarets. He said nothing of his alleged Mafia ties but hinted at his criminal past in the preface. "This book is not an autobiography even if some memories I have recalled touch on specific periods of my life," he said.[3] Frank Cotroni died of cancer on August 17, 2004.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 245
  2. ↑ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 270
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Frank Cotroni dies of cancer". Canadian Press. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 527
  5. ↑ The Rizzuto family by Corinne Smith (January 6, 2011) CBC News Montreal
  6. ↑ "Canada's alleged Godfather pleads guilty" Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine., Montreal Gazette, September 18, 2008
  7. ↑ "Mob takes a hit" Archived 2008-03-23 at the Wayback Machine., Montreal Gazette, November 23, 2006
  8. 1 2 Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 528
  9. 1 2 Humphreys, Adrian (1999). The Enforcer:Johnny Pops Papalia, A Life and Death in the Mafia. Toronto: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-200016-4.
  10. ↑ Vastel and Simard, The Nephew: The making of a Mafia hitman, pp. 34
  11. ↑ "Mob boss mourned in Montreal's Little Italy". theglobeandmail.com. 21 August 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Banal crime snags former mob hit man". theglobeandmail.com. 20 October 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "Montreal crime family's last member dies at 72". theglobeandmail.com. 18 August 2004. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  14. ↑ Alleged crime boss Cotroni buried in Montreal Archived 2009-02-21 at the Wayback Machine., CTV News, August 22, 2004
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