June 18, 2025 • 30 mins
Leonardo Rizzuto is the reputed head of the Mafia in Montreal, Quebec Canada. He comes from a downright dynasty of mob bosses headed by his father Vito Rizzuto and his grandfather Niccolo Rizzuto. On Thursday June 12, Rizzuto was arrested alongside various high ranking members of the Mob in Montreal. Today we delve into who Leo Rizzuto is and the arrest complaints against him and other mobsters. In the first ten or so minutes I discussed a little news involving Colombo mob killer John Pappa and his recent decision involving his release from prison
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Jeff Nadu is an American Mafia and organized crime researcher, podcaster and content creator. He has worked at Barstool Sports and was hired personally by Dave Portnoy. His podcast "The Sitdown" with Jeff Nadu has put out hundreds of biographies on various mobsters, gangsters and criminals. He's also personally interviewed mobsters like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Dom Cicale, Anthony Ruggiano Jr, Gene Borrello and others as well as US Prosecutor John Gleeson and FBI Agents Joaquin "Jack" Garcia and Michael Campi. He has been personally endorsed by former Gambino mob captain Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, esteemed author RJ Roger, and former Colombo Crime Family captain Michael Franzese.
DISCLAIMER: My videos and podcasts are meant for entertainment and educational use. All material found in my videos reflect this use. ANY opinions and or statements of any guest is merely he/her's opinion.
If you enjoy our show, please hit the like button and make sure if you're new around here you subscribe as well!
GO CHECK OUT PROPHET X AND GET INVOLVED- https://t.co/hnCEZoj1Sd
USE REFERRAL CODE- JEFFNADU
Jeff Nadu is an American Mafia and organized crime researcher, podcaster and content creator. He has worked at Barstool Sports and was hired personally by Dave Portnoy. His podcast "The Sitdown" with Jeff Nadu has put out hundreds of biographies on various mobsters, gangsters and criminals. He's also personally interviewed mobsters like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Dom Cicale, Anthony Ruggiano Jr, Gene Borrello and others as well as US Prosecutor John Gleeson and FBI Agents Joaquin "Jack" Garcia and Michael Campi. He has been personally endorsed by former Gambino mob captain Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, esteemed author RJ Roger, and former Colombo Crime Family captain Michael Franzese.
DISCLAIMER: My videos and podcasts are meant for entertainment and educational use. All material found in my videos reflect this use. ANY opinions and or statements of any guest is merely he/her's opinion.
If you enjoy our show, please hit the like button and make sure if you're new around here you subscribe as well!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to The sit Down, a mafia history podcast. Here's
your host, Jeff Nado. What's up everybody, and welcome in
to another edition of The sit Down. I am your host,
Jeff Nado. This is episode two hundred and fifteen of
(00:31):
the show. As always, if you're enjoying this show, please
make sure you leave us a detailed review and a
five star rating. I welcome you in and I thank
you for watching, whether you're checking it out on iTunes, Spotify,
wherever you get your podcast, Thanks for showing some love here.
We'll get a great episode today planned and I gotta
say I thought this episode was really important. We're gonna
(00:53):
get in today to the recent indictment and arrested of
Lea Risuto, who is arguably the one one of the
most powerful mobsters in the country of Canada, a guy
who has a long lineage in the mafia, most notably
his grandfather and father. We're going to talk about what
this means to the future of the Montreal crime family.
(01:13):
Does this decimate them? We'll figure that out. We're also
going to get into a little news before. I want
to talk a little bit about John Poppa, who was
not giving combation release recently, and maybe why that is.
Before we do that, I want to wish all of you.
I hope you're having a great week. It's a big
week for me. My sister is getting married on Saturday,
(01:36):
the twenty first, which is a nice time for me
and my family. It seems like it's kind of come quick.
I remember, you know, a year ago we were having
the little wedding party that they were engaged, and now
they're they're already getting married, so it'd be nice. I'm
walking my sister down the aisle, which will be you know,
very emotional and good time for me and my family
(02:00):
and for rent of you that don't know. We have
a wedding venue that's kind of one of the businesses
that my family are in, so it's really cool to
kind of have that at our location. And this is
the second wedding in my family. I will be the
only remaining individual who is not married. I am the oldest,
so it's kind of a weird cross to bear, but yeah, nonetheless,
(02:21):
it's a cool time. So that'll be good this weekend.
And we're you know, almost at July fourth, So it
was just we were just talking about Memorial Day before
we get into the show today, I want to shout
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the show. And as I said, before we get into
(04:07):
the Leo Risudo indictment, I want to talk a little
bit about John Papa, who recently had his compassionate release
dismissed for his bid for early release. You understand that
John Papa when he went into prison, he was quite young.
He was in his twenties. For anyone doesn't know, John
(04:27):
Papa is the son of a person, Gerard Papa, who
was a Genobeese crime family mobster. He was whacked and
Papa's son followed him into the life. It's been rumored
that John Papa took part in five or more murders,
and he actually was involved with the final murder of
the nineties Columbo War. He was a person who took
(04:51):
part in the hit on Joe Scopo in queens. And
you know, Papa has sat in prison for twenty fi
five years and it wasn't just him that he killed.
He was charged with the murder of a man called
John Sperasino. He was involved with with all sorts of hits.
(05:12):
And this is a guy who has no problem hurting people,
but he did a lot of it when he was
a kid, and he blames a lot of it on
you know, the fact that he was the son of
a gangster, He was around gangster's his whole life, and
that he is a totally different man now and that
his involvement behind the walls been helpful to him. He's
(05:36):
been there for twenty seven years now. Pamela Chen, the
judge in this case, would write that she cannot shake
the impression after observing and listening to Papa that he
quote feels no remorse about committing the four murders, nor
empathy for the families of his victims. The murders one
usually called blooded, calculating, and ruthless. In particular, she noted
(05:59):
that saidstic killing of John Sparasino. She would also write
that she felt hollow and that he felt she felt
that he was hollow and performative. Uh, and that you know,
you look at some of the reactions towards him by
you know, victims families. At one point, John Sparasino's brother
(06:22):
Sau would say to Papa, quote the Oscar goes to
you towards the very end of the hearing, which signified
that he was basically acting. He didn't he didn't really
mean what he was saying, or he was pretending to
try to get out of prison. Now, I think the
question is why is he not getting compassionate release when
we've seen people like Video Guzzo and Bobby Manna and
(06:45):
you know Ronnie g We've seen all these guys get
compassionate release. Well, I think in terms of John Papa,
I think the problem that John Papa has is the
difference between him and those other individuals is he didn't
plead guilty. He took this to trial. He made the
government prove their case, He made the government spend resources,
He made the families have to sit through a trial,
(07:07):
and a lot of the time you're not going to
be looked at plausibly or positively in the eyes of
the government. You made them work, you made them put
it in resources more than they had already put in
and I think for that, you know, that's one of
the reasons maybe early on here he's not going to
get compassion released. It's entirely possible that John Poppa will
(07:28):
never be released from prison. You know, he's in his
fifties at this point. You know, he is again a
cold and sadistic murderer, and he did this on behalf
of his attempt to become a mobster. He wanted to
follow in the footsteps of his father. Now do I
(07:49):
feel bad for him, I think in terms of he
is a product of his environment. But he did this willingly,
He did this cold blooded. And you also look some
of the you know, the other comments that came out
from one of the victims. One of the people that
mister Papa took part in killing was a man called Rivera,
(08:16):
to which Rivera's family members stated, you're quote a phony,
a fake, a loser, and a killer, and that's all
you ever be. Remember that you've taken lives, You've gotten
that taste. Don't act like you don't deserve anything from anybody.
You deserve nothing but suffering like we suffered. And that
was from a woman called Michelle Getz, who was five
(08:36):
months pregnant with Rivera's daughter when he died. She would
also state to Papa, quote, you're pure evil, and you're
the spawn of evil, and there's nothing else you'll ever be. Now,
Papa would tell Pamela Chen, the judge in this case,
that he quote found humanity in prison. I've been productive,
it's been transformative. I've completely changed my way of thinking,
(08:58):
my belief system. I learned that working as hard as
you possibly can, being honest, and helping others are the
three keys to a meaningful life. I now see things clearly,
act correctly, and my actions are positive and completely unselfish. Now,
the thing that I noticed with Papa's statements are there
completely only about him. He doesn't discuss about some of
(09:18):
the remorse that he may feel all these years later.
Remember Papa's fifty. He was twenty seven when he went
into prison, so he's in his early twenties. John Papa
is currently at FCI Edgefield, which is a Federal correctional
institution in South Carolina. You know, he's not exactly in
(09:39):
a particularly bad place, and he's in a ands an
FCI a medium it's not too bad, but he's in
prison and that's that's that's the that's the scheme of
it all. He's in prison and he's not ever gonna
get out, at least in my opinion. But I think
a lot of the reason is is due to the
fact that he fought his case. If he'd have played guilty,
(09:59):
I mean, he may be getting out by now. You know,
he's done almost thirty years. Vito Guzzer played guilty to
five bodies and did about thirty years. So again, if
you are involved in this type of behavior, if you're
involved in crime, taking things to trial is a very
bad decision. You're never going to win. So that's that
(10:23):
John Papa, his compassionate release bid has been declined, so
he will remain in prison. Let's get in today to
the show. I thought this was an important show to
give to our audio people as well. This is a
big thing. This is a country of Canada who is
still very active as far as the mob's concerned. The
(10:45):
Rigido crime family has insane reach there see, definitely more
powerful than any organized crime group over the last thirty
years in this hemisphere. They kind of really I think,
dwarf the mafia in our country. So I want to
talk more about Lea Rizzuto, his upbringing and what this
(11:06):
case actually is around and who was actually arrested. So
let's get into it Lea Risuto in the indictment on
the sit down today, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to
get into another very interesting organized crime topic. And in
twenty twenty one, the rapper Drake released an album called
Certified lover Boy. What are the tracks on that CD?
(11:30):
Was a song called seven Am on Bridle Path. Early
in the track, Drake discusses, don't move like a Puto,
could at least keep it a buck like Antetokoumpo. I'm
made north of the Border like Vita Rizzuto, throwing parties
in Miami. They love an us mucho. Drake is one
(11:53):
of the biggest artists in the world and being referenced
by Drake is larger than life. He referenced a person
that we've heard before, a man called Vito Risuto, and
the Risuto crime family, quite frankly, has been one of
the biggest criminal organizations in the country of Canada for
(12:14):
many decades. On Thursday of this past week, Vita Risuto's son,
Leonardo Rizzuto, was arrested in a wide speaking indictment involving
various members of organized crime. This is a big blow
to a crime family with the name Risuto that I'm
(12:36):
not sure they're going to be able to overcome. Today,
I want to delve into the arrests. I want to
delve into the people arrested, the story of Leonardo Rizzuto
and his confidants next on the sit down. Leonardo Risuto
was born in nineteen sixty nine and will grow up
in the northeastern area of Montreal. Now, when we're talking
(12:57):
about the Risuto crime family, we have to discuss the
patriarchs of the family, the people before Leo. Now, the
family essentially began with a person called Nicolo Resuto who
was the patriarch of the family and he would emigrate
to Canada in nineteen fifty four. He was from the
(13:18):
Sicilian town of Catalika Aerclia. Catalca Eraclia is a mafia
stronghold and Nicola Risuto in the mid fifties was connected
to the mafia. His wife was connected to the mafia.
He would have a son, Veto Risuto, and at eight
years old, Veto would emigrate alongside his family to Canada
(13:42):
and they would settle in Montreal. Now the Risutos, both
Nicola and Veto would obviously enter in to the mafia.
They were very rich. They were large scale drug traffickers,
very wealthy. Eventually, Vito Risuto would end of the life
and in nineteen six he would marry a woman named
(14:02):
Giovanna Camallea, the Camallera. They would also eventually have three kids,
Nick Junior or Nicolo, as well as Libertina and Leonardo. Now,
Vita Rizzuto was a very successful drug dealer and he
(14:26):
would become the boss of the modern day Risuto crime family,
which at one point was a crew inside the Banano
crime family. And what Rizzuto and his father did was
they set up pipelines all over and laundered drug proceeds
from their many pipelines into loan sharking, controlling gambling. They
(14:49):
were essentially the heir apparent as far as Canadian organized
crime mafia activity. They were the people that ran the
mafia in Montreal and controlled a v criminal enterprise. Now
we now know that Vito Risuto also became very close
and a soldier in the Banano crime family, which as
we know, is one of the Five families, and down
(15:12):
the road, Vita Resulto would participate in various high level murders,
including the three Capos hit. Now, when we talk about
the Risuto crime family, it's also generally very much discussed,
and it's a lazy argument. It's a just quite frankly
wrong argument that the Risuto crime family was just kind
(15:32):
of a Canadian wing of the Five Families. It's actually
nowhere closed. In fact, according to various people that are
experts on the Rezuto crime family. By two thousand and three,
the Resuto organization was variously listed by the FBI as
just kind of a Canadian crew. However, according to multiple accounts,
(15:55):
the reality is far different. The territory they control is huge.
More than a million square miles of Quebec and Ontario
directly fell under the Rezudo crime family's influence, which is
an area larger than one quarter the size of the
entire United States. They also controlled the busiest border crossings
(16:16):
between the United States and Canada and many mature mafia
clans that are by and large cooperating under their banner. Now,
where American mafia bosses controlled criminal activity in either a
city or borrow, the Sixth Family aka the Rizzuto crime
family was an enterprise with a true global reach. The
(16:36):
Sixth Family had outplaced any crew in the Banano family,
and indeed, man for man, dollar for dollar, had eclipsed
to family as a whole. The nucleus of the Montreal
based mafia comprised of hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers
and associates, according to a police report drafted in two
(16:58):
thousand and four. It was also said those who merely
do business with them or work with them in short
term ventures are not included. However, neither generally are the
businessmen who do non mostly criminal favors for the organization.
So again, the Risutos weren't just members of the Banana
(17:18):
crime family. They controlled a transnational criminal organization. The problem
is the leadership eventually would either be arrested or killed,
which takes us to Leonardo Rizzuta. Now I want to
talk about him, only him. He was born, as I
said in nineteen sixty nine, and would grow up in
a ritzy, upscale area of northeastern Montreal known as Mafia
(17:43):
Ro which is where many mobsters lived. They lived in
large mansions and homes, and he would grow up quite
well in fact, in and around nineteen ninety five, Leo
Risuto would graduate from the University of Ottawa with a
law degreeteen ninety five. He would apply to the bar, However,
(18:03):
he was denied due to having a criminal record. According
to what we know, in nineteen ninety two, he would
plead guilty to two drunk driving related charges falling an
incident in May of nineteen ninety two in the Canadian
town of Mount Royal. He would also be caught in
June of nineteen ninety four with a blood alcohol reading
(18:25):
far beyond the acceptable limit. He would lose his driver's
license way back in nineteen eighty nine at the age
of nineteen, and would eventually be caught time and time again,
not only for drunk driving, but for driving without a
license in upwards of ten times between nineteen ninety two
and nineteen ninety four. He would also receive very speeding
(18:45):
tickets as well as for running a stop sign. Now
eventually Leo Rizzuto would fight this and the whole thing
would be absolved. He was banned for several years, but
eventually accepted to the Quebec Bar Association in nineteen ninety nine.
It's also important to say that his sister, Libertina is
(19:07):
also a lawyer. Now, when we talk about Vito Rizzuto,
I think the thought was Lea Rizzuto was not going
to become a member of the mafia. In fact, many
people you know that knew him would describe him as,
quote a gentle soul who didn't have a mob boss
personality like his brother. And when we look at the
(19:30):
character of Leedo Rizzuto, he's very similar to Michael Corleone,
a guy who you know, was sent to college, was
not rough and tumble maybe like his brothers, That's kind
of what Lea Rizzuto was. In fact, when we look
into both Leo and Nicolo Rizzuto, the sons of Vita Rizzuto,
Nicola Rizzuto was far more kind of in line to
(19:53):
become a high ranking member of the mafia. In fact,
when his father went away in the two thousands for
his participation in the Three Capos hit, Nicola Rizzuto was
essentially running things on the street for his father as
he was doing time in the United States for that hit. However,
in two thousand and nine, he was shot to death
(20:15):
shortly before noon. He left a condominium where a black
male approached him, shooting him multiple times. It would get
worse for lear Razuta due to the fact that not
only did his brother die, but in twenty ten his
grandfather was shot to death by a sniper rifle and
in twenty thirteen his father would die as well. This
(20:38):
would set up a power vacuum in the Risuto crime
family and power upheaples would begin. Lear Rizuta would also
have to battle the fact that he had to go
to prison between twenty fifteen and twenty eighteen. Then not
only would he escape brushes with the law, but he'd
actually have to escape brushes with death. In March of
(20:58):
twenty twenty three, while traveling on Highway for forty in
the lev Quebec or the Montreal Quebec suburb of Laval,
his Mercedes Benz was shot multiple times, in which he survived.
That was found out days later that gunmen were sent
by old Rizzuto member turn rival Francesco del Baso, who
(21:20):
was planning to take over the Rizzuto crime family. Francesco
del Baso would turn up dead in a gym parking
lot in broad daylight in June of twenty twenty three.
So it has been a long odyssey for Leo Rizzuto
over the last ten years, and I want to kind
(21:41):
of jump into now that we've gotten through this history lesson,
I want to get into the arrest on Thursday involving
Lea Rizzuto as well as various counterparts, including his number two,
a person called Stefano Solosito, and the Solosito is also
the son of a mobster. In fact, Stefano Solosito and
(22:03):
Leo Rizzuto go way back. Stefano Solosito's father was a
person called Roco Solicito. He was a very high ranking
member of the Razzuto crime family, very close to Vita Rizzuto.
He was huge in the construction industry. Solosito's sons, including Stefano,
would follow him into the life. Both he and Leo
(22:25):
Rizzuto were taken off the street and this is a
major blow to the mafia. Now I want to go
through first the charges for Leo Rasuto and Stefano Solosito.
I want to make this clear though all of the
people arrested, all eleven or indicted on Thursday five, have
not been arrested. All of them have been charged with
(22:47):
murder or conspiracy to commit murder or both so these
are very serious charges. Now, one of the murders that
mister Rizzuto allegedly took part in was that of the
murder of a called Lorenzo La Presti. Now the name
La Presti is synonymous with the Banano crime bev you
(23:07):
know anything about the history of the Banano family. Giuseppe
La Presti, who was Lorenzo La Presti's father, was a
high ranking member of not only the Banano crime family,
but the Montreal sixth family headed by Veto Rizzuto. Now,
Giuseppe La Presti was a high end drug trafficker. In fact,
(23:29):
he brokeered heroin deals between Angie Riggio Gangotti. He was
very connected to the mafia. Lorenzo La Presti would turn
up dead in October of twenty eleven. Now this is
on the heels of his father, Giuseppe La Presti, being
whacked in nineteen ninety two. That was said that Lorenzo
(23:52):
La Presti, who actually grew up with Leonardo Rizzuto, they
grew up in the same area. In Mafia Row, it
was said Lorenza La Presti was a mobster. He was
trying to be a part of a group that was
looking to take over around that time, and Lorenzo la
Presti was whacked. This is one of the murders that
mister Rizzuto was charged with, alongside Stefano Solicito, who was
(24:17):
also arrested on Thursday and seen in a wheelchair being
rolled out into a awaiting police vehicle. Let's go through
some of the other people arrested on Thursday. One of
the main people was Piatro Diadamo. Now Diadamo is a
(24:37):
very important member of today's mob in Montreal. It said
he's very respected and runs the southern area of Montreal
known as LaSalle, so this is very important. This is
a big time capo being taken off the street. Another
individual arrested on Thursday was a person called Veto Salvaggio,
(25:01):
and Salvaggio is an up and coming member and said
to be a conduit between the Rizzuto crime family and
biker groups. He's said to be someone that has pushed
for peace. He's a senior member, but also an up
and coming member due to the fact that he is
still fairly young. Another person arrested on Thursday was Nicolos Pagnolo,
(25:24):
Nicolos Pagnolo is a longtime Rizzuto loyalist, very trusted. His
father was involved with the mafia again, another senior member
taken off the street. He's recently been released from prison
after he beat up a guy outside of a bar
and stabbed him. Now, one of the most important people
outside of these individuals arrested was David Baldi Barbario. Now
(25:50):
Baldy Barbario is considered to be the street boss currently
of the Rizzuto crime fanly very high ranking, young, respected member.
In twenty twenty one, he was actually shot by this
individual who was sent by another organized crime group to
take out mister Barbario in twenty twenty one. As I said, so,
(26:12):
all of these people mentioned today are very important to
the you know, growing but dying Rizzuto crime family. Again,
there's been so much that has went on over the
last even just ten years. All of the hits, including
the conspiracy to commit hits with these people, all of
those hits have happened between twenty eleven and twenty twenty one,
(26:36):
and it's obviously conceivable that Leo Rizzuto could go to
jail for at least twenty five years. Now there is
no Rico Act in Canada. Though. Again, if he's hit
and charged and then convicted with first green murder, he
would have to be in prison at least twenty five years,
which would mean at the age of fifty six, he
(26:57):
would be in his early eighties. That's if he even
gets released on parole at that point. Now, again it
must be made clear that Leo Rizzuto is an attorney.
His sister is an attorney. He's a very smart person
and I'm guessing he was very insulated. It's not like
he went out and committed these crimes. As far as
we know. This is going to be very much about
(27:19):
his word and what he argues against the word of
the main witness in this case of the cooperator. Most
of the information is said to have come from a
man called Frederick Silva. Now, Frederick Silva is one of
the biggest killers in the history of Canada. In fact,
(27:41):
according to Frederick Silva, he personally participated in up to
sixty five different hits on behalf of organized crime, everybody
from the mafia to bikers. I mean, this guy was
just a hit man, that's what he was. He was
eventually convicted, given a long prison sets and decided to flip.
(28:02):
This is all from his collaboration. Now again, I'm not
putting Leo Rizuto out the pasture or any of these people.
They are all innocent until proven guilty. That's important to understand.
That said, this is a big blow to the Rizzuto
crime family or what's left with the Zudo crime family.
Will the mob ever leave Montreal, Of course not. It's
(28:23):
always going to be around. That said, over the last
ten years, more and more ethnic groups have come into
the area. You always have bikers, you always have black
street gangs, you have Haitians, you have the injuring Getta
who is in Toronto. Several people believe that the hit
in twenty twenty one on David Barbierro was the enjuring Geta.
(28:46):
So again, a power vacuum. Criminal groups recognize that this
group right now is week. A lot of their leadership
is in prison or might be going away for a
long time, so someone's going to try to fill the void.
This is exactly what happened when Vita Risuto was killed
in twenty thirteen, and then even several years ago Chit
Talbosa was looking to try to take over the family
(29:09):
and that was one of the reasons he attempted to
whack lear Risuto, and then he was then whacked for that.
We've seen Greg Wooley, a high ranking a member in
black organized crime, taken out. This has been war after
war between various high ranking organized crime groups. Canada is
continuously involved with very crazy wars back and forth. That said,
(29:32):
Lea Rizzuto off the street now again, we also have
to remember too that Canada is pretty lax on crime.
I'm sure Leo could probably beat this. We'll see. We'll
have to wait and figure it all out down the road.
But I wanted to kind of go through a little
bit of history on Lea Rizzuto, just talk about some
of the stuff that maybe you didn't know about him.
(29:54):
The fact that he was a lawyer and still is
is pretty interesting in the grand scheme of things. Will
the Rosudo crime family survive? Let me know in the
comments section below, and if you'd like to support this
channel further, please hit that thanks button below the video,
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(30:17):
here on the sit Down
Welcome to The sit Down, a mafia history podcast. Here's
your host, Jeff Nado. What's up everybody, and welcome in
to another edition of The sit Down. I am your host,
Jeff Nado. This is episode two hundred and fifteen of
(00:31):
the show. As always, if you're enjoying this show, please
make sure you leave us a detailed review and a
five star rating. I welcome you in and I thank
you for watching, whether you're checking it out on iTunes, Spotify,
wherever you get your podcast, Thanks for showing some love here.
We'll get a great episode today planned and I gotta
say I thought this episode was really important. We're gonna
(00:53):
get in today to the recent indictment and arrested of
Lea Risuto, who is arguably the one one of the
most powerful mobsters in the country of Canada, a guy
who has a long lineage in the mafia, most notably
his grandfather and father. We're going to talk about what
this means to the future of the Montreal crime family.
(01:13):
Does this decimate them? We'll figure that out. We're also
going to get into a little news before. I want
to talk a little bit about John Poppa, who was
not giving combation release recently, and maybe why that is.
Before we do that, I want to wish all of you.
I hope you're having a great week. It's a big
week for me. My sister is getting married on Saturday,
(01:36):
the twenty first, which is a nice time for me
and my family. It seems like it's kind of come quick.
I remember, you know, a year ago we were having
the little wedding party that they were engaged, and now
they're they're already getting married, so it'd be nice. I'm
walking my sister down the aisle, which will be you know,
very emotional and good time for me and my family
(02:00):
and for rent of you that don't know. We have
a wedding venue that's kind of one of the businesses
that my family are in, so it's really cool to
kind of have that at our location. And this is
the second wedding in my family. I will be the
only remaining individual who is not married. I am the oldest,
so it's kind of a weird cross to bear, but yeah, nonetheless,
(02:21):
it's a cool time. So that'll be good this weekend.
And we're you know, almost at July fourth, So it
was just we were just talking about Memorial Day before
we get into the show today, I want to shout
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all one word and get involved today. Let's get into
the show. And as I said, before we get into
(04:07):
the Leo Risudo indictment, I want to talk a little
bit about John Papa, who recently had his compassionate release
dismissed for his bid for early release. You understand that
John Papa when he went into prison, he was quite young.
He was in his twenties. For anyone doesn't know, John
(04:27):
Papa is the son of a person, Gerard Papa, who
was a Genobeese crime family mobster. He was whacked and
Papa's son followed him into the life. It's been rumored
that John Papa took part in five or more murders,
and he actually was involved with the final murder of
the nineties Columbo War. He was a person who took
(04:51):
part in the hit on Joe Scopo in queens. And
you know, Papa has sat in prison for twenty fi
five years and it wasn't just him that he killed.
He was charged with the murder of a man called
John Sperasino. He was involved with with all sorts of hits.
(05:12):
And this is a guy who has no problem hurting people,
but he did a lot of it when he was
a kid, and he blames a lot of it on
you know, the fact that he was the son of
a gangster, He was around gangster's his whole life, and
that he is a totally different man now and that
his involvement behind the walls been helpful to him. He's
(05:36):
been there for twenty seven years now. Pamela Chen, the
judge in this case, would write that she cannot shake
the impression after observing and listening to Papa that he
quote feels no remorse about committing the four murders, nor
empathy for the families of his victims. The murders one
usually called blooded, calculating, and ruthless. In particular, she noted
(05:59):
that saidstic killing of John Sparasino. She would also write
that she felt hollow and that he felt she felt
that he was hollow and performative. Uh, and that you know,
you look at some of the reactions towards him by
you know, victims families. At one point, John Sparasino's brother
(06:22):
Sau would say to Papa, quote the Oscar goes to
you towards the very end of the hearing, which signified
that he was basically acting. He didn't he didn't really
mean what he was saying, or he was pretending to
try to get out of prison. Now, I think the
question is why is he not getting compassionate release when
we've seen people like Video Guzzo and Bobby Manna and
(06:45):
you know Ronnie g We've seen all these guys get
compassionate release. Well, I think in terms of John Papa,
I think the problem that John Papa has is the
difference between him and those other individuals is he didn't
plead guilty. He took this to trial. He made the
government prove their case, He made the government spend resources,
He made the families have to sit through a trial,
(07:07):
and a lot of the time you're not going to
be looked at plausibly or positively in the eyes of
the government. You made them work, you made them put
it in resources more than they had already put in
and I think for that, you know, that's one of
the reasons maybe early on here he's not going to
get compassion released. It's entirely possible that John Poppa will
(07:28):
never be released from prison. You know, he's in his
fifties at this point. You know, he is again a
cold and sadistic murderer, and he did this on behalf
of his attempt to become a mobster. He wanted to
follow in the footsteps of his father. Now do I
(07:49):
feel bad for him, I think in terms of he
is a product of his environment. But he did this willingly,
He did this cold blooded. And you also look some
of the you know, the other comments that came out
from one of the victims. One of the people that
mister Papa took part in killing was a man called Rivera,
(08:16):
to which Rivera's family members stated, you're quote a phony,
a fake, a loser, and a killer, and that's all
you ever be. Remember that you've taken lives, You've gotten
that taste. Don't act like you don't deserve anything from anybody.
You deserve nothing but suffering like we suffered. And that
was from a woman called Michelle Getz, who was five
(08:36):
months pregnant with Rivera's daughter when he died. She would
also state to Papa, quote, you're pure evil, and you're
the spawn of evil, and there's nothing else you'll ever be. Now,
Papa would tell Pamela Chen, the judge in this case,
that he quote found humanity in prison. I've been productive,
it's been transformative. I've completely changed my way of thinking,
(08:58):
my belief system. I learned that working as hard as
you possibly can, being honest, and helping others are the
three keys to a meaningful life. I now see things clearly,
act correctly, and my actions are positive and completely unselfish. Now,
the thing that I noticed with Papa's statements are there
completely only about him. He doesn't discuss about some of
(09:18):
the remorse that he may feel all these years later.
Remember Papa's fifty. He was twenty seven when he went
into prison, so he's in his early twenties. John Papa
is currently at FCI Edgefield, which is a Federal correctional
institution in South Carolina. You know, he's not exactly in
(09:39):
a particularly bad place, and he's in a ands an
FCI a medium it's not too bad, but he's in
prison and that's that's that's the that's the scheme of
it all. He's in prison and he's not ever gonna
get out, at least in my opinion. But I think
a lot of the reason is is due to the
fact that he fought his case. If he'd have played guilty,
(09:59):
I mean, he may be getting out by now. You know,
he's done almost thirty years. Vito Guzzer played guilty to
five bodies and did about thirty years. So again, if
you are involved in this type of behavior, if you're
involved in crime, taking things to trial is a very
bad decision. You're never going to win. So that's that
(10:23):
John Papa, his compassionate release bid has been declined, so
he will remain in prison. Let's get in today to
the show. I thought this was an important show to
give to our audio people as well. This is a
big thing. This is a country of Canada who is
still very active as far as the mob's concerned. The
(10:45):
Rigido crime family has insane reach there see, definitely more
powerful than any organized crime group over the last thirty
years in this hemisphere. They kind of really I think,
dwarf the mafia in our country. So I want to
talk more about Lea Rizzuto, his upbringing and what this
(11:06):
case actually is around and who was actually arrested. So
let's get into it Lea Risuto in the indictment on
the sit down today, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to
get into another very interesting organized crime topic. And in
twenty twenty one, the rapper Drake released an album called
Certified lover Boy. What are the tracks on that CD?
(11:30):
Was a song called seven Am on Bridle Path. Early
in the track, Drake discusses, don't move like a Puto,
could at least keep it a buck like Antetokoumpo. I'm
made north of the Border like Vita Rizzuto, throwing parties
in Miami. They love an us mucho. Drake is one
(11:53):
of the biggest artists in the world and being referenced
by Drake is larger than life. He referenced a person
that we've heard before, a man called Vito Risuto, and
the Risuto crime family, quite frankly, has been one of
the biggest criminal organizations in the country of Canada for
(12:14):
many decades. On Thursday of this past week, Vita Risuto's son,
Leonardo Rizzuto, was arrested in a wide speaking indictment involving
various members of organized crime. This is a big blow
to a crime family with the name Risuto that I'm
(12:36):
not sure they're going to be able to overcome. Today,
I want to delve into the arrests. I want to
delve into the people arrested, the story of Leonardo Rizzuto
and his confidants next on the sit down. Leonardo Risuto
was born in nineteen sixty nine and will grow up
in the northeastern area of Montreal. Now, when we're talking
(12:57):
about the Risuto crime family, we have to discuss the
patriarchs of the family, the people before Leo. Now, the
family essentially began with a person called Nicolo Resuto who
was the patriarch of the family and he would emigrate
to Canada in nineteen fifty four. He was from the
(13:18):
Sicilian town of Catalika Aerclia. Catalca Eraclia is a mafia
stronghold and Nicola Risuto in the mid fifties was connected
to the mafia. His wife was connected to the mafia.
He would have a son, Veto Risuto, and at eight
years old, Veto would emigrate alongside his family to Canada
(13:42):
and they would settle in Montreal. Now the Risutos, both
Nicola and Veto would obviously enter in to the mafia.
They were very rich. They were large scale drug traffickers,
very wealthy. Eventually, Vito Risuto would end of the life
and in nineteen six he would marry a woman named
(14:02):
Giovanna Camallea, the Camallera. They would also eventually have three kids,
Nick Junior or Nicolo, as well as Libertina and Leonardo. Now,
Vita Rizzuto was a very successful drug dealer and he
(14:26):
would become the boss of the modern day Risuto crime family,
which at one point was a crew inside the Banano
crime family. And what Rizzuto and his father did was
they set up pipelines all over and laundered drug proceeds
from their many pipelines into loan sharking, controlling gambling. They
(14:49):
were essentially the heir apparent as far as Canadian organized
crime mafia activity. They were the people that ran the
mafia in Montreal and controlled a v criminal enterprise. Now
we now know that Vito Risuto also became very close
and a soldier in the Banano crime family, which as
we know, is one of the Five families, and down
(15:12):
the road, Vita Resulto would participate in various high level murders,
including the three Capos hit. Now, when we talk about
the Risuto crime family, it's also generally very much discussed,
and it's a lazy argument. It's a just quite frankly
wrong argument that the Risuto crime family was just kind
(15:32):
of a Canadian wing of the Five Families. It's actually
nowhere closed. In fact, according to various people that are
experts on the Rezuto crime family. By two thousand and three,
the Resuto organization was variously listed by the FBI as
just kind of a Canadian crew. However, according to multiple accounts,
(15:55):
the reality is far different. The territory they control is huge.
More than a million square miles of Quebec and Ontario
directly fell under the Rezudo crime family's influence, which is
an area larger than one quarter the size of the
entire United States. They also controlled the busiest border crossings
(16:16):
between the United States and Canada and many mature mafia
clans that are by and large cooperating under their banner. Now,
where American mafia bosses controlled criminal activity in either a
city or borrow, the Sixth Family aka the Rizzuto crime
family was an enterprise with a true global reach. The
(16:36):
Sixth Family had outplaced any crew in the Banano family,
and indeed, man for man, dollar for dollar, had eclipsed
to family as a whole. The nucleus of the Montreal
based mafia comprised of hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers
and associates, according to a police report drafted in two
(16:58):
thousand and four. It was also said those who merely
do business with them or work with them in short
term ventures are not included. However, neither generally are the
businessmen who do non mostly criminal favors for the organization.
So again, the Risutos weren't just members of the Banana
(17:18):
crime family. They controlled a transnational criminal organization. The problem
is the leadership eventually would either be arrested or killed,
which takes us to Leonardo Rizzuta. Now I want to
talk about him, only him. He was born, as I
said in nineteen sixty nine, and would grow up in
a ritzy, upscale area of northeastern Montreal known as Mafia
(17:43):
Ro which is where many mobsters lived. They lived in
large mansions and homes, and he would grow up quite
well in fact, in and around nineteen ninety five, Leo
Risuto would graduate from the University of Ottawa with a
law degreeteen ninety five. He would apply to the bar, However,
(18:03):
he was denied due to having a criminal record. According
to what we know, in nineteen ninety two, he would
plead guilty to two drunk driving related charges falling an
incident in May of nineteen ninety two in the Canadian
town of Mount Royal. He would also be caught in
June of nineteen ninety four with a blood alcohol reading
(18:25):
far beyond the acceptable limit. He would lose his driver's
license way back in nineteen eighty nine at the age
of nineteen, and would eventually be caught time and time again,
not only for drunk driving, but for driving without a
license in upwards of ten times between nineteen ninety two
and nineteen ninety four. He would also receive very speeding
(18:45):
tickets as well as for running a stop sign. Now
eventually Leo Rizzuto would fight this and the whole thing
would be absolved. He was banned for several years, but
eventually accepted to the Quebec Bar Association in nineteen ninety nine.
It's also important to say that his sister, Libertina is
(19:07):
also a lawyer. Now, when we talk about Vito Rizzuto,
I think the thought was Lea Rizzuto was not going
to become a member of the mafia. In fact, many
people you know that knew him would describe him as,
quote a gentle soul who didn't have a mob boss
personality like his brother. And when we look at the
(19:30):
character of Leedo Rizzuto, he's very similar to Michael Corleone,
a guy who you know, was sent to college, was
not rough and tumble maybe like his brothers, That's kind
of what Lea Rizzuto was. In fact, when we look
into both Leo and Nicolo Rizzuto, the sons of Vita Rizzuto,
Nicola Rizzuto was far more kind of in line to
(19:53):
become a high ranking member of the mafia. In fact,
when his father went away in the two thousands for
his participation in the Three Capos hit, Nicola Rizzuto was
essentially running things on the street for his father as
he was doing time in the United States for that hit. However,
in two thousand and nine, he was shot to death
(20:15):
shortly before noon. He left a condominium where a black
male approached him, shooting him multiple times. It would get
worse for lear Razuta due to the fact that not
only did his brother die, but in twenty ten his
grandfather was shot to death by a sniper rifle and
in twenty thirteen his father would die as well. This
(20:38):
would set up a power vacuum in the Risuto crime
family and power upheaples would begin. Lear Rizuta would also
have to battle the fact that he had to go
to prison between twenty fifteen and twenty eighteen. Then not
only would he escape brushes with the law, but he'd
actually have to escape brushes with death. In March of
(20:58):
twenty twenty three, while traveling on Highway for forty in
the lev Quebec or the Montreal Quebec suburb of Laval,
his Mercedes Benz was shot multiple times, in which he survived.
That was found out days later that gunmen were sent
by old Rizzuto member turn rival Francesco del Baso, who
(21:20):
was planning to take over the Rizzuto crime family. Francesco
del Baso would turn up dead in a gym parking
lot in broad daylight in June of twenty twenty three.
So it has been a long odyssey for Leo Rizzuto
over the last ten years, and I want to kind
(21:41):
of jump into now that we've gotten through this history lesson,
I want to get into the arrest on Thursday involving
Lea Rizzuto as well as various counterparts, including his number two,
a person called Stefano Solosito, and the Solosito is also
the son of a mobster. In fact, Stefano Solosito and
(22:03):
Leo Rizzuto go way back. Stefano Solosito's father was a
person called Roco Solicito. He was a very high ranking
member of the Razzuto crime family, very close to Vita Rizzuto.
He was huge in the construction industry. Solosito's sons, including Stefano,
would follow him into the life. Both he and Leo
(22:25):
Rizzuto were taken off the street and this is a
major blow to the mafia. Now I want to go
through first the charges for Leo Rasuto and Stefano Solosito.
I want to make this clear though all of the
people arrested, all eleven or indicted on Thursday five, have
not been arrested. All of them have been charged with
(22:47):
murder or conspiracy to commit murder or both so these
are very serious charges. Now, one of the murders that
mister Rizzuto allegedly took part in was that of the
murder of a called Lorenzo La Presti. Now the name
La Presti is synonymous with the Banano crime bev you
(23:07):
know anything about the history of the Banano family. Giuseppe
La Presti, who was Lorenzo La Presti's father, was a
high ranking member of not only the Banano crime family,
but the Montreal sixth family headed by Veto Rizzuto. Now,
Giuseppe La Presti was a high end drug trafficker. In fact,
(23:29):
he brokeered heroin deals between Angie Riggio Gangotti. He was
very connected to the mafia. Lorenzo La Presti would turn
up dead in October of twenty eleven. Now this is
on the heels of his father, Giuseppe La Presti, being
whacked in nineteen ninety two. That was said that Lorenzo
(23:52):
La Presti, who actually grew up with Leonardo Rizzuto, they
grew up in the same area. In Mafia Row, it
was said Lorenza La Presti was a mobster. He was
trying to be a part of a group that was
looking to take over around that time, and Lorenzo la
Presti was whacked. This is one of the murders that
mister Rizzuto was charged with, alongside Stefano Solicito, who was
(24:17):
also arrested on Thursday and seen in a wheelchair being
rolled out into a awaiting police vehicle. Let's go through
some of the other people arrested on Thursday. One of
the main people was Piatro Diadamo. Now Diadamo is a
(24:37):
very important member of today's mob in Montreal. It said
he's very respected and runs the southern area of Montreal
known as LaSalle, so this is very important. This is
a big time capo being taken off the street. Another
individual arrested on Thursday was a person called Veto Salvaggio,
(25:01):
and Salvaggio is an up and coming member and said
to be a conduit between the Rizzuto crime family and
biker groups. He's said to be someone that has pushed
for peace. He's a senior member, but also an up
and coming member due to the fact that he is
still fairly young. Another person arrested on Thursday was Nicolos Pagnolo,
(25:24):
Nicolos Pagnolo is a longtime Rizzuto loyalist, very trusted. His
father was involved with the mafia again, another senior member
taken off the street. He's recently been released from prison
after he beat up a guy outside of a bar
and stabbed him. Now, one of the most important people
outside of these individuals arrested was David Baldi Barbario. Now
(25:50):
Baldy Barbario is considered to be the street boss currently
of the Rizzuto crime fanly very high ranking, young, respected member.
In twenty twenty one, he was actually shot by this
individual who was sent by another organized crime group to
take out mister Barbario in twenty twenty one. As I said, so,
(26:12):
all of these people mentioned today are very important to
the you know, growing but dying Rizzuto crime family. Again,
there's been so much that has went on over the
last even just ten years. All of the hits, including
the conspiracy to commit hits with these people, all of
those hits have happened between twenty eleven and twenty twenty one,
(26:36):
and it's obviously conceivable that Leo Rizzuto could go to
jail for at least twenty five years. Now there is
no Rico Act in Canada. Though. Again, if he's hit
and charged and then convicted with first green murder, he
would have to be in prison at least twenty five years,
which would mean at the age of fifty six, he
(26:57):
would be in his early eighties. That's if he even
gets released on parole at that point. Now, again it
must be made clear that Leo Rizzuto is an attorney.
His sister is an attorney. He's a very smart person
and I'm guessing he was very insulated. It's not like
he went out and committed these crimes. As far as
we know. This is going to be very much about
(27:19):
his word and what he argues against the word of
the main witness in this case of the cooperator. Most
of the information is said to have come from a
man called Frederick Silva. Now, Frederick Silva is one of
the biggest killers in the history of Canada. In fact,
(27:41):
according to Frederick Silva, he personally participated in up to
sixty five different hits on behalf of organized crime, everybody
from the mafia to bikers. I mean, this guy was
just a hit man, that's what he was. He was
eventually convicted, given a long prison sets and decided to flip.
(28:02):
This is all from his collaboration. Now again, I'm not
putting Leo Rizuto out the pasture or any of these people.
They are all innocent until proven guilty. That's important to understand.
That said, this is a big blow to the Rizzuto
crime family or what's left with the Zudo crime family.
Will the mob ever leave Montreal, Of course not. It's
(28:23):
always going to be around. That said, over the last
ten years, more and more ethnic groups have come into
the area. You always have bikers, you always have black
street gangs, you have Haitians, you have the injuring Getta
who is in Toronto. Several people believe that the hit
in twenty twenty one on David Barbierro was the enjuring Geta.
(28:46):
So again, a power vacuum. Criminal groups recognize that this
group right now is week. A lot of their leadership
is in prison or might be going away for a
long time, so someone's going to try to fill the void.
This is exactly what happened when Vita Risuto was killed
in twenty thirteen, and then even several years ago Chit
Talbosa was looking to try to take over the family
(29:09):
and that was one of the reasons he attempted to
whack lear Risuto, and then he was then whacked for that.
We've seen Greg Wooley, a high ranking a member in
black organized crime, taken out. This has been war after
war between various high ranking organized crime groups. Canada is
continuously involved with very crazy wars back and forth. That said,
(29:32):
Lea Rizzuto off the street now again, we also have
to remember too that Canada is pretty lax on crime.
I'm sure Leo could probably beat this. We'll see. We'll
have to wait and figure it all out down the road.
But I wanted to kind of go through a little
bit of history on Lea Rizzuto, just talk about some
of the stuff that maybe you didn't know about him.
(29:54):
The fact that he was a lawyer and still is
is pretty interesting in the grand scheme of things. Will
the Rosudo crime family survive? Let me know in the
comments section below, and if you'd like to support this
channel further, please hit that thanks button below the video,
and also check out our sponsor profit X in the
pen comment Happy Father's Day. We'll see you next week
(30:17):
here on the sit Down
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