Pietro Scarcella

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Pietro Scarcella
Born (1950-07-12) July 12, 1950 (age 73)
Conspiracy to commit murder
Criminal penalty9 years' imprisonment (2006)

Pietro "Peter" Scarcella (Italian:

mobster based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, linked to the Sicilian Rizzuto crime family of Montreal
, Quebec.

In the 1970s, Scarcella became the driver of Toronto mobster,

Cosimo Commisso planned to murder him along with Volpe, but the plot was later foiled. In 1983, Volpe was found dead in the trunk of his car, and Scarcella is said to be the last one to see Volpe alive before his unsolved murder. In the early to mid 2000s, hostilities developed between Scarcella and rival mob figure Michele Modica. In April 2004, Scarcella devised an assassination attempt of Modica in a North York California Sandwiches shop, but only left an innocent victim, Louise Russo, paralyzed. An associate of Scarcella's, Raffaele Delle Donne, became an informant
, which led to Scarcella's 2005 arrest and 2006 sentencing to nine years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. In 2012, Scarcella was released on a statutory release program.

Early years with Volpe

Scarcella was born on 12 July 1950 in

Canadian citizenship in 1971.[1] In the early 1970s, Scarcella worked at a parking lot in downtown Toronto where Paul Volpe, the caporegime of the Buffalo crime family's Toronto-area crew, and his brothers used to park his car. This allowed him to establish a connection with Volpe, as Scarcella became his personal driver.[2]

In 1980, Scarcella was charged in connection with a commissions scam at a disposal company and was found guilty of writing phony invoices.

conspiracy to commit murder.[4]

Scarcella moved up in Volpe's organization, having a hand in running the gambling and loan-sharking operations, while also working on schemes where they would be paid kickbacks from both the union and the developers for negotiating construction contracts.

Pearson International Airport; Scarcella is said to be the last one to see Volpe alive before his unsolved murder.[2] After Volpe's death, Scarcella forged closer ties with the Montreal Mafia, the Rizzuto crime family, who were also Sicilian.[2] On 29 January 2002, Juan Ramon Fernandez, the Toronto agent of the Rizzuto family, was recorded in a wiretapped phone call to the Hells Angel Steven "Tiger" Lindsay discussing having Scarcella murder Constantin "Big Gus" Alvizos, whom Fernandez accused of stealing $600,000 from the Rizzuto family.[5]

Attempted hit on Modica

In the early to mid 2000s, hostilities developed between Scarcella and former associate Michele Modica, who owed $130,000 to him and the Hells Angels.[6] Another mobster, Salvatore Calautti ran up over $200,000 in gambling debts to the Rizzuto family and the Hells Angels; refusing to pay, the debt was believed to be assumed by Modica. This led to the April 21, 2004, attempted assassination of Modica in a North York California Sandwiches shop, leaving an innocent victim, mother of three children, Louise Russo paralyzed, while Modica and his associates escaped unscathed.[7] Scarcella's nephew Antonio Borrelli had sprayed bullets with an AR-15 assault rifle from a van including Hells Angels bikers Paris Christoforou and Mark Peretz as the driver.[6] Modica was later deported to Sicily.[8]

Prison time and later release

An associate of Scarcella's

conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced to nine years in prison along with Peretz and Christoforou, while the shooter Borrelli received 10 years in prison.[6][10] During the 2006 sentencing, Russo was paid $2 million in restitution from the mobsters to cover costs of rehabilitation and increased living expenses.[10]

On April 1, 2007, Scarcella was stabbed six times in the chest in Millhaven maximum security penitentiary, taken to Kingston General Hospital and returned to prison the following week, but kept away from other prisoners.[11] He moved to Beaver Creek Institution in 2009.[12] In 2009, Scarcella recommended that Martino Caputo should start working with Nick Nero when the latter was released on parole.[13] On 11 April 2012, Scarcella was released on a statutory release program.[10]

Books

  • Cédilot, André; Noël, André (2011). Mafia Inc The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada's Sicillian Clan. Toronto: Random House of Canada.
    ISBN 978-0-30736040-3
    .
  • Edwards, Peter; Nájera, Luis (2021). The Wolfpack The Millennial Mobsters Who Brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworl. Toronto: Random House of Canada.
    ISBN 9780735275409
    .

References

  1. ^ "A MAN WITH A PAST". nationalpost.com. 25 June 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Mob war led to Russo shooting, sources say". theglobeandmail.com. 16 April 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 330
  4. ^ a b c Schneider, Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, pp. 329
  5. ^ Cédilot & Noël 2011, p. 296.
  6. ^ a b c d "PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE". theglobeandmail.com. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Slaying of hitman and his friend has expert wondering if Montreal's Mafia war is coming to Toronto". thestar.ca. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  8. ISBN 9780345813787
    .
  9. ^ "4 charged in Toronto sandwich shop shooting". cbc.ca. April 14, 2005.
  10. ^ a b c "Jailed mobster to be released". torontosun.com. 1 April 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Mobster jailed in Russo case stabbed". thestar.com. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Mob war possible after Scarcella's release". torontosun.com. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  13. ^ Edwards & Nájera 2021, p. 71.
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