Sunday, March 11, 2007

Canada's Musitano rearrested

Pat and Angelo Musitano
Angelo Musitano, 29, was arrested in Ontario, Canada, March 7 for alleged parole violations, according to a story by Adrian Humphreys of Canada's National Post.

Musitano was released from prison Oct. 5 after serving six years for ordering a mob hit against a rival Mafioso. His parole included strict conditions. He was not to associate with anyone involved in criminal activity or even to contact his brother Pasquale "Pat" Musitano without prior approval. Pasquale reputedly took control of the Musitano Crime Family after the 1995 death of their father, Dominic.

Angelo and Pasquale both pleaded guilty in 2000 to ordering the killing of Carmen Barillaro of Niagara Falls. The hit is believed to have been part of an underworld reorganization after the 1997 murder of Ontario boss "Johnny Pops" Papalia. The brothers were sentenced to 10 years and then released on parole last year.

Barillaro reportedly believed the Musitanos were responsible for Papalia's death, according to a 2006 report by Barbara Brown of the Hamilton Ontario Spectator. Police surveillance on June 2, 1997, picked up a conversation between Barillaro and Pasquale Musitano, in which Musitano denied any involvement in the killing. Barillaro connected the brothers to Ken Murdock, triggerman in the Papalia attack. Fearing Barillaro's wrath, the brothers decided to strike first and sent Murdock after Barillaro. Murdock pleaded guilty Nov. 24, 1998, to killing both Papalia and Barillaro. He was given a life prison sentence.

Authorities did not say what Angelo specifically did to violate his parole conditions, but they ruled out unauthorized contact with his brother as a cause for his arrest. The Canadian corrections service has 30 days to investigate the case and either release Musitano or turn him over to the parole board.

According to a story by Paul Morse of the Hamilton Ontario Spectator, the national parole board upheld the restriction against Angelo's association with his brother on appeal. The board found that, even while in Collins Bay Institution, the brothers combined to perform illegal activities: "...you and your brother actively recruited other inmates to participate, on your behalf, in... illegal gambling, bookmaking, intimidation and illegal drugs."

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Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
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