Nicolo Rizzuto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 18, 1924 |
| Died | November 10, 2010 (aged 86) |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Resting place | Saint-François d'Assise cemetery, Saint-Leonard, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Other names | Nick, Nicolò |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Occupation | Crime boss |
| Spouse |
Libertina Manno (m. 1945) |
| Children | Vito Rizzuto Maria Rizzuto |
| Parent(s) | Vito Rizzuto Sr. Maria Renda |
| Relatives | Nicolo "Nick" Rizzuto Jr. (grandson) Leonardo Rizzuto (grandson) Libertina Rizzuto (granddaughter) Paolo Renda (son-in-law) Domenico Manno (brother-in-law) Antonio Manno (father-in-law) |
| Allegiance | Rizzuto crime family |
| Conviction(s) | Drug trafficking (1988) Possession of proceeds of a crime (2008) Tax evasion (2010) |
| Criminal penalty | Eight years' imprisonment; served five years Served two years' imprisonment Ordered to pay a $209,000 fine |
Nicolo Rizzuto (Italian: [nikoˈlɔ rritˈtsuːto]; February 18, 1924 – November 10, 2010) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss and founder of the Rizzuto crime family, the Sicilian Mafia organization based in Montreal, Quebec.
Rizzuto was born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Italy, in 1924, and immigrated to Montreal in 1954 with his wife, son and daughter. He married into the mob through his wife Libertina Manno's family, beginning as an associate in the Sicilian faction of the Calabrian Cotroni crime family, which had most of the control in Montreal. In the late 1970s, a mob war broke out between the Sicilian and Calabrian factions, which resulted in the deaths of Paolo Violi, the acting capo of the Cotroni family, and his brothers. Although Rizzuto was not charged with any of these murders, he was linked to them as the events allowed the Rizzuto family to emerge as the preeminent crime family in Montreal by the early 1980s.
Rizzuto was incarcerated twice, once in 1988 on drug charges where he served five years in a Venezuelan prison, and the other in 2006 where he served two years in jail of a tax evasion charge. His son Vito later followed him into the mob, and in 2007 was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder as well as racketeering, serving a prison sentence until 2012. During this time, a power struggle within the Rizzuto family ensued; his grandson Nicolo Jr. was killed in 2009, followed by Rizzuto himself by a sniper rifle while in his home on November 10, 2010.