Vincenzo Cotroni | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Vincenzo Cotrone 1911 Mammola, Calabria, Italy |
| Died | September 16, 1984 (aged 72–73) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Resting place | Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal |
| Other names | Vic, "The Egg" |
| Occupation | Crime boss |
| Spouse |
Maria Bresciano (m. 1928) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Frank Cotroni (brother) Dino Bravo (nephew-in-law) |
| Allegiance | Bonanno crime family Cotroni crime family |
| Conviction(s) | Extortion (1975) |
| Criminal penalty | Six years' imprisonment; served six months on appeal |
Vincenzo "Vic" Cotroni (Italian: [vinˈtʃɛntso koˈtroːni]; born Vincenzo Cotrone;[1] Italian: [koˈtroːne]; 1911 – September 16, 1984), also known as "The Egg", was an Italian-born Canadian crime boss of the Cotroni crime family in Montreal, Quebec.
Cotroni was born in 1911 in Mammola, Calabria, Italy. In 1924, he immigrated to Montreal. In his early life, he worked as a professional wrestler under the name "Vic Vincent." By the age of 20, Cotroni had accumulated a lengthy record of minor offences, bootlegging with local bootlegger Armand Courville. In 1928, Cotroni was charged with rape against Maria Bresciano. The charge was dropped when Maria agreed to marry him in May 1928, and later had a child, Rosina.
Throughout his life, Cotroni kept a low profile. In 1974, he was subpoenaed to stand before a Quebec government commission inquiry into organized crime and was jailed for one year for contempt. The following year, Cotroni and his capodecina Paolo Violi, along with Hamilton, Ontario mobster Johnny Papalia, were convicted of extortion and sentenced to six years in prison; Cotroni's sentence was later reduced on appeal to just six months.
In the late 1970s, Cotroni transferred control of the day-to-day activities of the family to Violi, together with his brother Frank Cotroni, Nicolas Dilorio, and Luigi Greco. A power struggle between the Calabrians led by Violi and a Sicilian faction led by Nicolo Rizzuto soon broke out; in the mob war that followed the Sicilian Rizzuto crime family emerged as the preeminent crime family in Montreal by the early 1980s. On September 16, 1984, Cotroni died of cancer.
- ^ Auger and Edwards The Encyclopedia of Canadian Organized Crime p.63.