Joseph Todaro Jr.

Joseph A. "Big Joe" Todaro Jr. (born 1945 or 1946)[1] is a Buffalo, New York businessman and the son of Joseph Todaro Sr.[2] Todaro is best known as the owner of La Nova Pizzeria, a popular pizzeria chain in the Western New York region that was founded by his father. Both Todaro Sr. and Todaro Jr. have been accused of holding regional leadership roles in the American Mafia, charges that Todaro Jr. has denied.

In 2017, Canadian court proceedings alleged that Todaro Jr. is the current boss of the Buffalo crime family, a position previously held by his father Todaro Sr.[3][4]

Biography

Joseph A. Todaro Jr. was born to Joseph Todaro Sr. and Josephine Santamauro.[5] He later married Carol Ann "Cookie" and had two children Joseph E. Todaro and Carla (she later married Salvatore Pantano).[5]

Joseph "Big Joe" Todaro Jr. became a business agent for the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 210.[6] Todaro Jr. was accused of being involved in an unsuccessful plot to murder Faust Novino in 1976. Allegedly, the ambush was set up by Novino's long-time associate and friend Louis Pisa who approached him about committing a burglary at a warehouse at 463 Connecticut Street on Buffalo's west side. Novino testified that he believed that he and Pisa were alone when he noticed a heavyset man, whom he identified as John Sacco, raising his arm to hit him. At that moment he drew his .45 and shot Sacco. Then, hearing footsteps behind him, he turned and shot at a man he identified as Leonard Falzone. Novino said that he then saw two men, Todaro Jr. and Frank Billiteri, crouched on the floor on either side of him. Feeling boxed in, he shot once at Falzone, and again at Sacco who was allegedly still coming at him. He then turned, ran into Falzone, and fired the weapon into his chest, but it jammed. Finally, after hiding behind a rolled-up rug, he was able to escape out a door leading to 17th Street.[7][8]

In 1984, Todaro Jr. allegedly became the underboss of the Buffalo crime family when his father became the new head of the crime family upon the retirement of his predecessor Samuel "Sam the Farmer" Frangiamore.[9]

In 1989, an FBI statement was filed in connection with a gambling investigation and identified Todaro Sr. and his son Todaro Jr. as the leaders of a 45 made member Buffalo Mafia family and were in control of various criminal activities that included labor racketeering, bookmaking, loansharking and narcotics trafficking.[10][11] The court statements also claimed that Joseph Todaro Jr. was running the Mafia family because his father Todaro Sr. was in semi-retirement splitting time between his Tonawanda and Florida homes.[11][9][12][13] It was also stated that Leonard F. Falzone was running a local loansharking operation and brothers Victor and Daniel Sansanese were controlling bookmaking for the Todaro's.[11] The FBI had also bugged Falzone's union-owned car in 1988, to link the Todaro's in the illegal gambling case but the device was unable to provide any evidence linking the Todaro's.[11]

In 1990, Todaro Jr. resigned as business agent of LIUNA following investigations into the local union's alleged ties to organized crime.[6]

On September 6, 1993 his son Joseph Edward Todaro III married Dana Christine Panepinto, the daughter of Donald Panepinto.[14]

In 1996 Todaro Sr. and his son Todaro Jr. were listed among 24 alleged organized crime figures who were accused of influencing the Laborers International Union of North America since the 1960s.[10]

In 1999, Joseph Todaro Jr. along with his father Joseph Todaro Sr. and 16 others were named in a civil racketeering lawsuit for controlling local 210 through the years by various racketeering acts.[15] The court complaint identified Joseph A. Todaro Jr. as underboss and his father Joseph E. Todaro Sr. as boss of the Buffalo family and the owners of La Nova Pizzeria.[15] Todaro Jr. served as Local 210 business manager in 1990 before resigning.[15] Todaro Jr. attempted to keep control of Local 210 with the help of Peter Gerace and Peter Capitano, both of them already held positions in the Local.[15] The charges were based on the testimony of Ronald M. Fino, a former business manager of Local 210 before he became an FBI informant.[15]

In 2006, Todaro Sr. retired, and Todaro Jr. become boss,[12] with Leonard F. "Lennie Calzone" Falzone acting under him.[16] His father Todaro Sr. died on December 26, 2012 at age 89 following a lengthy illness.[10] In 2016, Falzone died.[13] Outside of organized crime, Todaro Jr. operates La Nova Pizzeria in Buffalo; Todaro III operates a chicken wing spin-off under the La Nova brand.[1]

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 1995, Todaro Jr. assumed the day-to-day running of the Buffalo family from his father, Joseph Todaro Sr., becoming acting boss of the crime family.[17] Until Domenico Violi's trial in 2018 in Hamilton, Ontario, it was believed that Todaro Jr. had stepped down from active participation in the Buffalo mafia in 2006 and that Leonard Falzone (who died in 2016) had taken over as boss.[18] Ron Fino indicated that he believed that Falzone was acting as the front boss for the Todaros.[16] Wiretaps recorded from 2015 to 2017 also indicated Domenico Violi of the Luppino crime family, was made the underboss of the Buffalo crime family[19] by boss Todaro Jr. in October 2017 in a meeting in Florida; the first Canadian to hold the second-highest position in the American Mafia.[20] The wiretaps also revealed the activity of The Commission (the governing body of the American Mafia) as Violi's promotion was so unusual that Todaro Jr. consulted with The Commission for permission to promote Violi as the Buffalo family's new underboss.[20] Homeland Security Investigations Agent Curtis Ryan indicated Todaro is the current boss of the Buffalo LCN family court papers related to his nephew, Peter Gerace Jr.'s, alleged bribing of DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni.[21] The Buffalo News speculated that La Nova Pizzeria's growing popularity had prompted the Todaros to lower their profile to avoid scrutiny over the family's ties to the Mafia.[1]

Todaro, in accordance with the general policy of omertà, has consistently declined to comment on his role in organized crime.[1] In a January 2023 interview, Todaro went on record denying that he held a leadership role in organized crime.[21]

References
  1. Herbeck, Dan (March 19, 2017). "The Mafia is all but dead in Western New York. So what killed it?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  2. Fairbanks, Phil (2018-12-08). "Is the Buffalo Mafia dead or alive?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  3. Humphries, Adrian (2018-12-04). "Shocking mob trial allegation: Hamilton crime figure was Underboss of Buffalo Mafia | National Post". Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  4. Hayes, Molly; McArthur, Greg (2018-12-03). "'It opens up an underworld:' How a drug plea has exposed a Mafia network in Hamilton". The Globe and News. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  5. "Todaro - Joseph E. "Papa Joe"". The Buffalo News. December 28, 2012. Archived from the original on February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  6. Herbeck, Dan (1996-01-31). "Justice Dept. Claims Union Has Been Dominated By Mob". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  7. Cardinale, Anthony; Buckham, Tom (1993-04-13). "NOVINO DESCRIBES ESCAPE FROM AMBUSH IN 1976 AND IDENTIFIES 4 OF 5 SUSPECTS". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  8. Herbeck, Dan (1992-11-22). "NOVINO SET TO TESTIFY AS FEDERAL WITNESS SICURELLA PERJURY TRIAL SEEN AS PART OF EFFORT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
  9. Kurek, Albert S. (March 2007). The Troopers Are Coming II: New York State Troopers 1943–1985. pp. 177–181. ISBN 9781600080197.
  10. "Joseph E. Todaro, founder of La Nova, dies at 89". The Buffalo News. December 27, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  11. Dan Herbeck (July 26, 1989). "TODAROS ATOP MOB, FBI SAYS FAMILY REPUTEDLY SPINS A WIDE WEB OF CRIME". The Buffalo News. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  12. "TODAROS ATOP MOB, FBI SAYS FAMILY REPUTEDLY SPINS A WIDE WEB OF CRIME". The Buffalo News. 1989-07-26. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  13. Hudson, Mike. "Who will lead now that Todaro, Nicoletti gone?". Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  14. "Mrs. Todaro". The Buffalo News. September 7, 1993. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  15. "Mob-led union needs oversight, court is told". The Buffalo News Staff Reporter. December 2, 1999. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  16. Fino, Ronald; Rizzo, Michael (2013). The Triangle Exit: The True Story of a Secret Undercover Operative for the FBI and CIA. Tel-Aviv, Israel: Contento De Semrik. pp. 5105 (Kindle Location). ISBN 978-965-550-193-3.
  17. Beebe, Michael; Herbeck, Dan (1993-06-27). "RAIDS ON TELEMARKETING FIRMS FIND NUMEROUS TIES TO ORGANIZED CRIME". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  18. Hudson, Mike. "Who will lead now that Todaro, Nicoletti gone?". niagarafallsreporter.com. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  19. "A Canadian murder. 'Buffalo's crime family.' Is the Mafia still around?". Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  20. "Shocking mob trial allegation: Hamilton crime figure was Underboss of Buffalo Mafia". National Post. 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  21. Reporters, Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck News Staff. "Who is Joe Todaro and why do the feds say this pizzeria owner runs the Buffalo mob?". Buffalo News. Retrieved 2023-01-26.

Further reading
  • Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
  • Penn, Stanley. Have I Got a Tip for You, and Other Tales of Dirty Secrets, Political Payoffs, and Corporate Scams: A Guide to Investigative Reporting. New York: Dow Jones & Company, 1994. ISBN 1-881944-01-8
  • United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Crime. Administration's Efforts Against the Influence of Organized Crime in the Laborer's International Union of North America: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary. 1997. ISBN 0-16-054211-1
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