Rochester Mafia family hitman escapes from federal custody in Florida

By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.

A deadly Mafia hitman for the Rochester crime family escaped from federal custody in Florida on Monday. 64-year-old Dominic Taddeo (photo above) was recently moved to a residential halfway house after doing time in a medium-security prison. He admitted killing three mob rivals in a gangland war in the 1980s.

The Bureau of Prisons website lists Taddeo’s current status as “Escaped On: 03/28/2022”. A highly unusual status, to say the least. Unusual because we don’t often see ageing mobsters escape from prison. But especially since his release date was just one year away and his time at the halfway house was to get him ready for his return to society.

“Records show that Taddeo went to an approved medical appointment on March 28 and did not return. Information was not immediately available about the security for the appointment,” the Democrat and Chronicle reports.

He was denied a compassionate release from prison in 2021 because of his violent history involving the Rochester crime family. Taddeo felt he earned it due to health issues like hypertension and obesity, which made him vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors and the judge disagreed.

Rochester mob war

As a hitman for the Rochester mob, Taddeo murdered three men in the early 1980s. He shot to death Nicholas Mastrodonato, Gerald Pelusio, and Dino Tortatice. However, prosecutors would not find out until an informant told them about it.

Taddeo was also involved in two separate failed hit attempts on Rochester Mafia family capo Thomas Marotta during the internecine mob war between two factions within the Rochester family. He hit Marotta with six shots from a .22-caliber as the mob captain left an apartment in April 1983. Miraculously, Marotta survived.

In November of that year, Taddeo did a second attempt. This time he fired ten bullets into Marotta. Again, the mob leader survived.

On the lam

Wily as a fox, Taddeo had vanished in 1987 after making bail on federal firearm charges. Using dozens of aliases, he moved around a lot and stayed on the run for two years. He was arrested in 1989 and pleaded guilty in 1992 to racketeering charges that included the three Mafia slayings.

He was sentenced to 54 years in prison.

Now, this old school shooter is out again. Impatient as he was, he could not wait one year until his release. Apparently, he had some pressing business to attend to. One can only wonder what he’s up to and where he’s at.

UPDATE - April 5, 2022: Taddeo was arrested by U.S. Marshals on April 4, 2022.

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