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2024-03-28T12:27:31Z
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The downfall of Hamilton mob boss Pasquale “Pat” Musitano
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-downfall-of-hamilton-mob-boss-pasquale-pat-musitano
2020-07-12T08:41:20.000Z
2020-07-12T08:41:20.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-downfall-of-hamilton-mob-boss-pasquale-pat-musitano" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237160300,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237160300?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Hamilton mob boss Pasquale “Pat” Musitano knew this would be the ending. Shot to death in a parking lot. It happened last Friday around 1 p.m. in Burlington, Ontario. Musitano was 52 years old. His body was covered with a tarp while police investigated the area.</p>
<p>Nearby, was parked Musitano’s black GMC Yukon Denali. The same car he got into when he was shot four times in a hit attempt a year ago. Though he survived, he knew what was coming. On May 2, 2017, assassins already <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hamilton-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-front-of-home" target="_blank">shot dead his brother Angelo</a> in front of his home in Waterton. Later that same year, unknown gunmen <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/home-of-hamilton-mobster-pat-musitano-riddled-with-bullets" target="_blank">riddled Pat’s home</a> with bullets. It wasn’t hard to see what the future held for <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Musitano" target="_blank">Pasquale Musitano</a> (photo above, right, with his brother Angelo, left.)</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Omerta</strong></span></p>
<p>Throughout it all, however, Musitano refused to talk with police trying to make sense of the violence. “I have spoken with Pat and no, he was not co-operative,” Staff Sgt. Mike Cunliffe, the lead investigator of the attack on his home, told the Hamilton Spectator. Perhaps he felt he could still win this thing and make things right again in the underworld he had come to dominate in the 1990s.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: King of the Bootleggers:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/king-of-the-bootleggers-profile-of-hamilton-mob-boss-rocco-perri" target="_blank"><strong>Profile of Hamilton mob boss Rocco Perri</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Pasquale and his younger brother Angelo rose to prominence after their father, Domenic, passed away in 1995. Domenic was a mob powerhouse and his boys pretty much inherited his influence and connections. After taking over their father’s criminal operations, the brothers weren’t satisfied. They wanted more. They wanted to be the top crime bosses in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Hamilton" target="_blank">Hamilton</a> underworld.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Taking the throne from “Johnny Pops”</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237160892,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237160892?profile=original" /></a>The man standing in their way was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Papalia" target="_blank">John “Pops” Papalia</a> (right), an old-school Mafia boss with international connections who had played a role in the infamous French Connection. The Musitano brothers hired a hitman named Kenny Murdock to take out the gangland ruler.</p>
<p>Murdock did as he was told. He shot Papalia in the head on May 31, 1997, in the parking lot outside his vending machine business in Hamilton. He was 73.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-a-domestic-dispute-led-to-the-death-of-one-of-canada-s-most-p" target="_blank"><strong>How a domestic dispute led to the death of Mafia boss Rocco Zito</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Rather than step right up after the murder of Papalia, Pat and Ang Musitano faced serious legal consequences for their murderous actions after Murdock flipped and began testifying. Authorities were hot on their tail and eager to lock them up before they could fill the power vacuum in the Hamilton underworld. They somewhat succeeded.</p>
<p>Though they failed to link the Musitanos to the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">murder</a> of Papalia, they did get them to admit their involvement in the 1997 murder of Papalia henchman and Niagara mob boss Carmen Barillaro. The plea deal resulted in a 10-year prison sentence for Pasquale and Angelo. They were released in the winter of 2006.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“They have too many enemies”</strong></span></p>
<p>Finally, they could enjoy the fruits of their labor, they thought. But things weren’t that easy. They never are in a world filled with thieves, killers, and cheats. In the years that followed tension was building. Pretty soon, the ominous warnings began.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237161075,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237161075?profile=original" /></a>Pat Musitano’s (photo above) car was set on fire in front of his home in September of 2015. Two years later, his brother Angelo was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hamilton-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-front-of-home" target="_blank">murdered in front of his home</a>. He was 39, just a few days away from turning 40.</p>
<p>After Angelo Musitano was murdered, renowned crime reporter James Dubro then told <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> that he believed Pasquale to be next. “Pat and Ang have always been violent and over the top so Ang's murder has been for some time not a question of ‘why’ or ‘how’ but ‘when.’ The same goes for his brother Pat. They have too many enemies. Too many hits ordered by them.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-canadian-connection-flooding-the-u-s-with-dope" target="_blank"><strong>The Canadian Connection: Flooding the U.S. with dope</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Later Dubro <a href="https://twitter.com/jamesdubro" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, “Musitano’s mob days are numbered!”</p>
<p>It turned out his rivals weren’t satisfied with Musitano just being out of the mob. They wanted him removed from this world. Shortly after 1:00 p.m. on July 10, 2020, they succeeded. Pasquale Musitano was dead.</p>
<p>His death means the end of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Musitano" target="_blank">Musitano crime family</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Montreal" target="_blank">Montreal</a>, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Rizzuto" target="_blank">Rizzutos</a> ran things with an iron fist for several decades. Right up until the point someone challenged their power and the whole world changed. Who would’ve thought such a thing was possible?</p>
<p>The Papalias held a similar chokehold on the underworld in Hamilton. Right up until the point the Musitano brothers shot down “Johnny Pops” Papalia and took over his throne. Now, the Musitanos themselves are gone.</p>
<p>In the end they were just another chapter in a book filled with repetitions. A hungry dog smells weakness and decides to challenge the dog at the top. A fight breaks out and the young dog comes out on top. He sits high and mighty and begins to weaken, causing the cycle of life to begin anew.</p>
<p>Yeah, Pat Musitano knew this was how it would end. The question for those left behind is: Who will take his place?</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in-canada-from-the-mafia-to-outlaw-bikers-and-dru">Organized Crime in Canada section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
“For him, I am a god” – Profile of Russian Mafia boss, and vor v zakone, Razhden Shulaya
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/for-him-i-am-a-god-profile-of-russian-mafia-boss-and-vor-v-zakone
2018-12-22T10:26:18.000Z
2018-12-22T10:26:18.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/for-him-i-am-a-god-profile-of-russian-mafia-boss-and-vor-v-zakone" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237115687,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237115687?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>As a vor v zakone, mob boss Razhden Shulaya (above) was an official member of a century-old criminal tradition. As such, he was treated as Russian Mafia royalty. He used that position to run a sprawling organization involved in kidnapping, assault, fraud, extortion, and money laundering throughout the United States.</p>
<p>It was on the streets of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Petersburg" target="_blank">St. Petersburg</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Russia" target="_blank">Russia</a>, that Shulaya earned his stripes in the Russian underworld fraternity of the vory v zakone, or thieves-in-law. Welcomed into this brotherhood, he enjoyed its protection and influence.</p>
<p>As a member, he now too could offer the same to other <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview" target="_blank">Russian gangsters</a> seeking his guidance. His powerful position also enabled him to demand tribute payments from low-level criminals. More importantly, his title traveled along with him everywhere he went - even to the United States of America.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Russian Mafia has no boundaries</strong></span></p>
<p>Shulaya’s center of operations was based in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=NYC" target="_blank">New York City</a>, but he set up various crews with its members operating in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Florida" target="_blank">Florida</a>, and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Nevada" target="_blank">Nevada</a>. Of course, as an international Russian Mafia boss his organization knew no boundaries.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Spanish court rules investments of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/spanish-court-rules-that-investments-of-tambovskaya-malyshevskaya" target="_blank">Tambovskaya-Malyshevskaya Russian Mafia clan</a> not criminal</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Most of his underlings were born in Russia and countries once part of the Soviet Union and many maintained substantial ties to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Georgia" target="_blank">Georgia</a>, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation. They traveled there regularly, communicated with associates in those countries, and transferred criminal proceeds to individuals there.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>From bribes to brothels: Business was booming</strong></span></p>
<p>There were enough proceeds to transfer. Business was booming in the United States. Shulaya liked to be on top things and personally oversaw the various illicit activities his associates were involved in. Whether it was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Extortion" target="_blank">extortion</a>, trafficking stolen goods, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Bribery" target="_blank">bribing</a> corrupt police officers or running <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gambling" target="_blank">gambling businesses</a> and a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Brothel" target="_blank">brothel</a> in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Brooklyn" target="_blank">Brooklyn</a>, Shulaya kept a close eye on his interests.</p>
<p>White collar crime also was a favorite. His crews engaged in identity theft, credit card fraud, and laundered their ill-gotten gains through a fraudulently established vodka import-export company. Shulaya also created a scheme to defraud <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Casino" target="_blank">casinos</a> by targeting particular models of electronic slot machines using a complicated algorithm designed to predict the behavior of those machines. </p>
<p>To obtain the technology needed to commit that fraud, he kidnapped a software engineer in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> in 2014. Shulaya then refined the technology by training lower-level members to execute this casino scam using smartphones and software developed by his organization.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237115887,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237115887?profile=original" /></a>“For him, I am a god”</strong></span></p>
<p>As the kidnapping showed, Shulaya (right) had no qualms about using force or violence – against anyone. He pistol-whipped a relative and gave a public beating to a disrespectful member of his gang. He even showed around photographs of the badly disfigured face of his former lieutenant Mamuka Chaganava, who he had beaten to a pulp. He took pride in his brutal work and was unafraid of retribution or Chaganava perhaps turning to police, saying: “For him, I am a god.”</p>
<p>Perhaps, but it also helped that he was usually flanked by Avtandil Khurtsidze, a former middleweight <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Boxing" target="_blank">boxing</a> champion and his chief enforcer and debt collector. Khurtsidze was captured on video twice assaulting others on orders of Shulaya and planned additional acts of violence with his boss targeting fellow members whom they perceived as having disrespected Shulaya’s status as a vor.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Downfall</strong></span></p>
<p>As the threats and beatings continued, the feds had found their target. On June 7, 2017, Shulaya and 32 members of his enterprise were hit with three indictments and one complaint charging them with a variety of racketeering charges.</p>
<p>A year later, following a two-week trial, Shulaya was found guilty of one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of conspiring to traffic in stolen goods such as luxury watches, one count of conspiracy to traffic in contraband tobacco, one count of identification document fraud, and one count of wire fraud conspiracy.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-two-russian-mobsters-got-caught-up-in-the-iraqi-civil-war" target="_blank"><strong>How two Russian mobsters got caught up in the Iraqi civil war</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Khurtsidze was also found guilty on racketeering and related charges and was subsequently sentenced on September 7, 2018 to 10 years behind bars. </p>
<p>41-year-old Shulaya was sentenced to 45 years in prison on December 19. In addition to the prison term, the Russian vor was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,169,270 in forfeiture and restitution in the amount of $550,000.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Camorra boss Antonio La Torre charged with plotting murder of Anti-Mafia prosecutors
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/camorra-boss-antonio-la-torre-charged-with-plotting-murder-of-ant
2018-09-01T10:00:00.000Z
2018-09-01T10:00:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/camorra-boss-antonio-la-torre-charged-with-plotting-murder-of-ant" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237106467,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237106467?profile=original" width="550" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Alleged Camorra boss Antonio La Torre (photo above) was arrested in Italy this week after police say they have evidence that he and his imprisoned brother Augusto plotted to assassinate two Anti-Mafia prosecutors. The two brothers made a name for themselves as they built an empire from Italy to Scotland and left the streets littered with dead bodies in the process.</p>
<p>The La Torre brothers led the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/camorra-overview" target="_blank">Camorra</a> clan based in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mondragone" target="_blank">Mondragone</a>, a seaside town near <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Naples" target="_blank">Naples</a>. Following in the footsteps of their mob boss father Tiberio La Torre, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/camorra-boss-augusto-la-torre" target="_blank">Augusto</a> took center stage of the organization with his willingness to kill. With their reputation for violence, the brothers quickly built a multimillion-dollar empire which stretched from Italy to other parts of Europe, mainly the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Netherlands" target="_blank">Netherlands</a> and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=UK" target="_blank">United Kingdom</a>.</p>
<p>Antonio settled in Aberdeen, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Scotland" target="_blank">Scotland</a>, in 1984, married a Scottish woman, and opened up several successful businesses using the clan’s ill-gotten gains. It took authorities 20 years to realize the La Torre brothers were laundering their dirty cash through their British business empire.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236998484,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236998484?profile=original" /></a>Antonio was busted in 2005 and convicted of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Extortion" target="_blank">extortion</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Racketeering" target="_blank">racketeering</a> in Italy a year later. He was released from prison in 2014. His brother <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/camorra-boss-augusto-la-torre" target="_blank">Augusto</a> (right) was also arrested and admitted his involvement in over <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/camorra-boss-augusto-la-torre" target="_blank">40 murders</a> and is still serving his sentence.</p>
<p>Now, however, the two men are back in the news. Police claim they have evidence that the brothers threatened to murder two prosecutors: Alessandro D’Alessio and his deputy Maria Laura Lalia Morra. The plot allegedly originated from Augusto’s prison cell and was uncovered by authorities when they used wiretaps and intercepted phone calls to listen in on discussions about the sinister plot.</p>
<p>In one recorded call, Augusto tells Antonio he “kills people” and orders him to “call” D’Alessio. According to authorities these words are a veiled threat. As Italian prosecutors are all too familiar with Mafia violence against them, they pounced quickly, arresting 62-year-old Antonio and three other men in a series of police raids and charged them with illegal possession of firearms, attempted extortion, attempted robbery and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a> association. Antonio has denied being guilty of any crimes.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/camorra-overview">Camorra section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Home of Hamilton mobster Pat Musitano riddled with bullets
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/home-of-hamilton-mobster-pat-musitano-riddled-with-bullets
2017-06-28T06:06:31.000Z
2017-06-28T06:06:31.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/home-of-hamilton-mobster-pat-musitano-riddled-with-bullets" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237089669,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237089669?profile=original" width="582" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Unknown assailants shot up the Hamilton home of longtime mobster Pasquale “Pat” Musitano early Tuesday morning. Though no one was injured, the house is riddled with around twelve bullet holes. Pasquale’s younger brother Angelo was shot and killed in a gangland hit in front of his Waterdown home on May 2. The attack comes as no surprise. “He has too many enemies.”</p>
<p>When police arrived at Musitano’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Hamilton" target="_blank">Hamilton</a> home to investigate they found a man beholden to different laws. “I have spoken with Pat and no, he was not co-operative,” Staff Sgt. Mike Cunliffe, the lead investigator on this case, told the <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7393865-shots-fired-at-hamilton-mobster-pat-musitano-s-home/#.WVLer-rKe7t.twitter" target="_blank">Hamilton Spectator</a>. Pat Musitano remains loyal to the code of silence, no doubt still believing he can fix things himself, either with a respectable <em><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangsters-inc-s-mafia-speak" target="_blank">sit down</a></em> or with brutal violence.</p>
<p>Canadian mob author James Dubro, however, thinks Musitano has no chance. After <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hamilton-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-front-of-home" target="_blank">Angelo Musitano was murdered</a>, Dubro told Gangsters Inc. that he believed Pasquale to be next. “Pat and Ang have always been violent and over the top so Ang's murder has been for some time not a question of ‘why’ or ‘how’ but ‘when.’ The same goes for his brother Pat. They have too many enemies. Too many hits ordered by them.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hamilton-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-front-of-home" target="_blank">Hamilton mobster Angelo Musitano shot dead in front of home</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Their father Domenic Musitano was a powerful <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Boss" target="_blank">mob boss</a> who passed away in 1995, leaving a power vacuum filled by Angelo and Pasquale. The brothers then waged a deadly war against <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Papalia" target="_blank">Johnny “Pops” Papalia</a>, the city’s most dominant crime boss, resulting in Papalia’s murder in 1997 and of Papalia’s henchman Niagara Falls mob boss Carmen Barillaro. The Musitanos received a 10-year prison sentence and were released in 2006.</p>
<p>Dubro and other <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7393865-shots-fired-at-hamilton-mobster-pat-musitano-s-home/#.WVLer-rKe7t.twitter" target="_blank">Canadian Mafia experts agree</a> that this latest attack was <em>merely</em> another warning, though. Similar to when Pat Musitano’s car was set afire in front of his home in September of 2015. The underworld has had enough of the Musitano brothers. Or, as Dubro <a href="https://twitter.com/jamesdubro" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, “Musitano’s mob days are numbered!”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in-canada-from-the-mafia-to-outlaw-bikers-and-dru">Organized Crime in Canada section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Russian Mafia boss Razhden Shulaya ran nationwide criminal enterprise from Brighton Beach to Las Vegas
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-boss-razhden-shulaya-ran-nationwide-criminal-enterp
2017-06-08T13:07:29.000Z
2017-06-08T13:07:29.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-boss-razhden-shulaya-ran-nationwide-criminal-enterp" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237079655,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237079655?profile=original" width="550" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Razhden Shulaya’s influence reached far. As a bona fide “Vor” – the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview" target="_blank">Russian Mafia</a>’s equivalent of a made guy – he was feared and revered by his underlings and had powerful connections in the Eastern European underworld. But Shulaya cast his sights on the United States, where he allegedly set up a nationwide criminal enterprise involved in gambling, extortion, fraud, murder-for-hire, and drug trafficking.</p>
<p>He is nicknamed “Brother,” authorities say. An affectionate moniker for a man whose job encompassed taking care of his men like a big brother. As a high-ranking member of the “vory v zakone,” or thieves-in-law,” brotherhood, Shulaya offered his underlings “assistance and protection” as they went about their criminal activities. When needed he would handle disputes and offer solutions. In return, they paid him a percentage of their earnings.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mob-boss-orders-the-internet-to-fuggedabout-him" target="_blank">Russian Mafia boss orders internet to "fuggedabout" him</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>40-year-old Shulaya was assisted by his 37-year-old lieutenant Zurab Dzhanashvili, who coordinated illegal <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gambling" target="_blank">gambling</a>, extortion, and the trafficking in contraband cigarettes and stolen merchandise. </p>
<p>Which such a largescale criminal enterprise he could use the help. The Shulaya organization was involved in a large variety of illicit activities, which included: running illegal poker businesses in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mob-crew-in-brighton-beach-busted-by-dea-irs" target="_blank">Brighton Beach</a>; extortion; drug trafficking; theft of cargo shipments, including a shipment containing approximately 10,000 pounds of chocolate confections; transportation and sale of numerous cases of untaxed cigarettes; the creation and use of forged identification documents, checks, and invoices; and the use of a female to seduce men, incapacitate them with gas, and then rob them.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/miami-and-the-russian-mob-by" target="_blank">Russian Mob in Miami</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Their brains never stopped thinking up new rackets. As money was pouring in from one shady venture, someone was already dreaming up making even more money on another illegal scheme. The group planned to defraud casinos in Atlantic City and Philadelphia by using electronic devices and computer servers to predict and exploit the behavior of electronic slot machines.</p>
<p>Violence, of course, was a preferred tool to advance and protect the organization and its interests. Even if it resulted in death. In May and June of this year, 26-year-old Nikoloz Jikia and 25-year-old Bakai Marat-Uulu agreed and planned to murder a person in possession of over $1,5 million dollars’ worth of stolen merchandise, in exchange for a piece of the loot.</p>
<p>The Shulaya organization was comprised of several crews, often with overlapping members or associates, dedicated to specific criminal tasks. While many of these crews were based in New York City, the Shulaya organization had operations in various locations throughout the United States, including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Florida" target="_blank">Florida</a>, and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Nevada" target="_blank">Nevada</a>, and abroad. </p>
<p>Most of the group’s members and associates were born in the former Soviet Union and many maintained substantial ties to Georgia, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, regularly traveling to those countries and frequently communicating with associates there. They also transferred their ill-gotten monies to individuals in those countries.</p>
<p>As they went about their business they used encrypted communications equipment, they talked in code and preferred to meet in person. Typical tradecraft to avoid the prying eyes of law enforcement.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for them, it did not work. On June 7, 2017, Razhden Shulaya and 32 of his underlings were hit with three indictments and one complaint charging them with a variety of racketeering charges that, if the defendants are found guilty, could result in lengthy prison sentences.</p>
<p>“The suspects in this case cast a wide net of criminal activity, aiming to make as much money as possible, all allegedly organized and run by a man who promised to protect them,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said. “But that protection didn't include escaping justice and being arrested by the agents and detectives on the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force. Our partnerships with other FBI field offices, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=NYPD" target="_blank">NYPD</a> and CBP allows us to do everything we can to go after criminals who don't believe the law applies to them.”</p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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Hamilton mobster Angelo Musitano shot dead in front of home - "He had too many enemies. Too many hits."
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/hamilton-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-front-of-home
2017-05-03T06:30:00.000Z
2017-05-03T06:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hamilton-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-front-of-home" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237079267,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237079267?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso - Updated on May 4, 2017</p>
<p>Mobster Angelo “Ang” Musitano (photo above) was shot to death in the driveway of his Waterdown home in Hamilton, Ontario, yesterday afternoon around 4 p.m. He was 39 and would’ve turned 40 this coming Sunday. His killer has not been apprehended.</p>
<p>Police describe the suspect to <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/angelo-musitano-shot-and-killed-hamilton-mob-hit-1.4096448" target="_blank">CBC</a> as “a heavy-set male wearing a dark tuque, black jacket, beige pants who was driving a dark-colored four-door sedan.”</p>
<p>James Dubro, a longtime crime reporter and author of several books about organized crime in Ontario, is far from surprised by the hit. “Pat and Ang have always been violent and over the top so Ang's murder has been for some time not a question of ‘why’ or ‘how’ but ‘when,’” he tells Gangsters Inc. “The same goes for his brother Pat. They have too many enemies. Too many hits ordered by them.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237079293,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237079293?profile=original" width="171" /></a>Angelo Musitano (right) is a well-known figure in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Hamilton" target="_blank">Hamilton underworld</a>. As son of Mafia boss Domenic Musitano, Angelo and his older brother <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/home-of-hamilton-mobster-pat-musitano-riddled-with-bullets" target="_blank">Pasquale “Pat” Musitano</a> quickly gravitated toward “the life.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/montreal-mafia-boss-vito-rizzuto-1946-2013" target="_blank">Profile of Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Hamilton was a city ruled by various Mafia factions all seeking a piece of the pie, but preferably the entire pie. Violent clashes occurred frequently and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Musitano" target="_blank">Musitanos</a> never backed down from a fight.</p>
<p>After the death of their father in 1995, Angelo and Pasquale stepped up and took over the day-to-day operations. They also fought a war against <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Papalia" target="_blank">Johnny “Pops” Papalia</a>, the city’s most dominant mob boss, resulting in Papalia’s murder in 1997 by the hands of hitman Kenny Murdock, who was allegedly hired by the Musitano brothers.</p>
<p>Prosecutors tried to pin the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">contract murder</a> on Angelo and Pasquale, but eventually settled for lesser charges related to another gangland murder. The Musitanos admitted their involvement in the 1997 murder of Papalia henchman and Niagara Falls mob boss Carmen Barillaro. Both received a 10-year sentence and were released from prison in the winter of 2006.</p>
<p>Since his release, Angelo Musitano kept a low profile, news reports indicate. According to a good friend of Angelo, the mobster had said farewell to the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a>. “Ang had left his past behind him,” Mike King told the <a href="http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7273835-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-waterdown-driveway/" target="_blank">Hamilton Spectator</a>. “Ang would stand up for what's right for everyone. He was a devoted father and was devoted in his faith. He was a good person.”</p>
<p>King and Musitano met a few years ago at a Christian men's group. He told the <a href="http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7273835-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-waterdown-driveway/" target="_blank">Hamilton newspaper</a> that Musitano loved his wife dearly and was living a clean life, running a legitimate business. “He loved the Lord,” King said. “He changed his life for the Lord.”</p>
<p>He backed up his story by sending the <a href="http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7273835-mobster-angelo-musitano-shot-dead-in-waterdown-driveway/" target="_blank">Hamilton Spectator</a> excerpts of a book Musitano was writing about his life. In it, Musitano detailed how he chose the wrong path and when he eventually found the lord and got back on track. </p>
<p>Whether he genuinely left his life of crime behind or if he was still involved remains to be seen. For a man like Musitano, however, just having the criminal history can be enough to end your life in the blink of an eye. As the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a> is an organization with a very long memory, it wouldn’t be unlikely that Musitano’s murder is a case of vengeance.</p>
<p>“Pat and Angelo were big targets since they had Papalia killed," Dubro explains. "Angie actually went along with the hitman to kill Barillaro - Kenny Murdock said ‘Ang was keen to doing it himself,’ but he had him stay in the car as watcher as Murdock did it in the doorway. Pat and Ang talked about putting on many other [murder] contracts. They were as I said a big target since getting out of jail in 2007 particularly from former Papalia crime family members, as well as Barillaro’s personal and criminal network.”</p>
<p>Revenge remains a dish best served cold.</p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in-canada-from-the-mafia-to-outlaw-bikers-and-dru">Organized Crime in Canada section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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