TOP TEN MAFIA BOSSES

Mafia. The name alone conjures shadowy images of underworld activity - debts and allegiances, honor and respect, family, power, and death. Add to that the popular cinematic exploits of Hollywood Mafioso as portrayed by Brando, De Niro, Pacino et al, and there is a romanticism associated with ‘the men of honor’ that is difficult to reconcile with the facts - the murders, chaos and corruption that surround their history and their members. The ‘don’ or ‘boss’ is usually the mastermind controlling this chaos; pulling the strings, making sure the deals get done, and above all else protecting his family, and himself, by whatever means necessary...

The following ten bosses are all still alive and have in their own ways displayed the ruthless conviction and fierce brutality necessary to rise to the top of their ranks. Let us now examine the ten most notorious Mafia bosses on Earth.

10. Vito Rizzuto (b. 1946-)

Vito Rizzuto, also known as Montreal’s ‘Teflon Don’, is head of the Rizzuto crime family and was once alleged to be the overall boss of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada. Rizzuto was arrested in 2003 on charges of loansharking and racketeering and for his involvement in the 1981 murder of three rival Bonanno family captains – as fictionalized in the movie Donnie Brasco. In a series of attacks on the family, Rizzuto’s son Nick Jr. was murdered in December 2009. Rizzuto himself is due for release from federal prison in 2012.

Check in tomorrow for number 9