Not to be confused with Francesco "Frank" Cotroni Jr., his son.
Canadian mobster (1931–2004)
Frank Cotroni
Born
Francesco Cotrone
1931
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died
17 August 2004(2004-08-17) (aged 72)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Other names
Le Gros ("the Big Guy")
Occupation
Crime boss
Children
Francesco Cotroni Jr. Paolo Cotroni
Parent
Nicodemo Cotroni
Relatives
Vincenzo Cotroni (brother)
Allegiance
Bonanno crime family Cotroni crime family
Conviction(s)
Drug smuggling (1975) Manslaughter (1987) Drug trafficking (1997)
Criminal penalty
15 years' imprisonment; served four years Eight years' imprisonment Seven years' imprisonment; served four years
Frank Cotroni (born Francesco Cotrone;[1]Italian:[franˈtʃeskokoˈtroːne]; 1931 – 17 August 2004) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss of the Cotroni crime family in Montreal, Quebec.
Cotroni was born in 1931, in Montreal. His family, including his brother Vincenzo, had immigrated to Montreal in 1924, from Mammola, Calabria, Italy. His brother founded and headed the Cotroni crime family. Cotroni's principle illicit businesses were drug trafficking and labor racketeering, while he also worked at various times as a restaurateur, boxing promoter, owner of strip clubs in both Montreal and Toronto, ceramic manufacturer, and owner of a vending machine company. Cotroni had connections with the Bonanno crime family, and in 1975, was convicted in the United States of smuggling cocaine and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In prison, Cotroni met fellow inmate French-Canadian Réal Simard, and Simard would become Frank's driver and eventual hitman upon their release in 1979.
During the violent Mafia war with the Sicilian Rizzuto crime family in Montreal, Paolo Violi (who was acting capo for Vic Cotroni) and his brothers were murdered along with others through the mid-1970s to the early 1980s until the war ceased. The Calabrian faction continued to operate with Frank as acting boss for his ill brother after the early 1980s. In the early 1980s, Cotroni ordered Simard to commit several murders. In 1983, Simard and associate Richard Clément killed Mario Héroux, but unknowingly only severely wounded Robert Hétu, in their Toronto hotel room after they conspired to kill Clément. Hétu testified against Simard and Simard was arrested and convicted, until he became an informant against Frank Cotroni and the family; this resulted in an eight-year sentence for manslaughter against Frank, his son Francesco, and two associates in 1987. In 1989, Cotroni lost his court fight against extradition on narcotics charges in Connecticut that dated back to 1983, on the condition that he serve his time in Canada. In 1997, he was again charged on narcotics violations, and released from prison in 2002 after serving four years of a seven-year sentence. In the final two years of Frank's life, he released a cookbook, Cuisine des souvenirs et recettes (Kitchen of Memories and Recipes), published by a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. Cotroni died of brain cancer on 17 August 2004.
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FrankCotroni (born Francesco Cotrone; Italian: [franˈtʃesko koˈtroːne]; 1931 – 17 August 2004) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss of the Cotroni crime...
Vincenzo "Vic" Cotroni (Italian: [vinˈtʃɛntso koˈtroːni]; born Vincenzo Cotrone; Italian: [koˈtroːne]; 1911 – September 16, 1984), also known as "The...
overtake the Cotroni's Calabrian faction as the preeminent crime family in Montreal. Vincenzo died of cancer in 1984, followed by his brother Frank in 2004...
of the gangster FrankCotroni, whom the report called "the guiding spirit" of boxing in Quebec. The report also stated that Cotroni had control of the...
"the Commission" of New York while Vic Cotroni, Paolo Violi and FrankCotroni were present to represent the Cotroni family. The various gangsters who attended...
Commission" did not give its approval for the murder of either Vic or FrankCotroni. The first victim of the gang war was Pietro Sciara, a Rizzuto loyalist...
involved in minor fights with many Mafiosi, particularly those related to FrankCotroni and brothers Joe and Vincenzo Di Maulo, all of whom received death threats...
particularly those related to FrankCotroni and brothers Joe and Vincenzo Di Maulo. On 7 May 1968, Blass and Robert Allard ambushed Cotroni outside his home; two...
1971, Leithman hosted a press conference where his client, the Mafioso FrankCotroni, spoke about his arrest in Mexico the previous month. At the press conference...
third. In 1998 he eliminated five men, including Paul Cotroni Jr., son of mob boss FrankCotroni, making 1998 his most busy year as a hitman. A striking...
Vito Rizzuto, head of the Rizzuto family. Arcadi had been a member of the Cotroni crime family, but defected over to the Rizzuto family in the 1980s. As...
Maurice Boucher (1953–2022) Alfonso Caruana (born 1946) FrankCotroni (1931–2004) Vincenzo Cotroni (1911–1984) Harry Davis (1898–1946) Francesco Del Balso...
Rastelli as the acting boss of the Bonanno family. When asked to go, FrankCotroni, apparently suspecting a trap, refused and instead sent Di Maulo and...
the sheriff of Huerfano County. On the list of names was Schiro gangster Frank Lanza, with the sheriff writing that Lanza had arrived in Colorado from...
22 January 1978) was an Italian-Canadian mobster and capodecina in the Cotroni crime family of Montreal. Violi was born in Sinopoli, Calabria, Italy,...
Melo's fans was the gangster FrankCotroni of the Cotroni family of Montreal. Melo came to enjoy a friendship with Cotroni, whom he called "my number one...
anniversary of his murder". Montreal Gazette. Curran, Peggy (October 17, 1985). "Frank Shoofey's killer left few solid clues". The Montreal Gazette. p. 3. "Attacks...
family, beginning as an associate in the Sicilian faction of the Calabrian Cotroni crime family, which had most of the control in Montreal. In the late 1970s...
abuse. Steinert was a friend of Paolo "Paul" Cotroni, son of Cotroni crime family boss FrankCotroni. Cotroni was ultimately killed by the Rock Machine on...
1998 when he eliminated five men, including Paul Cotroni Jr., son of deposed mob boss FrankCotroni, making 1998 his most prominent year as a hitman,...
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