Sergio Piccirilli, who has links with the mafia and bikers according to the police, and who had been at the heart of a conflict between the mafia clans D’Amico and Rizzuto which had almost degenerated into open war in the mid-2000s, can return home.
Posted at 12:37 p.m.
Canada’s parole boarders have just granted the 62-year-old man his full parole after reviewing his case.
Piccirilli, who has been serving a 15-year prison sentence since 2016 for gangsterism, possession of a weapon, conspiracy and drug trafficking, had been in a halfway house since last February.
“It should be noted that since last year, you have taken concrete actions that make your parole officer believe that you want to lead a life away from the criminal world. So far, your agent has not received any information indicating that you have links with criminals. Law enforcement sources tell them that you steer clear of bad associates. In addition, during your stay at the halfway house, you were very cooperative, have not committed any serious breaches since your admission and you are polite and respectful towards the staff and the other residents”, write the commissioners in particular in their six-page decision made public on Friday.
“Overall, we note that you have good social skills. Your attitude is docile and calm, and although you are a sociable person, you have not sought to create meaningful bonds with your fellow citizens, preferring to concentrate on your own social and family life,” they add.
The commissioners, however, impose conditions on Piccirilli. Thus, the former motorcyclist must disclose all his financial transactions, cannot possess more than one communication device, must reveal all his communications, cannot associate with any individual with a criminal history or who is involved in a criminal organization, and cannot frequent drinking establishments.
“Send me flowers”
In 2005, investigators from the RCMP’s Colisée anti-mafia investigation had witnessed a rise in tensions between the D’Amico clans of Granby and Rizzuto of Montreal over a debt affair following an export of marijuana gone bad, according to information available at the time.
Piccirilli had entered the Consenza cafe, the former headquarters of the Sicilian clan on rue Jarry, showing the butt of a pistol in his belt.
“This guy has balls,” said Francesco Arcadi on the telephone lines listened to by the police.
A year later, an RCMP investigator visited Piccirilli’s home to warn him that his life was in danger.
“Can I do something for you?” asked the policeman.
“Send me flowers”, the biker had replied to him before calling his former mistress, Sharon Simon, the “Queen of Kanesatake”, to obtain a weapon in order to “protect himself”, he said. told the parole board.
Subsequently, Piccirilli, whose nickname is Grizzly, was one of the founders of the Devils Ghosts, a school club of the Hells Angels.
PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
Sergio Piccirilli wearing his Devils Ghosts jacket, left.
SCREEN CAPTURE FROM VIDEO FILED IN COURT
Salvatore Cazzetta (left) and Sergio Piccirilli filmed in 2006 during the Cleopatra investigation, led by police officers from the RCMP’s former Indigenous Organized Crime Joint Investigation Unit (UMECO).
In 2019, he suffered poisoning in the penitentiary. Police believe he was the target of an attempted murder because fentanyl and carfentanil – potent and deadly substances if not consumed in minute doses – were found in one of his scented water bottles .
But Piccirilli told the commissioners he refused to believe he had been the victim of an attempted murder.
“If someone had tried to kill me, I would have been the first to know,” he explained simply.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.