Gerlando Sciascia

Gerlando "George from Canada" Sciascia (; February 15, 1934 – March 18, 1999), was a Sicilian mobster who served as a caporegime for the Bonanno crime family. Sciascia was the Sixth Family's representative in New York and was a major narcotics trafficker in Canada, and the United States.

Early life

Sciascia was born in Cattolica Eraclea in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, the same area as Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto. In 1955, Sciascia immigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, later moving to the United States, to New York City in 1958.

His business headquarters was a small jewelry store in the Bronx. Sciascia escorted the three rebellious capos into the club. Once the men were inside, Sciascia signalled the attack by slowly running his fingers through his hair. At that point, the men burst from a closet and started shooting. Wealthy from his heroin trafficking days, Sciascia established a small construction company in the Bronx. On February 9, 1990, Sciascia was acquitted on the narcotics trafficking charges in New York.

In July 1991, Sciascia applied to the Canadian government for readmission to Canada, basing his application on his son Joseph's residence in Montreal.

Murder In early 1999, at a wedding anniversary party, Massino gave the following message to Salvatore Vitale: "George has got to go". The plan was for fellow capo Patrick DeFilippo to invite Sciascia to a meeting to resolve an ongoing disagreement with Graziano over a marijuana racket. Massino wanted the Sciascia murder to look like a drug deal gone wrong to avoid friction with the Rizzutos. A passerby saw the dumping and immediately called the police.

On July 30, 2004, Massino was convicted of seven murders, including the Sciascia murder. With prosecutors intent on asking for the death penalty, Massino quickly offered to become a government witness.

On January 11, 2006, DeFilippo was indicted on several federal racketeering charges, including the Sciascia murder. However, on May 9, 2006, the jury exonerated him of the murder charge.