Sergio Piccirilli, who police say has ties to the mafia and bikers and was at the center of a conflict between mafia clans D’Amico and Rizzuto in the mid-2000s that almost degenerated into open war, can return home.
Posted at 12:37pm
Daniel Renaud LaPresse
Canada’s parole officers have just granted the 62-year-old man his full parole after reviewing his case.
Piccirilli, who has been serving a 15-year sentence since 2016 for gangsterism, gun possession, conspiracy and drug trafficking, has been in a temporary camp since last February.
“It should be noted that since last year you have taken specific actions leading your parole officer to believe you wish to live a life away from the criminal world. To date, your agent has not received any information that suggests you have ties to criminals. Law enforcement agencies tell them to stay away from bad employees. In addition, you have shown yourself to be very cooperative during your stay in the transitional home, have not committed any serious violations since you were admitted and are polite and respectful towards the staff and the other residents,” write the officers in particular in their six-sheet decision published on Friday.
“Overall, we find that you have good social skills. Your demeanor is docile and calm, and although you are a gregarious person, you have not attempted to form meaningful bonds with your fellow citizens, preferring to focus on your own social and family life,” they add.
However, the commissioners impose conditions on Piccirilli. Therefore, the ex-motorcyclist must disclose all their financial transactions, possess no more than one communication device, disclose all communications, not associate with any person with a criminal history or who is involved in a criminal organization, and not visit drinking establishments.
“Send Me Flowers”
In 2005, investigators with the RCMP’s Colisée anti-mafia investigation had observed a rise in tension between the D’Amico clans of Montreal’s Granby and Rizzuto over a debt affair following a failed marijuana export, according to information available at the time.
Piccirilli had entered the Consenza cafe, the Sicilian clan’s former headquarters on rue Jarry, and was showing the butt of a pistol in his belt.
“This guy has balls,” Francesco Arcadi said over phone lines tapped by 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 before calling his former lover Sharon Simon, the “Queen of Kanesatake,” to get a gun to “protect himself,” he told the parole board.
Subsequently, Piccirilli, whose nickname is Grizzly, was one of the founders of the Devils Ghosts, a Hells Angels school club.
PHOTO ARCHIVE PRESS
Sergio Piccirilli wears his Devils Ghosts jacket, left.
SCREEN CAPTURE OF VIDEO FILED IN COURT
Salvatore Cazzetta (left) and Sergio Piccirilli filming in 2006 during the Cleopatra investigation led by police officers from the RCMP’s former Joint Investigation Unit into Indigenous Organized Crime (UMECO).
In 2019 he suffered poisoning in prison. Police believe he was the target of attempted murder because fentanyl and carfentanil – potent and deadly substances unless consumed in tiny doses – were found in one of his scented water bottles.
But Piccirilli told commissioners he refused to believe he had been the victim of attempted murder.
“If someone tried to kill me, I would have known first,” he said simply.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514.285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the La Presse mailing address.