Alleged Montreal Mafia member denies links to organized crime at parole hearing

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A man alleged to be part of the Montreal Mafia who is serving time in a federal penitentiary for stabbing a man during a fight in Old Montreal was told Thursday he will have to wait before the Parole Board of Canada decides on whether he is ready for a release.

Nicola Spagnolo, 49, is serving a three-year sentence for the stabbing that left the victim badly injured.

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On Aug. 1, 2020, he was outside a bar in Old Montreal when a man he did not know began making comments about him to a woman who was nearby. On Thursday, Spagnolo recalled that the man, whose name cannot be published because of a publication ban placed on his identity during the trial, asked the woman why she was with someone who was “so old.” The conversation degenerated from there and Spagnolo and the man ended up in a fight. At some point, Spagnolo pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim.

The victim underwent an operation that left a 30-centimetre scar from his chest to his waist. During the trial, the victim admitted that he was drunk at the time and during the parole hearing Spagnolo said he had “six or seven” drinks before the argument began.

On Dec. 5, 2022, Spagnolo was found guilty of aggravated assault.

“This could have been prevented. I can’t believe this shit even happened,” Spagnolo said on Thursday. “You find yourself in jail and you ask: ‘What the hell just happened?’”

During his parole hearing, he answered many questions from parole board members Howard Bruce and Tanya Nouwens. Following the nearly two-hour hearing, Nouwens announced that they will deliberate before making their decision. The parole board can wait up to 15 days before it makes the decision.

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Spagnolo’s parole officer told the board that Correctional Service Canada does not recommend any form of release for the time being.

“(His) accountability rating is low while the motivation rating is moderate. We consider that he is not engaged in his correctional plan,” parole officer Amelie Boucher said, adding Spagnolo is considered to be a “low-to-moderate risk” of reoffending.

“We have some reservations regarding these results due to his previous criminal history, his nonconformist attitude and his ties to an organized crime group.

“During his psychological risk assessment interview, he displayed a nonchalant attitude, was deemed (as trying to stay) on top of his business and attempted to turn the questions on the evaluator, leaving the impression that he tried to take control of the interview. He seems to have not done much reflection on (what causes) his criminal behaviour, and his credibility during this interview was also questioned.”

Boucher also said Spagnolo is “a subject of interest” and is suspected of bringing contraband into the federal penitentiary where he is held through the use of drones.

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“I have no interest in drones. I’m not broke,” said Spagnolo, who sold cars before he was placed behind bars. “I don’t need the money.”

He said he hopes to returning to selling cars if he is released and told the parole board that if they searched his home today they would find stacks of car magazines dating as far back as the 1980s.

When he entered a federal penitentiary in July 2023, Spagnolo was classified as being part of an organized crime group, or “traditional Italian organized crime,” and that designation remains to this day.  On Thursday he denied this.

“What the people think of me, it’s not that at all,” Spagnolo said of his classification.

He also blamed it on “articles they read in newspapers.”

“What is this monster you’re talking about (in his classification)? Organized crime? Yes, you see me in photos with them at funerals and at weddings and we play golf together. It doesn’t mean I’m a part of organized crime.

“I grew up with them.”

Spagnolo was also asked questions about his father, Vincenzo, a close friend of Vito Rizzuto, the head of the Montreal Mafia until Rizzuto died of cancer in 2013.

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Vincenzo Spagnolo, 65, was killed in Laval in 2016 in what appeared to be a botched hit. An informant who testified in the murder trials of men charged with killing Montreal Mafia leaders like Rocco Sollecito and Lorenzo Giordano said Nicola Spagnolo was on the same hit list maintained by Salvatore Scoppa, the leader of a Calabrian clan within the Montreal Mafia, while he sought to eliminate as many leaders as possible among the Sicilians.

Nicola Spagnolo said his father grew up in the same town in Italy as men tied to organized crime, but he denied his father was ever a member of the Montreal Mafia. He also said his father was killed during a home invasion while his mother and his grandmother were home. It was a different account of what the informant said when he testified at trial. On Thursday, Spagnolo made no reference to him having been the possible target that day.

“My dad was educated — college and university. He was an accountant and he was in the reception hall business,” he said. “He met lots of people through the reception halls, sometimes 500 or 600 people (at a gathering).

“My dad was never a member of organized crime. Being in the reception hall business, you meet a lot of people. My dad was never arrested for anything.”

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