| Nicola "Cola" Di Iorio |
| Nicola Di Iorio was born in Montreal in 1922 and came up through the ranks of the Montreal Mafia under the tutelage of Jimmy Soccio, Diodato Mastracchio, and Giuseppe Cocolicchio. He rose through the ranks swiftly and was soon Cotroni's most brilliant lieutenant. With his right-hand man Angelo Lanza, Di Iorio supervised the organization's interests in night clubs, bar, prostitution, gambling dens, and other rackets. He also had very good political contacts, including donating funds to Pierre Laporte's campaign. Di Iorio, who owned the Victoria Sporting Club and the Café Métropole on St. Catherine Street, was Vic Cotroni's counsellor. Cotroni respected his point-of-view and sought his opinion on the more serious family matters. |
| Associates referred to them as "The Egg" and "The Little Egg" because of their similarities. On May 29, 1972, Quebec Provincial Police detectives observed an important meeting at the Siroloin Barn restaurant attended by Vic Cotroni, Paolo Violi, Nicola Di Iorio, Angelo Lanza, Willie Obront, and Irving Goldstein. A surveillance team from Connections, a CBC documentary mini-series that exposed organized crime in Canada in the late 1970s, caught up to Di Iorio one day in a downtown Montreal parking lot. Co-producer Martyn Burke asked how business was to which Di Iorio responded "Very quiet. It hasn't moved up, it hasn't moved down. It's very quiet." And when Burke asked the mob chief what exactly his business was, Di Iorio cleverly retorted "Ah, see, if you don't know, then don't ask me." He tried to avoid testifying at the Quebec Police Commission's inquiry into organized crime and went into hiding. He was tracked and arrested in New Brunswick and later sentenced to a year in prison for refusing to testify. Upon his release, Di Iorio resumed his activities but kept a low profile. He died in March, 1997 and the funeral services were held in a north-end church. The only signs connecting him to the Mafia that were visible were the impressive wreaths of flowers bearing the names of underworld figures. |
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