Agueci Brothers

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Albert and Vito Agueci, known as the Agueci Brothers, were Sicilian mafiosi who were involved in smuggling heroin from Canada and into the United States during the 1950s.

Born in Sicily, the Agueci Brothers immigrated to Canada following World War II and, operating from a bakery in Toronto, would work with Buffalo mobster Stefano Magaddino to control narcotics distribution throughout western New York, the Ohio Valley and Toronto itself. Their early success encouraged the brothers to expand their operations into the United States and, with Magaddino's permission; they would begin directly selling heroin in the Buffalo area. However, they would eventually be arrested in New York on July 20, 1961 and, with Magaddino refusing to provide bail money, Albert's wife was later able to raise enough money to bail.

Following his release, Albert Agueci began plotting to murder Magaddino however, when his attempt failed, his body was found horribly mutilated in a field outside Rochester, New York on November 3, 1961. Among his injuries included a broken jaw, his teeth kicked out and, after having parts of skin sliced off, was burned alive before being strangled to death.

Vito Agueci was eventually convicted of narcotics violations and, as an inmate in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he met fellow mobster and Genovese crime family hitman Joe Valachi. Vito, who had earlier informed Vito Genovese that he intended to avenge his brother’s death, had ordered Valachi to murder him. However, Agueci was able to convince Valachi that Genovese wanted him killed eventually resulting in the paranoid mobster to murder an inmate he suspected was sent by Genovese to kill him in 1962. The inmate however, forger John Saupp, had no connection to the Genoveses, and Valachi was sentenced to life imprisonment. Believing Genovese to be responsible, Valachi would eventually become a government informant revealing extensive activities of what federal authorities would refer to as "La Cosa Nostra" [1].

It was though Valachi's testimony that eventually sent Magaddino to prison from which Vito Agueci would avenge his brother's death.

[edit] Further reading

Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
Peterson, Robert W. Crime & the American Response. New York: Facts on File, 1973. ISBN 0871962276
United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations Committee. Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics. 1964. [2]