Mafia: Most Wanted – Who was Cosimo Commisso and what happened to him? Details explored

The docuseries, Mafia: Most Wanted, recounts the horrifying events surrounding the Ndrangheta crime family. With interviews from people close to the case and archival footage, the three-part series gives us a glimpse of the story of how the biggest Toronto-based crime family works.

Among many stories, there is also mobster Cosimo Commisso’s story. He is one of the three Commisso brothers who came to Toronto from Italy in 1961. In the 1970s, the Commisso had made a powerful name among the underworld, with Cosimo being considered the Underboss of the Siderno group by the police.

From violent crimes to drug trafficking and extortion, the Commisso became a big name and a powerful Mafia group in Canada. With the help of Cecil Kirby, Cosimo’s hitman, many aspects of how the mobster worked, specifically how he planned to take revenge on Paul Volpe, another mobster, were revealed.

More on this in our story.

Mafia: Most Wanted - Who was Cosimo Commisso? Details explored

Cosimo was one of the three sons of Girolamo Commisso. After their father’s murder, the three brothers came to Toronto in 1961. By the end of the decade, the brothers created a powerful criminal empire and were involved in various crimes such as drug trafficking and contract killing, among numerous other heinous crimes.

As revealed in the Netflix series, Cecil Kirby, a hitman who worked for Cosimo, brought about the brothers' downfall. As per Kirby, Cosimo was one of those people for whom others' lives mattered less than his family's. Furthermore, even if he grew skeptical about someone cheating on him, he would not waste time killing him.

That was what was going to happen to mobster, Paul Volpe. Volpe was one of those people who dared to deceive the Cossimmos as he cheated them in a real estate deal. On April 23, 1981, Cosimo ordered Kirby to kill Volpe. However, Kirby turned out to be an informant. As a result, Cosimo and Rocco Remo were charged with conspiracy to murder.

Mafia: Most Wanted - Cosimo sentenced to prison

As revealed in Mafia: Most Wanted, Kirby helped in making Cosimo and Rocco Remo pay for their crimes with his testimony against them. They were charged with multiple offences ranging from conspiracy to murder, extortion, and causing bodily harm, among several others. Cosimo was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while Rocco Remo was sentenced to 14 and a half years. Their third brother, Michale, was also sentenced to prison for two and a half years for conspiracy to commit murder charges.

However, in 1989, Cosimo was paroled. As per Wikipedia, the mobster was also involved with the Laborers' International Union of North America Local 183 in 2014, as an advisor.

Mafia: Most Wanted - The feud with Costa ‘ndrina and eventual life imprisonment

The clashes between the Commisso clan and the Costa clan were brutal and happened between 1987 and 1991. With numerous deaths among the families, Cosimo was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998, with charges of murdering five people and attempting to kill three others.

However, on January 9, 2019, the Court of Appeal of Naples overturned the conviction and freed him. By 2020, the Supreme Court of Cassation formally cleared Cosimo of all charges against him.

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Also Read: Is Netflix’s Mafia: Most Wanted based on a real crime family? Details explored

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