Stefano Magaddino - Arrest and Fall

Arrest and Fall

Magaddino had never spent any significant time in prison, but in 1968, he and his son Peter were arrested and charged with interstate bookmaking. A raid on his son's home in Niagara Falls led to the discovery of approximately $473,134 in a suitcase. This created great animosity between the Buffalo family members and the Magaddinos, and led to a breakdown of their cooperation concerning criminal activities. The Buffalo family split into dissident factions; the leaders met in Rochester at the end of 1968, and by early 1969 ousted Magaddino as boss, leaving him to lead a faction made up of his once powerful in-laws and older crime family members, from 1969 until he died several years later.

Stefano Magaddino died of a heart attack on July 19, 1974 at age 82. His funeral mass was celebrated at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and he was buried in St. Joseph's cemetery on Pine Avenue in Niagara Falls.