Mob hitman on the loose after escaping federal custody in Florida, records show
Update: Dominic Taddeo was captured on Monday, April 4, after a week inside an apartment in the Miami area, U.S. Marshals say.
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A mob hitman who has spent the last 30 years in prison is on the loose after breaking free from federal custody in Florida, Bureau of Prisons records show.
New York mobster Dominic Taddeo, 64, of Rochester, is known for killing three men in the 1980’s and for trying — but failing — to assassinate a mob leader twice, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. He worked for the Rochester La Cosa Nostra crime family decades ago.
Taddeo escaped custody on Monday, March 28, from a facility in Wildwood, Florida, according to an inmate search. Wildwood is about 50 miles northwest of Orlando.
On Feb. 15, Taddeo was brought to the Wildwood facility for “community confinement in a residential reentry center” after being locked up in a prison in nearby Coleman, Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Donald Murphy told McClatchy News. The facility is a halfway house that works with imprisoned people ahead of their pending release, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Officials learned of his escape when “he failed to return from an authorized appointment,” Murphy said.
In 1992, he pleaded guilty to racketeering charges connected to the murder of three men years after their deaths, the Associated Press reported.
The killings of the mob members were known as the “.45-caliber slayings” that took place in 1982 and 1983, The Buffalo News reported. The racketeering charges also included his connection to leading an illegal gambling operation.
The La Cosa Nostra crime family hired Taddeo to kill people, according to the outlet.
He also pleaded guilty to several firearms charges related to the case, according to Justia U.S. Law.
In 2020, he requested a compassionate release from prison due to coronavirus health concerns but was rejected by a federal judge in western New York, the Associated Press reported.
“Taddeo’s prior convictions are for crimes including assault, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and, most notably, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) conspiracy arising from his employment and association with Rochester’s La Cosa Nostra organized crime family,” the judge wrote in his decision, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
“The RICO charges involve the murder of three individuals, attempted murder of two more individuals, and conspiracy to murder a fifth person.”
The U.S. Marshal’s Service was notified of Taddeo’s escape, said Murphy, who referred further inquiries to the agency.
McClatchy News has reached out to the USMS for comment.
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Mob hitman on the loose after escaping federal custody in Florida, records show."
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