New York mob hitman Dominic Taddeo, who killed 3, escapes from Florida prison

A seasoned New York mob hitman who killed three people and attempted to kill two others escaped from federal custody recently, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Friday.

The mobster, 64-year-old Dominic Taddeo, had been imprisoned in a medium-security Florida prison, but was moved to a residential halfway house in February this year, also located in Florida.

However, on March 28, Taddeo failed to return from an authorised medical appoint, following which he “was placed on escape status,” a Bureau spokesperson told reporters on Friday.

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Taddeo, a hitman for the Rochester crime family, was arrested in the mid-1980s on federal firearms charges, but was released in 1987 on bail, following which he went on the run.

After a two-year-long manhunt for the notorious hitman, police finally apprehended him in 1989. Subsequently, three years later, Taddeo pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that included the murder of three people during mob wars in the 1980s. Specifically, he pleaded guilty to the murders of Nicholas Mastrodonato, Gerald Pelusio, and Dino Tortatice between 1982 and 1983.

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Reportedly, Taddeo had also attempted to murder local mobster Thomas Marotta twice, and had nearly succeeded in 1983 when he fired off 11 shots from a .22 calibre weapon, of which six hit or grazed Marotta, who luckily escaped with his life.

After being imprisoned for several decades, Taddeo, last year, had appealed for a compassionate release, claiming that hypertension and obesity put him at serious risk of dying from COVID-19. However, his appeal was rejected by a federal judge in western New York after prosecutors argued that Taddeo was not unhealthy or at risk, citing medical records.

Having escaped on Monday, Taddeo currently remains at large.