Johnny Raposo

Raposo was born in Toronto, the son of Portuguese immigrants. Raposo's father abandoned him when he was young and he was raised by his single mother, whom he was very close to.^[1] Raposo grew up in the Little Portugal neighborhood on College Street. Raposo had the reputation as a pugnacious character as one who knew him recalled: "Johnny was nuts. He could fight. He was like a boxer fighter. He was a tough guy. He could drop a six two, 250-pound man, no problem. Johnny had heart, a big heart. He was treacherous and fearless".^[2] As a teenager, Raposo was the leader of the McCormick Boys street gang who sold drugs for the Mafia.^[3] The McCormick Boys gang were so-called because their favourite meeting spot was McCormick Park in downtown Toronto.^[3] A police officer recalled: "Raposo was the head dude, he was the moneyman. You could talk with him but he was shady – smart and crafty, very good at dodging surveillance. And when you talked to him it was all 'Yes, sir; No, sir.'"^[3] Starting in 1997, Raposo was often arrested by the police.^[3]

Raposo considered joining the Loners Motorcycle Club in the 1990s, but did not go through with his plans.^[4] Raposo was charged at various times with aggravated assault, possession of stolen goods and failure to comply with a court orders, but the Crown always withdrew the charges.^[4] Raposo idolized the boxer-gangster Eddie Melo, who served as the Toronto agent for the Cotroni family.^[5] Raposo became a protégé of Melo, and took to modelling himself after him to the extent that he was known as "Little Eddie" or "the Clone".^[2] Melo when introducing Raposo to his second wife Rhonda Sullivan said of him: "Don't like the good looks fool you. The kid is treacherous".^[5] A friend of the Melo family stated: "He [Melo] absolutely respected Johnny. He absolutely loved Johnny. He spent everday with Johnny. Every single day. They had a love. I don't think there was anyone Eddie trusted more than Johnny and could depend on more. "Johnny was the most loyal person ever. Ever. He was just the most loyal...He had heart and he never gave up".^[2] Under Melo's influence, Raposo started to import cocaine from Mexico and soon became one of Toronto's most successful drug dealers.^[6] Unlike many other cocaine dealers, Raposo refused to use cocaine himself and detested marijuana.^[6] Raposo's two principle drugs of choice were alcohol and coffee as the friend recalled: "Jonny was a hustler-bustler no-sleeper talker. Johnny was like the Energizer Bunny".^[6]

On 6 April 2001, Melo was murdered in Mississauga by Charles Gagné, a hitman from Montreal working for the 'Ndrangheta.^[6] Raposo was greatly depressed by Melo's murder, and took it upon himself to help raise Eduardo Melo Jr., the four-year-old son of Melo.^[1] Raposo came to be the most powerful gangster in the Little Portugal neighborhood on College Street as a friend stated: "John ran College Street."^[1] Raposo worked closely with Giuseppe "Pino" Ursino, the boss of a local 'Ndrangheta clan who called him "Johnny Pork Chop" or "Johnny Portuguese".^[7] Like Melo, Raposo often worked as an enforcer for the Mafia and 'Ndrangheta.^[8] Raposo invested his money from his gangster lifestyle into tow trucks and construction.^[8] His neighbor Roberta Menga described him as "a guy who said hi to everybody. He was happy all the time. I've never seen him drunk, or on drugs."^[8]

Raposo was also close to Martino Caputo, the Toronto agent of Montreal's Rizzuto family.^[9] The two usually celebrated their holidays together and Caputo celebrated the New Year 2012 by frequently hugging Raposo and saying: "I love you bro".^[9] Through Caputo, Raposo joined the Wolfpack Alliance.^[10] Raposo lived in a house in Toronto with common-law wife, who was the mother of his son, and who was pregnant with his second child in the spring of 2012.^[11] Raposo moved to the Bloor West Village neighborhood, where he had built an expensive house for himself full of luxuries such as heated floors and a heated driveway to avoid shoveling snow in the wintertime.^[1] Raposo also had a house built for his mother on Crawford Street.^[1] Raposo was one of Toronto's top cocaine distributors.^[7]

Through Caputo, Raposo joined the Wolfpack Alliance. However, he was described as the "odd man out" in the Wolfpack as he was never close to the co-bosses of the Wolfpack, Robby Alkhalil and Larry Amero.^[12] Indeed, Alkhalil had never met Raposo in person and communicated with him via phone cells and texts.^[10] Raposo disliked Caputo's protégé, Nick Nero, whom he regarded as overbearing, insecure, and of very low intelligence.^[7] He often charged that Nero seemed jealous of his friendship with Caputo and was always seeking to drive a wedge between them.^[12] In 2011, Raposo beat up a man following a dispute over a gin rummy game in a gambling den in Mississauga and was due to face charges for the incident in 2012.^[3]