Raymond "Buffalo Ray" Curto was a capo in the DiMeo crime family from the 1960s until the 2000s when he died of a stroke
Biography[]
Early life and Mafia involvement[]
Curto was born in 1934 to an Italian family in the Bronx. In the 1960's he became associated with the DiMeo crime family, rising up the ranks until he became a capo. Curto was considered for the position of boss when Giacomo Aprile died in 1999 but he turned it down as he thought he was too old. In late 1990's his son was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, forcing him to become an FBI informant to help take care of his son.
FBI involvement[]
In 2000, he wore a wire to the DiMeo family boss' mother, Livia Soprano's funeral. That same year when his Mafia peers were talking about murdering FBI informant Salvatore Bonpensiero, Curto acted as though he would have been glad to take part in the hit, despite being an informant himself. A few years later he was seen clarifying information to his FBI handlers about a script they were putting together based on a tape recording of a Mafia conversation. In 2004, shortly after the murder of fellow FBI informant Adriana La Cerva, the family celebrated Curto's 70th birthday, while in complete denial of his treachery. Curto was notified of La Cerva's absence by his FBI handler.
Death[]
During an interview in an FBI agent's car in 2006, Curto died of a massive stroke in the passenger seat before he could give futher information on the DiMeo crime family. He was 71. His fellow mobsters all attended his funeral, and none ever suspected of his involvement with the federal government.