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The coronavirus apparently poses a bigger threat than mobsters seeking revenge for a murdered leader.

In November, Steven Fracas, 35, one of seven men who admitted they were part of a plot to murder Mafioso Salvatore Montagna, was ordered to reside at a halfway house for at least part of the final third of his 39-month sentence because the Parole Board of Canada had fears for his safety.

In December, he was transferred from a penitentiary and was sent to a halfway house. But now, because of the threat posed by the spread of the coronavirus, the parole board figures he is safer on the outside.

In 2011, Fracas was part of a group of men who worked under Raynald Desjardins and Vittorio Mirarchi as they tried to take control of the Montreal Mafia while the Rizzuto organization struggled. For several months before 2011, Desjardins and Mirarchi had tried to work together with Montagna, an outsider to Montreal organized crime circles, as he also sought to replace the Rizzuto organization.

Original Post http://montrealgazette.com/news/alleged-mafia-member-told-to-leave-halfway-house-because-of-covid-19