Frank "Butch" BiFulco

March 10, 1945 – Oct. 12, 2020

His friends described Frank J. "Butch" BiFulco as the Renaissance man among those in the Buffalo organized crime scene.

They said he was a bright and funny entrepreneur whose many projects included his line of "Francis J" cigars, a company that sold butane lighters, two inventions patented by the federal government and a company that grew basil on the roof of a downtown office building and sold it to local supermarkets.

But federal law enforcement officials called him a mobster. In 2003, he was sentenced to prison for nearly 11 years for setting a used car on fire for a friend of a friend.

Mr. BiFulco, known to many people as "Butchie Bifocals," died at his home on Oct. 12, after an illness. The Buffalo man, an Army veteran, was 75.

"He was a funny, engaging, charismatic guy with all kinds of friends in every walk of life," said Buffalo developer Carl Paladino, a longtime friend. "Was he a mobster? I never asked him and he never told me. But it didn't bother him if people thought of him as a gangster … He laughed about it."

"If Butch had lived a totally straight life, I think he would have made a huge fortune in the business world," Paladino added.

Cops, criminals, lawyers, judges, politicians, journalists and prominent business people were among the many individuals who became friendly with Mr. BiFulco over the years, according to Paladino and others who knew him.

"He was probably the most colorful, bright and loyal client I've ever represented in 38 years as an attorney," said Thomas Eoannou, Mr. BiFulco's lawyer and friend. "He was an alleged mobster who could easily have become a stand-up comic or a successful scientist."

Two former federal prosecutors, Anthony M. Bruce and Lee Coppola, said the FBI and other law enforcement agencies considered Mr. BiFulco a leader for decades in Buffalo's organized family.

In that world, he was both feared and respected, said Coppola, who also covered Mr. BiFulco during his years as a reporter for The Buffalo News and two TV stations.

"He was a nice guy, but a tough guy," Coppola said, "with a colorful nickname."

The two former prosecutors said BiFulco was a Laborers Local 210 official during a time when the local served as the power base of Buffalo's mob family. Coppola said some members of the local were involved in no-show job schemes, intimidating contractors, bookmaking and other crimes. 

Mr. BiFulco was a former assistant administrator of pension funds for the union. Following a lengthy federal probe, Mr. BiFulco in 1998 became one of 28 officials forced out of Local 210 for "associating with organized crime figures." New leaders without mob connections replaced them.

In 2003, Bruce prosecuted the arson case that led to Mr. BiFulco's conviction and 10-year, 10-month prison term.

"After all the years we pursued him, we caught up with him on a case that was basically bull," Bruce said. "He was convicted of burning a car, as part of an insurance fraud scheme. A minor crime in the scheme of things, but that was the sentence that was mandated by law for that crime at that time."

Friends who attended the sentencing told The News they were outraged by the prison term, saying rapists and armed robbers often got less time.

But Mr. BiFulco accepted his sentence calmly, telling Judge Richard J. Arcara "I have no excuse."

Mr. BiFulco was released from federal prison in 2012. 

Born March 10, 1945, Mr. BiFulco grew up on Buffalo's West Side and – despite his intelligence – friends said he never finished high school. In his teens, he worked at a gas station and at a store that sold wallpaper before joining Local 210.

In the 1960s, he volunteered for the Army and served as a parachutist in the airborne rangers.

Friends said he loved reading and watching TV shows about science and history. He was a skilled chess player who was proud to say he defeated a number of "street players" during a visit to New Orleans.

"People feared him, but Butch was nothing at all like his reputation or his image," Eoannou said. "I was sitting with him at a patio restaurant one night about 20 years ago. This young guy came up to Butch, called him a very derogatory name for an Italian and started yelling at him for smoking a cigar. Butch politely put out the cigar and apologized to the young guy."

Mr. BiFulco was also a devout Catholic, who for years attended Mass every day, the attorney said.

Mr. BiFulco is survived by a daughter, Nicole, a granddaughter, and a great-grandson, according to a death notice sent to The News by his family.

"He was one of those guys nobody ever forgets," Paladino said.