The escape last week of a notorious New York mob hitman has brought to light the fact he had recently been transferred to a halfway house in The Villages’ backyard.
Dominic Taddeo, 64, is being hunted by the U.S. Marshals Service after he failed to return last week from an authorized medical appointment. His escape has made headlines across the nation, and in particular, New York.
Taddeo had been transferred in February from the Federal Correctional Institution at Coleman to community confinement at a halfway house at 6303 County Road 500. The halfway house is surrounded by live oak trees in a beautiful rural setting. It is clearly on prison property and there are various signs warning of surveillance and against trespassing on federal property.
Taddeo pleaded guilty in 1992 to racketeering charges that included the killings of three men during mob wars in the 1980s.
In 1987, Taddeo went on the run and eluded authorities for two years.
“Taddeo became the focus of a national manhunt, and moved to different locations across the country, assuming two dozen aliases while avoiding police. Law enforcement eventually learned of a payphone in Rochester at which Taddeo called local individuals, and police placed a tap on the phone as they surveilled people taking calls there,” reported the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper in Rochester, N.Y., which has covered Taddeo for decades.
Taddeo had been scheduled for release from the halfway house on Feb. 10, 2023. He had indicated that if released he could stay with his mother in the Daytona area.
The halfway house where Taddeo was staying is operated by Residential Reentry Management (RRM) of Orlando.
“RRM offices supervise federal halfway houses. They provide a safe, structured, supervised environment for inmates. They also offer employment counseling, job placement, financial management assistance, and other programs and services,” according to the Bureau of Prisons.
It added that the halfway house, “can help inmates rebuild their ties to the community.”
