An article on Tony Marabella

[Steve1990]

I found this on an Unsolved Mysteries fan page. Tony Marabella was a baseball player that got amnesia.

Antonio Marabella, born in the early 1970s and raised in Saint-Leonard, was considered one of the Montréal Expos baseball organization’s prospects with the highest potential. He signed a contract with the team in 1989, when he was only 16, but his career never really panned out, and in 1995, he was released from the organization. By 1998, Marabella’s baseball career had come to an end. He chose a new path, supposedly becoming involved in loansharking, and reportedly associating with the Montréal Mafia.

On December 1st, 1999, Marabella, his brother, Mario, André Boyer and Frank Martorana, a reputed Montréal Mafia lieutenant with links to Vito Rizzuto, were charged with extortion. According to a Journal de Montréal article, the alleged victim, Pierre-Antoine Tremblay, owned half of a Japanese restaurant with Frank Martorana’s wife. After a business disagreement, Martorana and several henchmen allegedly paid Tremblay, threatened him and forced him to give up $75,000. Two weeks later, on June 25th, the accused allegedly paid Tremblay another visit, this time at an art gallery he owned, where they supposedly stole paintings worth an estimated $150,000.

All charges against Tony Marabella would be dropped in September 2002. His brother Mario, André Boyer and Frank Martorana would plead guilty. The first two were fined $2,500 and $5,000, respectively, while the third was sentenced to two years of house arrest. Marabella was again arrested on January 18th, 2001, while out on bail for the aforementioned incident, this time on charges of loansharking. Police picked Marabella up at a Jean-Talon Street Italian café, out of which he allegedly operated his racket. During a search of the former ball player’s home, police reportedly found a loaded firearm, $65,000 in cash and a list of debtors.

One of those debtors, a cab driver, had approached authorities in November to complain about Marabella’s alleged activities. The cab driver had borrowed $5,000 at five per cent interest a week, and after paying a total of $11,000 over a period of a year, still owed $8,000. Marabella plead guilty in June 2002, according to information published in the Montréal Gazette, and was fined $3,000. He received three years probation for possession of the firearm.

[Mike82]

I just watched this episode last week for the very first time. Interesting: he came across as a stereotypical jock but I certainly didn't expect this update.

[Jon]

Ah, yes. I remember this one. Tony "It was like I had a brand new girlfriend" Marabella

[RobinW]

Holy smoke, I did some digging and there seems to be quite the rabbit hole in regards to Tony Marabella and his family's ties with organized crime in Montreal. According to this, his brother Mario was kidnapped in 2008 and it doesn't look like he has ever been found:
https://www.pressreader.com/canada/m...81629596130148

So, essentially, Tony Marabella is connected to an unsolved mystery which is more compelling than what he was featured on "Unsolved Mysteries" for.

[Steve1990]

Tony Marabella probably put all of his hope's and dreams into baseball. When that didn't pan out he was lost.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Steve1990

Tony Marabella probably put all of his hope's and dreams into baseball. When that didn't pan out he was lost.

I was lucky. I figured out I had no chance of playing baseball for a living by the time I was 9 years old. I wouldn't want to find that out in my 20s. But even if I had, I'm sure I could find a more practical (and honest) way to make a living that loan sharking or shakedowns.