Man convicted of Mafia-related charges 20 years ago ordered deported to Italy

Michele Torre and his wife Ernesta speak with CTV from their Quebec home.

MONTREAL - A man convicted 20 years ago on Mafia-related charges has been ordered by customs agents to leave the country next Friday.

Michele Torre, 64, was told today by the Canada Border Services Agency he will be deported to his native Italy despite having lived in Canada for the last 50 years.

Torre pleaded guilty in 1996 in a cocaine conspiracy case involving Montreal's Cotroni crime family and served part of his nine-year sentence in prison.

His lawyer, Stephane Handfield, says it was only in 2013 that Ottawa began trying to have him deported.

Handfield said he has asked the CBSA to reconsider its decision and, if that fails, he will appeal to the Federal Court.

He is also asking Canada's immigration and public safety ministers to suspend Torre's deportation order.