A convicted felon who once had ties to the Mafia was not deported on Friday, even though a Federal Court judge had ordered Michele Torre out of the country earlier in the day.

Torre's family and lawyer said the last-minute temporary reprieve came following an order from a federal minister's office.

"It's excellent news — a big relief for us and for members of his family," said Torre's immigration lawyer Stephane Handfield. "Tonight Mr. Torre will be able to eat dinner with his family."

Torre's daughter Nellie said her member of parliament, Angelo Iacono, called her right after the deportation order was suspended.

"He advised me that he got a call from the [public security] minister's office saying that they are granting a stay of a few weeks and they will be reviewing the file," she told CBC News.

No one from Public Security Minister Ralph Goodale's office would comment on Torre's case, citing privacy reasons.

But a spokesperson said that deportations can be suspended when elements of a case may have "fallen between the cracks" in order to grant officials more time to analyze the file.

Immigration Minister John McCallum's office is also reviewing Torre's case.

"There will be several departments looking at the file for them to come to one decision," Nellie Torre said.

90 minutes to spare

Torre, 64, was already at Montreal's Trudeau International Airport in the company of immigration officers when the order came down to halt the deportation.

Handfield had sought a stay in proceedings earlier in the day from the Federal Court. When a judge turned that request down, only a ministerial pardon could have stopped the order from being carried out.

Handfield said the news came only an hour and a half before the Laval, Que.-man's flight to Italy was scheduled to take off.

"It was very emotional for him, so he preferred not to be accompanied to the airport," Handfield said.

"We were by our phones because we were waiting for a decision from a minister. Up until Mr. Torre boarded his flight, we knew there could be the possibility that a minister could intervene."

Handfield said he will contact Goodale and McCallum's offices first thing Monday morning.

"We will contact the various ministries, Immigration and Public Security, to see what's next. Will he be granted an extension? Will his deportation be cancelled indefinitely? These are questions that have no answers right now, but that we will try to obtain first thing next week."

Online campaign to stop deportation

Torre was convicted in 1996 in a cocaine importation conspiracy linked to the Mafia and served part of a nearly nine-year sentence.

The married father of three has been a permanent resident since arriving in Canada in 1967.

Torre's expulsion order came after he applied for Canadian citizenship a few years ago.

The family started an online petition and a website asking supporters to send letters both to the minister of immigration and the prime minister.