Ortolani runs the kitchen for his uncle, Italian mafioso Nino Schibetta, whom he is very close to. Like most of the Wiseguys, he harbours a dislike toward the majority of the black inmates, unconcerned with the fact that they constitute the majority of the kitchen staff. He is disliked and feared by most of the staff and other inmates, although, his toughness and apparent racism is somewhat admired by Aryan Brotherhood leader Vernon Schillinger; Ortolani makes it known that the feeling is not mutual. When Ortolani learns that Ryan O'Reily is alive and coming to Oz, he schemes to have his old enemy killed (and later almost succeeds in drowning O'Reily in one of the bathroom toilets before his conscience gets the better of him).