Vito Rizzuto's arrest, extradition, and organized crime leadership

¶ … alleged Montreal Mafia leader Vito Rizzuto. A brief biography of Rizzuto will be presented, Rizzuto's current legal situation will be described, and the involvement of national and international law enforcement groups in Rizzuto's arrest will be investigated. Canadian and American legislation used to charge Rizzuto will be outlined. In addition, the expected result of Rizzuto's legal problems will be described, and the impact out of his potential extradition on organized crime in Canada will be discussed. The interests of justice dictate that Rizzuto should be extradited based upon the fact that he would go to trial Canadian laws, and that Rizzuto's extradition would be in the public's best interest. Irwin Cotler should intervene and ensure that Rizzuto is extradited to United States.

Biography

Vito Rizzuto was born in the town of Cattolica Eraclea in Sicily in 1946 (Humphreys, The Man They Call).

He immigrated to Montreal with his family in 1954 (CBC News Online, INDEPTH). During Vito's high school years, his father was known to be associated with individuals involved in organized crime. When members of the Caruana-*****rera clan moved to Canada to avoid prosecution elsewhere, they soon became involved with Vito Rizzuto and his father. Vito Rizzuto married Sicilian Giovanna Cammalleni, and they had three children: sons Nicolo and Leonardo, and a daughter, Libertina. The Rizzuto family is extremely close, with several members living on the same street on Montreal Island. Known as the Teflon Don, Vito Rizzuto is thought to be a leader of organized crime within Canada. He has known associations with organized crime leaders in Calgary, Vancouver, and New York, and is credited with helping bring a truce between known motorcycle gangs the Hell's Angels and the Rock Machine in Quebec. In the mid-1980s, Rizzuto fled to Venezuela for some time due to increased tensions with the Caruana-*****rera organization. Rizzuto speaks fluent Spanish, Italian, French and English, and is always elegantly groomed and dressed. He is reputed to enjoy the high life, including golfing, restaurants, a Jaguar and three Corvettes (Humphreys, The Man They Call). Rizzuto has a long history of involvement with the law. In 1972, he was sentenced to two years in jail for conspiracy to commit arson. In 1981, Rizzuto was inducted into the Bonanno mafia organization after helping to murder three captains of the family who were plotting a takeover. In the same decade, he was charged and acquitted in two separate drug investigations. In 2001, the police in Montreal charged the three people involved in a plot to kill Rizzuto (CBC News Online, INDEPTH).

Rizzuto's Situation

Vito Rizzuto was among the nearly 30 suspected members of organized crime ranks arrested in a sweep led by United States' prosecutors. This sweep targeted members of the Bonanno crime family, and links back to the 1981 killings of three Mafia captains, Alphonse Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone. The three captains of the Bonanno crime family were killed in May of 1991 in Brooklyn, New York. The three were suspected of plotting a grab for power while Bonanno crime boss Philip Rastelli was in prison. This hit helped entrench Rizzuto's reputation as the Godfather of Canada Italian Mafia (Blue, 2004).

Rizzuto was arrested at his Montreal home by local Montreal police in January 20th of 2004. He was the only individual arrested in Canada. His arrest came at the request of United States' authorities. Rizzuto was arrested on racketeering and murder charges based on the 1991 killings of three Mafia captains. These racketeering charges related to conspiracy and loan sharking, in addition to the 1981 murders (Blue, 2004).

An extradition hearing for Rizzuto was held on March 29, 2004. This occurred two weeks after a Quebec Superior Court justice was named in the case. Since January 20, 2004, Rizzuto has been held within Montreal's Riviere des Prairies prison (Blue, 2004).

Based on evidence from ex-mobsters, police have begun searching for bodies in a swampy area of Queens. This is the deceased Mafia captain Alphonse Indelicato was unearthed in 1981. The FBI has been informed that this area is a Mafia burial ground that also holds the bodies of Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone, who were allegedly killed by Rizzuto's gang. Much of the prosecutors' case against Rizzuto is based on the testimony of Salvatore Vitale, a Bonanno under boss turned informant (Blue, 2004).

US authorities want to extradite Vito Rizzuto to New York for trial (CBC News Online, Extradition). Irwin Cotler, the Canadian Justice Minister, is expected to make a decision in early November regarding Rizzuto's extradition to the United States. If found guilty, Rizzuto would face a 20 to 27-year sentence (Blue, 2004; CBC News Online, INDEPTH).

Rizzuto's lawyers note that much of the evidence against Vito Rizzuto is based on hearsay. Further, Rizzuto's lawyers argue that Rizzuto cannot be extradited because evidence submitted is too old. They argue that U.S. prosecutors do not have enough evidence to prove that Rizzuto was a member of an organized crime group in the United States in the past five years, and important number considering that five years is the statute of limitations for racketeering charges. In August, in a Quebec court, Alan Dershowitz, a high-profile U.S. attorney and Harvard law professor noted that Rizzuto has not been officially charged with murder. As such, it is not important that there is no statute of limitations for murder in New York State law (Blue, 2004).

Legislation in the U.S. And Canada

Vito Rizzuto was arrested on racketeering and murder charges based on the 1991 killings of three Mafia captains. However, he is only charged with racketeering by United States prosecutors. This is an important distinction, as his extradition hearings will be primarily based upon racketeering charges. Essentially, out Rizzuto's current Canadian legal issues boil down to whether or not he will be extradited to United States to be tried for his alleged crimes.

Currently, Rizzuto's extradition hearing in Canada is simply aimed at determining whether he should be extradited to United States. Judges in Rizzuto's initial extradition hearing and April and his bail hearing in August specifically noted that it was not their jurisdiction to interpret United States law (Blue, 2004).

Justice Jean-Guy Boilard has noted that if the charges against Vito Rizzuto had been placed in Canada, there would be enough evidence for Rizzuto to stand trial in this country.

Boilard was responsible for passing the extradition decision onto Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler in Ottawa in April of 2004 (CBC News Online, Extradition).

Implications

The extradition of Vito Rizzuto, known as the Godfather of the Montreal Mafia, would have a fragmenting impact on organized crime in Montreal. Rizzuto's extradition may lead to internal conflict and potential power grabs within organized crime. An anonymous police investigator noted of the potentially turbulent situation, "Any time someone that high up gets taken down, you're going to have conflicts, internal conflicts. Other people are going to try to take over" (Cherry).

However, the same investigator suggested that Rizzuto's father Nick Rizzuto has actually always been head of the organization. He notes, "He (Nick Rizzuto) still calls the shots," suggesting that the presence of Nick Rizzuto may be stabilizing during the power vacuum if Vito Rizzuto is extradited to United States (Cherry).

In contrast, Antonio Nicaso, the author of several books on organized crime, argues that Nick Rizzuto is not heavily involved in the Montreal Mafia. Further, Nicaso knows that there is no one within the Montreal Mafia with the same connections as Vito Rizzuto. Notes Nicaso, "It doesn't mean that the organization will be in disarray without Vito. They will manage to go on, but not with the same connections" (Cherry).

Expected Result for Rizzuto

If justice prevails in this case, Vito Rizzuto will be extradited to United States. One important argument for the extradition of Rizzuto is that evidence presented so far would have provided enough evidence for him to stand trial in Canada. Therefore, Canada should extradited Rizzuto to United States, if Canadian law would see him go to trial. A failure to extradite Rizzuto would simply reflect a weakness in extradition law.

Constitutional challenges to Canada's extradition laws by Vito Rizzuto's lawyers that argue extraditing would violate Rizzuto is rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CBC Montreal) represent legal wrangling rather than the best interests of justice.

Importantly, Rizzuto should be extradited in the interest of justice. Rizzuto is clearly an important and dangerous figure in organized crime within Canada. Antonio Nicaso, a noted author on the subject of organized crime, notes, "What Rizzuto did was to place Canada on the map of organized crime, but in an independent way, not as an appendix of the United States... Vito was not a soldier, but a partner" (Blue, 2004). As such, Canadian Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler has a moral duty to ensure that Rizzuto is held accountable for his criminal actions. Clearly, Rizzuto's extradition is in the public's best interest.

Possibilities for Intervention

Honorable Irwin Cotler should intervene and ensure that Rizzuto is extradited to United States. Given that Rizzuto committed these alleged crimes in the United States, he should be held accountable in that country, and not a protected from facing justice by Canada's extradition laws.