http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-ne...d-mafia-playersLeonardo Rizzuto and Loris Cavaliere look like Michael and Tom Hagen.
Mafia busts: Sweeping raids, 48 arrests, and a murder plot
PAUL CHERRY, MONTREAL GAZETTE
Published on: November 20, 2015 | Last Updated: November 20, 2015 6:24 AM EST
The alleged heads of the most powerful criminal organizations in Montreal were rounded up Thursday as part of a drug trafficking investigation that has shaken up the city’s underworld and uncovered an incredible murder plot.
Leonardo Rizzuto, 46, and longtime friend Stefano Sollecito, 48, were described as being the new heads of the Mafia in Montreal after more than 200 police officers made 48 arrests as part of two investigations — Projects Magot and Mastiff — that were joined together and revealed the Mafia, the Hells Angels and the city’s major street gangs were allegedly working in concert to control drug trafficking in the city and share in the profits their alliance generated.
Rizzuto is the son of Vito Rizzuto, the former head of the Mafia in Montreal who died of natural causes in 2013. Sollecito is the son of Rocco Sollecito, a longtime Mafia leader who remained loyal to the organization while attempts were made to overtake it roughly four years ago.
The police also alleged that Loris Cavaliere, 61, a longtime defence lawyer, used his office in Little Italy on St-Laurent Blvd., as a place where the major players assumed they could meet in private because of the attorney-client privilege that keeps their conversations secret.
Cavaliere was arrested Thursday morning and is charged with “participating or contributing to the activity of a criminal organization” to facilitate its crimes. Cavaliere is also charged with trafficking in cocaine, between Jan. 1, 2013 and Nov. 16, 2015, along with nine other men, including three who are considered to be very influential members of Montreal-area street gangs. Cavaliere was a longtime friend of Vito Rizzuto’s.
Also charged on Thursday was Maurice (Mom) Boucher, the former Hells Angels leader who is serving a life sentence for having issued orders that led to the murders of two provincial prison guards and the attempted murder of another in 1997. Boucher, 62, is alleged to have used his daughter, Alexandra Mongeau, 25, to relay messages to his former bodyguard, Gregory Woolley, 43, as part of a plan to kill Raynald Desjardins, a former right-hand man of Vito Rizzuto, who is currently awaiting his sentence for his role in the murder of a Mafioso.
According to an indictment filed at the Longueuil courthouse, the plot to kill Desjardins began in July and ended on Nov. 9.
Salvatore Cazzetta, 60, a longtime member of the Hells Angels and one of its more influential members in Quebec, was also arrested on Thursday. He is alleged to be the man who handled the money for the alliance between the Mafia, Hells Angels and street gangs.
Sûreté du Québec Chief Inspector Patrick Bélanger said the combined investigations “allowed the arrests of the very influential heads of organized crime who formed an alliance.”
“This alliance was born out of a desire to control territory, particularly drug trafficking, and more particularly the area of Montreal, and to share revenues,” Bélanger said. “During the investigation, Gregory Woolley, 43, of St-Hubert, was identified as the head of street gangs and also an influential player within the alliance.”
“For their part, Stefano Sollecito and Leonardo Rizzuto were identified as the heads of the (Mafia in Montreal). They took the place of Vito Rizzuto who died in 2013.”
When Cavaliere appeared before Quebec Court Judge Christian Tremblay at the Montreal courthouse late Thursday afternoon he appeared calm. The Crown objected to his release and Tremblay informed him that the court will likely not be able to set a date for a bail hearing until next week.
“I understand,” Cavaliere said before he thanked the judge for pointing out the delay to him.
Rizzuto smiled broadly when he made his first appearance, also before Tremblay. He also appeared to have no strong reaction when told he will have to wait a week before a bail hearing can be set.
Not all of the defence lawyers who packed into room 4.02 of the Montreal courthouse agreed to waive the normal three-day maximum limit before an accused must have a bail hearing in Canada. Anne-Marie Lanctot, an attorney who represented Cazzetta on Thursday, objected to the lengthy delay. She said the Hells Angel had recently been operated on and was still recovering.
Lanctot also objected when informed that Boucher’s daughter would also have to wait more than a few days for a bail hearing. Mongeau appeared at the Montreal courthouse on a charge alleging she was in possession of money derived from a crime, sometime between 2013 and 2015. Lanctot said that Mongeau had a baby three weeks ago and argued it was unfair for a woman in that situation to have to wait a week before her bail hearing could be set.
“I can’t believe that in 2015 something can’t be done in this situation,” Lanctot said in apparent frustration.
“I have empathy for what you’re saying,” Tremblay replied before trying to find a solution by discussing it with the co-ordinating judge for the Montreal region during a quick break. But Lanctot was later informed Mongeau is scheduled to appear at the Longueuil courthouse on Friday, where she is charged with the murder conspiracy. That means Mongeau will have to wait until her case is moved up to Superior Court before she can have a bail hearing. When Lanctot was informed of this she said arrangements might be made to have Mongeau’s baby brought to her at a detention centre.
All of the accused who appeared before Tremblay were ordered not to communicate with a man who was used as an undercover agent during the investigation “as well as members of his family.” Oddly, almost everyone who received the court-ordered condition appeared to not recognize the man’s name, which is under a publication ban.
