ANTI-MAFIA LAW 'FRIGHTENS ME' SAYS FORMER BOSS'S WIFE

Would Apply To Suspects: 'Where Does Innocent Until Proven Guilty Come In?'
She Asks

TORONTO - The wife of a retired Mafia boss says she is more scared of the
Ontario government's proposed legislation to empower police to seize the
assets of suspected mobsters than of her husband's former associates.

Judy MacDonald -- who is married to one-time mafioso Anthony "Tony"
Musitano, jailed for a string of extortion bombings in Hamilton between
1976 and 1980 -- made a startling appearance yesterday before the justice
committee at Queen's Park.

"What frightens me is the power that the police department has. That's what
I'm afraid of," she said, referring to a provincial bill that would enable
police to confiscate the proceeds of unlawful activity without criminal
charges being laid. Under existing federal law, police can seize assets
after a criminal conviction.

Ms. MacDonald, owner of a thriving dry-cleaning business in Hamilton, said
she attended the hearings on Bill 155, the Remedies for Organized Crime and
Other Unlawful Activities Act, because she fears its extraordinary powers.

"I serve to gain nothing from coming to you here today. I am a citizen and
I have no protection from being victimized by this legislation," she said.

"Hearsay equals the assumption of guilt [in the bill]. Where does the
concept of Canadian law, innocent till proven guilty, come into the process?"

In 1983, Mr. Musitano, who ran a bakery, was found guilty of conspiracy to
possess explosives with intent to cause explosions after the court showed
he hired three bikers to instill fear and collect money.

While serving the first year of his sentence for the bombings, he plotted
the murder of Domenic Racco, a prominent Toronto mobster, from his prison cell.

Mr. Musitano so upset authorities in Hamilton that, in 1988, the police
chief -- backed by a unanimous vote from city council -- asked the National
Parole Board to deny him early release.

But he was granted full parole in 1990 and has lived quietly since. His
brother, Dominic, was a powerful Mafia don until his death in 1995 and his
nephews, Patrick and Angelo Musitano, pleaded guilty last year to hiring a
hit man to kill a rival mobster from Niagara Falls. Both are currently in
prison.

Ms. MacDonald, who married Mr. Musitano five years ago, said she is not
guilty by association but has found her civil liberties infringed upon
because of her marriage.

For example, she spent three years and $7,000 to obtain a firearms
acquisition certificate to purchase a gun for sporting purposes. She
worries that Bill 155 is another attack on innocent people such as herself.

"I am told that I am a Mafia wife and that the business I laboriously
worked and toiled to build over the last 15 years is owned by organized
crime," said Ms. MacDonald.

"It is also apparent that my choice of mate has jeopardized my privilege to
be judged and respected in a normal way. My husband's past is his past.
He's paid his debt to society."

Speaking to reporters after her deputation, Ms. MacDonald said, unlike the
underworld portrayed in The Sopranos or on the big screen, it is possible
to retire from the Mob.

"This is not Hollywood. If you choose not be a criminal, that's your choice."

David Young, Ontario's Attorney-General, said Bill 155 strikes a reasonable
balance and sought to allay her concerns.

"Nothing will be seized, nothing will be frozen, nothing be forfeited
unless and until a judge thinks it's reasonable to do so," he said,
emphasizing innocent relatives of criminals "have nothing to fear."