THROW THE BOOK AT THEM

Who needed the Sopranos? Montrealers had the real thing right here on
our streets, in our cafes and offices - mobsters as large as life.

Under the leadership of friends and family of Vito Rizzuto, Canada's
most powerful Mafia godfather, they were hustling drugs, and also,
according to RCMP affidavits, bribing airport baggage handlers,
food-services workers and customs agents to get cocaine shipments
through Trudeau Airport.

With the guilty pleas of Vito's father, Nicolo Rizzuto, and five
others on 21 charges, including drug-trafficking, smuggling,
racketeering and extortion, Montrealers have seen how this all
worked. Now that these hoodlums have acknowledged their guilt, they
must be given stiff sentences.

The mobsters were awash in dirty money, and didn't mind violence. In
2005, for example, Magdi Garas Samaan, who had held out promises of a
30-per-cent-in-six-months return on investments, was found dead in a
motel room after mobster Francesco Del Balso tried to recover funds
from Samaan. Before the body was even discovered, Del Balso had
Samaan's spouse and stepdaughter sign over the ownership of Samaan's
properties.

Last week's guilty pleas were a result of plea-bargaining. The
negotiated sentences will be made public Oct. 16. There is already
talk that Nicolo Rizzuto, 84 and jailed since Nov. 22, 2006, will be
set free on Oct. 16. If so, he will have served an absurdly short
sentence for extortion, bookmaking, possession of dirty money, and
conspiracy to traffic drugs.

These are serious charges. The men who have pleaded guilty to them
turned Montreal into a real-life mob drama. This should be their last
chapter. Throw the book at them.