RIZZUTO SENIOR GOES HOME

Mafia Sentencings. Younger Associates Get More Jail Time

Nicolo Rizzuto sat through his sentencing hearing with the patient
look of a man who knows he'll be sleeping in his own bed for the first
time in nearly two years.

The octogenarian leaned forward in his chair in the prisoner's dock of
the Gouin courthouse yesterday and stared at his hands as Quebec Court
Judge Jean-Pierre Bonin essentially rubber-stamped a decision that
sources say was made months ago.

Despite being described as a leader of a criminal organization,
Rizzuto was left with only three years' probation to serve for
accepting large wads of cash - suspected of being his share of the
profits of crimes such as bookmaking - at his headquarters, the
Consenza Social Club. He and other Mafia leaders were investigated for
four years.

As part of a plea bargain, Rizzuto sidestepped the more serious
charges filed against him in Project Colisee, including drug
trafficking and extortion.

The Canada Revenue Agency still has a seizure order on Rizzuto's home
related to unpaid taxes on alleged mob revenue.

The nearly two years Rizzuto, 84, spent behind bars awaiting the
outcome of his case were factored into his sentence. Last month, he
pleaded guilty to possessing proceeds of crime and a related
gangsterism charge.

Rizzuto got the lightest sentencing recommendation of the six reputed
leaders in part because of his age and health problems, prosecutor
Yvan Poulin said.

Two of the other men sentenced yesterday - Francesco Del Balso, 38,
and Francesco Arcadi, 55 - each received the equivalent of a 15-year
prison term. With the time they already spent behind bars factored in,
they have 11 years left to serve. Bonin ordered they serve at least
half that before being eligible for parole.

"Sentences are imposed based on the evidence that is gathered, not on
somebody's reputation," Poulin said while defending the sentence
outside the courtroom.

"Here, in this case Mr. Rizzuto - I know he's reputed as (being) the
boss of the Mafia in Montreal - but the evidence that was gathered by
the RCMP during the four years of the investigation didn't show that."

Poulin said that not being able to prove the origins of cash Rizzuto
was caught handling 76 times on cameras hidden in the former social
club in St. Leonard was an obstacle to a tougher sentence.

Rizzuto, who left the Montreal Detention Centre last night, is the
father of Vito Rizzuto, 62, a man referred to often as the "Godfather"
of the Montreal Mafia. The younger Rizzuto is serving a 10-year
sentence in the U.S. for his role in the 1981 murders of three New
York mobsters. During Project Colisee, the police gathered evidence
that Nicolo Rizzuto and three of the other five men sentenced
yesterday ran the organization in his son's absence.

Leonardo Rizzuto, 39, and his sister Bettina Rizzuto, both lawyers,
were at the Gouin courthouse for their grandfather's sentencing. They
sat with aunt Maria Rizzuto, who watched her husband, Paolo Renda, 69,
get the equivalent of a six-year sentence. Renda pleaded guilty to the
same two charges as Rizzuto did last month, in addition to weapons
offences. He will likely be eligible for parole next year.

Rocco Sollecito, 60, an associate of the Rizzuto organization, was
sentenced to the equivalent of an eight-year prison term and has four
years left to serve. He pleaded guilty to taking part in a general
conspiracy to commit extortion, bookmaking, illegal gaming, as well as
being in possession of the proceeds of crime.

Del Balso, Arcadi and Lorenzo Giordano, 45, got stiffer
recommendations of 15 years because of involvement in crimes like drug
trafficking, cocaine smuggling and exporting marijuana.

As part of the plea bargain, the Crown confiscated more than $2.8
million in cash seized when arrests and search warrants were carried
out in November 2006. Del Balso also consented to the confiscation of
cash and assets - including a villa in Acapulco - worth more than $800,000.

Giordano's sentencing was put off until Nov. 25.