DRUG CHARGES THROWN OUT

Judge Rules Officers Violated Dealer's Rights

A notorious drug dealer known as "Jimmy the Little Millionaire" had charges
against him tossed out of court after a judge ruled police violated his
rights and beat him during his arrest.

"The breaches of his rights are so egregious that it would be contrary to
the fairness of the trial to allow the evidence to be admitted," wrote
Justice Joseph Bovard in a judgment clearing Vincenzo "James" Pitaro, 55,
of trafficking and possession of heroin charges. Bovard agreed with
Pitaro's lawyer Howard Goldkind, ruling the ounce of heroin Toronto Police
found on Pitaro, as he was walking home in September 2001, was taken
through an illegal search, therefore inadmissible and the arrest arbitrary.

Consts. Jason Goss and Ono Ferlisi arrested Pitaro after Goss suspected he
possessed marijuana or was involved in a rash of burglaries in the Christie
Pits area.

Bovard rejected the officers' testimony, stating, "the facts as I find them
are that Mr. Pitaro was not doing anything that objectively speaking could
be called suspicious or illegal.

"The police had no reason to detain him and they did so on a phantom of
suspicion.

"Officer Goss was on a fishing expedition. In Canada it is perfectly
alright to take a walk down the street on which one lives even if it's 3:24
a.m."

Pitaro, an insomniac who often walks in the early morning, said he bought
the heroin.

Goss used a leg takedown on Pitaro as he "flailed and kicked violently" in
resisting being arrested and searched. Pitaro told the officers they had
"no probable cause."

Pitaro quoted Goss as saying, "probable cause, I'll show you probable
cause," as the cop punched him. Pitaro was hospitalized for a few days with
a "large bump on his left temple that swelled out about two to three inches."

"The violence visited upon on Mr. Pitaro in arresting him was completely
unjustifiable. It is very hard to believe that a seasoned police officer of
Officer Goss' size would have to resort to such force in subduing such a
small, weak man as Pitaro," Bovard stated.

Goss is 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds while Pitaro is 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds.

The judge dismissed the officers' account that Pitaro pulled the heroin out
of his pocket and dropped it in front of the cops.

Pitaro has a long criminal record for cocaine trafficking, fraud and theft,
dating back to 1977.