Dad of Major League
hitter may hold
a key to Rick Rizzolo's
future jail cell
"He who sleeps with dogs,
wakes up with fleas"
.
.
Rick Rizzolo
Vince Piazza
Mike Piazza
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
October 18, 2010
LAS VEGAS - While racketeer
Rick Rizzolo was serving his prison sentence, he secretly participated
in the $3 million dollar sale of his portion of the Philadelphia Crazy
Horse Too. Rizzolo did not report the transaction to the IRS or his creditors
including unpaid
beating victim Kirk Henry.
According
to documents discovered in September 2010, Rizzolo was set to receive $3
million from his business partner Vince
Piazza, the father of famous baseball player Mike Piazza, for Rizzolo's
share of the strip club (photo on left).
In a MOTION (below) filed on October 8,
2010, attorneys for Kirk Henry asked the United States Federal Court to
extend the time for Discovery in Henry's personal injury case so his legal
team can depose Vince Piazza to ascertain whether Rick or Lisa Rizzolo
received at least $2 million of the $3 million dollars under the table.
However, being subpoenaed to talk about
his association with a convicted racketeer is the last thing a highly respected
Pennsylvania businessman and humanitarian like Vince Piazza needs.
FULL
TEXT
Vince Piazza is a pillar of the community,
an exemplary father, and highly successful businessman who's Piazza
Auto Group operates 11 car dealerships in Pennsylvania.
As I'm sure Vince knows well, his deposition
will become a public document in Nevada, and will most likely end up on
these and other pages for all to see. Though his association with a criminal
was probably inadvertent, a man such as Vince Piazza probably doesn't welcome
being tarnished by having his name associated with a convicted felon who
in 2006 pleaded guilty to racketeering and was recently accused of perjury
for allegedly giving false testimony in a deposition, information that
directly correlates to Rizzolo's association with Piazza.
FULL
TEXT
On June 18, 2004, Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk,
Gary Carter, and Johnny Bench joined Vince Piazza at Shea Stadium to honor
his son on "Mike Piazza Night." The younger Piazza was celebrated for breaking
the record for career home runs by a catcher. During the 2005 season, Piazza
was the ninth highest paid MLB player at $16,071,429.
Vince Piazza is a very proud man, a man
who gives generously to charity; a man who values and protects his reputation;
and a man who was once part of a group that offered $115 million for a
Major League Baseball team -- but were declined because Vince failed a
security check of his background.
Los Angeles Times
Lasorda's Ties to Sale Are Fading
Baseball: Vince
Piazza, manager's longtime friend, fails security check and may withdraw
from group trying to buy the Giants.
September 11, 1992 | ROSS NEWHAN and BILL PLASCHKE | TIMES
STAFF WRITERS
Vince Piazza, a longtime friend of Dodger Manager Tom
Lasorda, may withdraw from the group trying to buy the San Francisco Giants
and move that club to Florida. That decision could force Lasorda to remain
with the Dodgers in 1993, rather than possibly joining his hometown pal
in Florida.
Fred Kuhlmann, vice chairman of the St. Louis Cardinals
and chairman of the major league ownership committee, said Thursday that
Piazza has no choice, that he failed a security check of his background.
Kuhlmann would not provide specifics, and Tom Ostertag, baseball's general
counsel, refused comment. |
In 1993, Piazza sued Major League Baseball.
Vincent
Piazza, et al v. Major League Baseball, et al
The narrative of the court case stated:
"Case involving investors attempt to purchase the San Francisco Giants
and relocate the franchise to Tampa Bay, Florida, which was disapproved
by Major League Baseball. Plaintiffs allege that the organizations of professional
major league baseball and an affiliated individual frustrated their efforts
to purchase the San Francisco Giants baseball club (the "Giants") and relocate
it to Tampa Bay, Florida. Plaintiffs charge these defendants with infringing
upon the rights under United States Constitution and violation antitrust
laws and several state laws in the process."
The lawsuit and its inherent publicity
affected plans to build a stadium with public funds. In the end,
Major League Baseball decided to pay Vince Piazza $6 million to avoid a
trial which could have weakened its antirust exemption.
Following this skirmish, Vince Piazza felt
vindicated, and with his reputation in tact built a series of highly successful
businesses that are flourishing to the present day. He also made
several more attempts to join groups trying to buy Major League teams
including a stab at buying the Florida Marlins from Wayne Huizenga (owner
of Republic Silver State Disposal in Las Vegas).
Unfortunately -- for unknown reasons --
all five of Piazza's attempts at MLB ownership failed.
And to make the prospects of owning a Major
League team even more distant, in 2005, Piazza got involved with Rick Rizzolo.
Many believe Vince was duped by Rizzolo
who at the time had a clean record, and with Rizzolo's help Vince and his
partners in 2006 opened a beautiful club in South Philadelphia patterned
after Rizzolo's Vegas operation, an operation that -- unbeknownst to Piazza
-- was to be closed down by the government in less than two years.
But months before the Philly club opened,
the nearby community found out who Vince's new partner was and raised a
red flag. Even with the community's strong opposition, a liquor license
was issued possibly
in respect to Vince Piazza who is a local hero.
Philadelphia Daily
News
LOOK
OUT, South Philly - Sin City is moving in
November 5, 2005
By CATHERINE LUCEY
Called Crazy Horse
Too, it's a massive, flashy establishment that has had run-ins with the
feds in Vegas. Its owner is reportedly connected to the mob.
Crazy Horse Too in
Vegas is a 24-hour complex staffed by 1,500 women that makes roughly $1
million a month, according to a recent Las Vegas Sun story.
But not all of that
money may be clean.
Last January, a club
manager was indicted and charged with federal racketeering and tax charges.
The indictment alleges that club employees extorted money from customers
through threats.
And while Crazy Horse
Too's owner, Rick Rizzolo, has not been hit with any charges, he is under
investigation for federal racketeering and tax evasion, according to the
Las Vegas press.
Rizzolo has also repeatedly
been accused of being linked to the Mafia. A Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist
recently reported that Rizzolo had been at an organized-crime dinner in
Chicago over the summer, attended by mob boss Joey "the Clown" Lombardo. |
A well respected gentleman like Vince Piazza
must have choked when he read about his new business partner in the Philadelphia
Daily News because it didn't take long for him to put his topless bar
on the market and find a willing buyer. Piazza began his quest to sell
the Philly club just after his partner Rizzolo began serving time in the
Federal Detention Center in Los Angeles. That must have been a very
embarrassing time for Vince.
New York Post
Father
of Slugger Mike Piazza Sells Philadelphia Nightclub
Crazy Horse Too Cabaret to Reopen as Rick's Cabaret
By Paul Snyder
April 22, 2008
FORMER Met Mike Piazza’s millionaire dad, Vince Piazza,
is about to become even richer. Vince has signed papers to sell the Crazy
Horse Too Cabaret, an upscale topless bar/restaurant in Philadelphia, to
publicly traded gentlemen’s club Rick’s Cabaret International for $7.9
million. |
However, following the sale to Rick's Cabaret
(no connection to Rizzolo), $3 million destined for Rizzolo went unreported,
and that's the genesis of Kirk Henry's MOTION to extend Discovery in his
lawsuit and give his legal team enough time to depose Mr. Piazza -- something
that's sure to put the shy businessman back into the East Coast news at
a time when he doesn't need the publicity.
Maybe somebody back in 2005 should have
warned Vince; "He who sleeps with dogs, wakes up with fleas."
Will Piazza give a full disclosure and
throw Rizzolo under the bus to protect his own reputation? And where is
the Internal Revenue Service and Nevada Department of Parole and Probation
at this time in the history of this nine year old case?
MORE INFORMATION:
Philly Crazy Horse Too liquor
license questioned
Neighbors have concerns about
the type of establishment proposed for this location, as well as the character
of those in control of the license. - Pennsylvania
State Senator Vincent Fumo
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
January 23, 2006
http://www.americanmafia.com/inside_vegas/1-23-06_Inside_Vegas.html
