CORRECTION to last week's INSIDE VEGAS
Judge Stewart Bell was NOT
Rick Rizzolo's
defense attorney in baseball bat beating case
INSIDE VEGAS by
Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
November 14, 2005
CORRECTION AND SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
In last week's AmericanMafia.com INSIDE VEGAS
column,
I incorrectly identified Clark County District Court Judge Stewart Bell
as having served as Rick
Rizzolo's defense attorney in the 1985 baseball bat beating of Rick
Sandland. Because of my error, I have been provided court documents
indicating that Judge Bell, while in private
practice, was
not the
attorney for DEFENDANT
Rizzolo,
the purported owner of the Crazy Horse Too topless bar who plead
guilty to battery with a baseball bat -- a felony. Judge Bell was the
attorney for
PLAINTIFF
Sandland who later died of brain damage caused by his injuries. I
sincerely apologize to Judge Bell for the error.
Steve Miller
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS FROM UNITED STATES FEDERAL
COURT RECORD, August 2005:
(Bold lettering added by Steve
Miller)
INTRODUCTION
Counsel for the defendant Rizzolo
(Dean Patti
and Tony Sgro) have now
decided to seek a protective order after
they improperly instructed their client
not to answer questions propounded by the undersigned
(Stan
Hunterton, attorney for Plaintiff Kirk
Henry).
Following the termination of the
deposition, Mr. Sgro informed the undersigned that he would be
departing for a vacation in Italy and would not be returning until
mid-August. Accordingly, the undersigned had
agreed to set plaintiffs' anticipated motion for sanctions at a time
when Mr. Sgro would be in town. In the interim, however, Mr.
Rizzolo's counsel has apparently awakened to the fact that it is
incumbent upon the party who refuses
to answer deposition
questions to
affirmatively seek a protective order from the Court. Mr.
Rizzolo has now done so.
The inquiries of Rizzolo were
entirely appropriate. Mr. Rizzolo claims that he suffered
"embarrassment" and "harassment" because he was asked about his
relationship with several high ranking members of the
Chicago
La Cosa
Nostra crime family, known as the "outfit." While Mr. Rizzolo's
relationship with organized crime figures might well be embarrassing,
that is not a basis for
refusing to
answer questions concerning
that
subject in the present litigation.
A review of the Fifth Cause of
Action clearly
demonstrates that the plaintiffs have alleged Mr.
Rizzolo to have conducted his business of the Crazy Horse through the
threatened and actual use of violence.* In this
regard, Rizzolo was forced to admit in his deposition of July 20,
2005
that he had sustained a conviction
in 1985 in
relation to a beating he
had administered to a Crazy Horse Too customer via a baseball bat.**
Another highly relevant fact is
that
each and every one of Rizzolo's
shift managers is a convicted
felon, including
Robert
D'Apice, who has bragged to law enforcement about his organized
crime ties. Another manager,
Vinny
Faraci, is a known associate of the Bonnano Organized crime family
and the son of a mafia captain, Johnny Faraci. Until very recently, Mr.
Rizzolo also employed
Rocky
Lombardo, the brother of Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, the underboss
of the Chicago "Outfit' who was recently
indicted for multiple murders
and racketeering and
remains a
fugitive.
On July 18, 2005, the day
Rizzolo was ordered to appear for his deposition (later postponed at
his request to the 20th), an FBI organized crime supervisor in Chicago
was reported by the Chicago Tribune to have testified that Mr. Rizzolo
had attended a meeting of high ranking mafia members, including
Joey
"The Clown" Lombardo, John "No Nose" DiFronzio, and his consigliere,
Joe "The Builder" Ariddaechi.
FOOTNOTES:
*The
defendants have repeatedly attempted to have Judge Glass dismiss this
cause of
action.
In their last attempt, Judge Glass forcefully informed them that the
Fifth Cause of Action (the baseball bat attack) as
styled, with
Mr. Rizzolo as the named
defendant, will he presented to the
jury at the time of trial. (Because
of Judge Glass' "forcefulness" in this case, attorney Sgro had the
case
transferred out of her court, and into Federal Court where the baseball
bat beating became part of the public record. - SM)
**Mr. Rizzolo
testified that he thought he was convicted of disorderly conduct. As
previously presented to the court, Judge
Stewart Bell, while in private
practice, represented the brain damaged victim and has informed
co-counsel that Mr. Rizzolo was originally charged with battery with a
deadly weapon and thereafter pled to a reduced charge of battery.
(Click on images below to see actual court documents)
at Mr. Rizzolo's place of business; Rizzolo's ongoing
relationship with
being asked to bring the club's liquor license before the city council
for disciplinary action. However, in spite of overwhelming evidence, he
continues to
refuse to act, possibly out of loyalty to his
who are suspected of having hidden
ownership in the Crazy Horse, and because Goodman was once Mr.
Rizzolo's criminal defense attorney.
During the 1980's, attorney Oscar Goodman was well known for charging
his criminal clients a retainer of one-half-million dollars before he
would take their case.
It is also suspected that Goodman will not bring the Crazy Horse before
his council for license revocation action because of possible
fear of retaliation
from fugitive Joey "The Clown" Lombardo who is one of the suspected
hidden owners, and whose brother Rocco was an executive at the club.
I would like to thank Mr. Rizzolo's quick-witted attorneys for
transferring the
case out of District Court and into Federal Court making it
possible for the discovery and initial
of the previously unavailable record of the baseball bat attack, and
their client's guilty plea.
Nonetheless, the Crazy Horse Too, 2476 Industrial Rd., continues to
threaten the lives of its
patrons, including a near fatal stabbing the week
of October 27.
