Court
of Appeals hears Rick Rizzolo's plea
to
be relieved of two years parole and
obligation
to pay creditors
"He committed the acts," "On that point,
isn't it the
end of the story?" -
U.S. Judge N. Randy Smith
"Why shouldn't we give Judge Pro the
benefit to the doubt?" -
U.S. Judge Jay Bybee
Rizzolo's
Legal Team Quits leaving him
vulnerable
before appeal court rules
Judge stops legal fee payments from Rizzolo's
stepmother.
"$187,529.42 due and owing. Much of the
balance is
overdue by one full year."
- Dominic Gentile, Esq., Gordon & Silver, Ltd.
Kimtran
Rizzolo sanctioned for not disclosing
where
she stashed the proceeds from the
sale
of the Philadelphia Crazy Horse Too
"Plaintiffs are awarded their reasonable
attorney's fees
and costs incurred in pursuing their previous
motion
to compel." -
George Foley, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
March 26, 2012
LAS VEGAS - The law firm Gordon & Silver,
Ltd. is best known for representing casino interests. According to the
firm's website, principal partner
"Jeffrey A. Silver has been involved in every aspect of gaming, liquor
licensing and regulatory law, as well as planning and zoning matters and
transportation law."
However, Silver's firm is not known for
doing pro-bono work for criminal clients. And the firm has just filed a
MOTION
TO WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEYS OF RECORD for convicted felon Rick Rizzolo.
.
Dominic P. Gentile
Paola M. Armeni
Margaret W. Lambrose
Three top notch lawyers working gratis
for over a year to the tune of $187,529.42 may not be the real impetus
behind the firm's withdrawal from Rick Rizzolo's defense. The Rizzolos
have millions of dollars stashed
off shore controlled by Rick's ex-wife Lisa, and in local accounts
controlled by Bart Rizzolo's widow Kimtran Rizzolo, money that will soon
be under siege by beating
victim Kirk Henry and the IRS. When the money is recovered, Gordon
& Silver, Ltd. will certainly be entitled to their share, but to help
creditors -- including themselves -- repatriate the Rizzolo's money, the
firm would have to work against their client, hence what some believe is
the reason for their sudden departure.
Legitimate law firms have reputations to
protect, and according to the Gordon & Silver, Ltd. website; "Mr. Silver’s
representative clients include Gaming Laboratories International, Gaming
Partners International, Dubai World, Tuscany Hotel & Casino, The Stephen
Siegel Group, Grand Sierra Hotel & Casino (Reno), Applebee’s Restaurants,
Bell Transportation, United Coin, and Casino Technology (Bulgaria). He
has testified before the Nevada Legislature and U.S. Congressional sub-committees
on gaming law issues and has consulted on gaming regulatory matters in
several jurisdictions.
Mr. Silver served as a former Clark County
Chief Deputy District Attorney heading the Consumer Affairs and White Collar
Crimes Division and was the resident Las Vegas Member of the Nevada State
Gaming Control Board during the state's tumultuous period of developing
regulatory oversight. He also held positions at various resort hotels,
such as COO and General Counsel for the Landmark Hotel & Casino, Chief
Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of the Riviera Hotel
& Casino and Senior Vice-President of Marketing for Caesars Palace."
Attorney Dominic Gentile in Oct. 2007 bought
shares of Gordon & Silver, Ltd. and established a "white-collar
criminal defense unit" within the firm.
Gentile's association with the prestigious
law firm remained little known until January 4, 2008 when his name appeared
on Gordon & Silver, Ltd. stationary in connection to the infamous Rizzolo
crime family. He had authored a peculiar letter (below) on behalf of Rick's
father the late Bart Rizzolo -- the first of what may have become a series
of embarrassing actions for the firm.
Unfazed by Gentile's letter and threatened
litigation, the late James
(Buffalo Jim) Barrier's attorney feared for his client's safety and
immediately filed and received an EXTENSION
of the November 21, 2007, RESTRAINING
ORDER.
Gordon & Silver, Ltd. inherited Gentile's
wealthy clientele including Bart
Rizzolo when Gentile bought into the firm. Bart, then 77, was
a person who through his corporation pleaded guilty to racketeering for
the beating and robbing of patrons at his family's now defunct topless
bar the Crazy
Horse Too.
On November 16, 2007, Bart attempted to
run over Barrier and another man while they were standing in front of Barrier's
business which once shared the parking lot with the topless bar. A police
report was filed. Based on that complaint and witness statements, Barrier's
attorney Robert Lueck, a former District Court Judge, on November 26, 2007,
requested and received the first of two RESTRAINING ORDERS against Bart
Rizzolo to protect Barrier from another attempt on his life.
For the next four weeks Bart was not allowed
to come within 100 feet of Barrier. Because Barrier's auto repair business
was located next to the Rizzolo's strip club, Gentile's client was also
prohibited from being on his own property while Barrier was present
in his business less than 100 feet away. This inspired the letter from
Gordon & Silver, Ltd., a letter that immediately went viral after it
was published
on AmericanMafia.com.
Based on this event and the publicity it
generated because Barrier in 2005 was named Las Vegas' "Most
Colorful Character" by the Review-Journal in its Best of
Las Vegas poll, his run-in with members of an infamous
crime family may have become the beginning of a series of high profile
embarrassments to the usually low key Gordon & Silver, Ltd.
Five years after his "reputation" letter
was ignored, last Monday, Gentile's
photo appeared on the front page of the Review-Journal pleading
for Rick Rizzolo before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals without receiving
payment for his service!
Gentile probably believed at last Monday's
appeal hearing and continues to believe that the appeals court will agree
with his argument that Rizzolo deposited his fortune into "corporate
person hoods" that are out of the reach of creditors, and must be considered
an "independent person both in contemplation of law and under the terms
of the plea agreements in this case," i.e., Gordon & Silver, Ltd. will
be paid from Rick and Lisa Rizzolo's corporations if the appeals court
rules in his favor.
Or, after hearing the soliloquy between
the three appeals court judges and Gentile, Gordon & Silver, Ltd. envisioned
a sinking ship and felt it was time to cut ties with Rizzolo, et.al.
Gentile's act of generosity without any
assurance of payment probably did not please his law partners, especially
when the case grew from what was supposed to be very low key into a nationally
publicized circus (Editor's note: Steve Miller had nothing to do with
it, I think.).
The appeal is expected to be summarily
dismissed which may cause Gordon & Silver, Ltd. further embarrassment
and leave them with hundreds of hours of unpaid legal bills until plaintiffs
(United States of America, and Kirk Henry) convince the court to seize
the money Kimtran Rizzolo received from the sale of the Philadelphia Crazy
Horse Too, and force Lisa Rizzolo to repatriate her off shore money, or
indict one or both women for violating court orders.
But, Dominic Gentile's MOTION
TO WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEYS OF RECORD has confirmed even more oddities
about the Rizzolo case:
4. As an initial retainer,
a third person (Fred
Doumani) paid $40,000 to this firm for a specific purpose and informed
us that he had no intention at that time of paying any more on Mr. Rizzolo's
behalf.
5. When the initial
payment was exhausted, Mr. Rizzolo continued to pay $3,000 per month toward
his outstanding balance for a period of time. Those funds were obtained
from his father's widow (emphasis added) and paid over to Gordon Silver.
6. The last payment
was received on Mr. Rizzolo's account on February 25, 2011 in the amount
of $3,000.
9. On July 20, 2011,
the United States District Court, District of Nevada, ordered that Amy
and Kirk Henry have priority to any payments from the Piazza Partnership
to Lions, a transaction unrelated to the present suit. (See July 20, 2011,
Minutes of Proceedings, attached hereto as Exhibit A.). Mr. Rizzolo was
to arrange said payments and was strictly prohibited from taking any action
to hinder the payments of those monies, including their use to maintain
legal counsel.
13. Defendant's last
known address is: Fredrick John Rizzolo, #41390-048, c/o Taft Correctional
Institution, P.O. Box 7001, Taft, CA 93268.
14. I personally visited
with Mr. Rizzolo at his last known address on Sunday, January 22, 2012
and advised him of our intention to file this motion unless payment could
be arranged. I also served him with a copy of the proposed Motion at that
time.
When the court ordered all $3 million from
the sale of the Philadelphia Crazy Horse Too (Piazza Partnership to Lions)
be paid to Kirk and Amy Henry, payments to Gordon & Silver, Ltd. ceased,
and Rick Rizzolo's angel (Doumani) did not want to pay good money after
bad to help his friend.
To make matters worse, late last week,
the U.S. Department of Justice filed this letter with the Appeals Court
Clerk:
On Friday, March
23, as their last official action on behalf of Rizzolo, Gordon &
Silver, Ltd. filed this reply to the D.O.J's letter:
FULL
REPLY: http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/RizzoloLastLetterFromDominicGentile-03-23-12.pdf
Not mentioned in
Ms. Lambrose's reply is Rizzolo's admission in his OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFF KIRK HENRY'S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION filed on
June 22, 2011, that he already agreed to pay the Henrys restitution.
"From the time the IRS began garnishing Mr. Rizzolo's wages, he
has been unable to make the restitution payments to the Henrys and he has
had to borrow money ($4,000.00)
from his
son in order to do so."
He can't have it
both ways!
The Ninth Circuit
Court is expected to hand down its ruling within the next two weeks. It's
not yet known what attorney or paralegal is next in line to represent Rick
Rizzolo (Spud
may still be available).
Kimtran
Rizzolo sanctioned
"Don't remember." "What you mean?" "Don't
know." "I need the blanket or something. I'm cold." "I don't understand
really your question." "I don't have money now." "I spend it." "This is
very uncomfortable chair." "I don't understand." "Explain it." From Me
Account? What You Mean?
This is part of the sworn
testimony of Kimtran Rizzolo, widow of Bart Rizzolo.
In response to her deposition testimony,
United States Magistrate Judge George Foley on January 4, 2012, ordered
Kimtran to "provide full and complete responses" in writing to all interrogatory
questions about where she hid $1,052,006.03 dollars derived from the sale
of the Philadelphia Crazy Horse Too.
She defied Judge Foley's order. A MOTION
FOR CONTEMPT was filed by attorneys for Kirk Henry. On March 20, 2012,
Judge Foley issued an ORDER stating:
Plaintiffs’ Motion
for Contempt Against Defendant Kimtran Rizzolo and her Counsel and for
Enforcement of Monetary Sanctions Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37 (#569) is granted
as follows:
1. Defendant is ordered
to further supplement her responses to Interrogatory Nos. 16 and 22 within
14 days of the filing of this order. Failure to do so may result in the
imposition of further sanctions against Defendant and/or her counsel.
2. Plaintiffs are
awarded their reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in pursuing
their previous motion to compel (#555) and their instant motion for contempt
(#569) in an amount to be hereafter determined by the Court.
FULL ORDER: http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/KimtranSanction.pdf
The Rizzolo's legal tanglings have captivated
the attention of dozens of experienced attorneys including instructors
and students at the UNLV Boyd School of Law, and attorneys
who specialize in asset protection. Based on interviews conducted
by INSIDE VEGAS, a majority of attorneys believe that the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals is about to summarily dismiss Rick Rizzolo's appeal. If
this occurs, it opens the door for Kirk Henry's Uniform
Fraudulent Transfers Act (UFTA) lawsuit to take center stage, and the
IRS to become active in this case. The UFTA action will point the spotlight
at Lisa and Kimtran Rizzolo and their stashed
away ill-gotten fortunes.
Rick Rizzolo will be released from federal
custody on June 12. When he gains his freedom, it remains to be known whether
Rizzolo will stand by and let the mother of his children, and the woman
who cared for his ailing father take his rap? Or will he be man enough
to pay his financial obligations to the Henrys, the IRS, Gordon & Silver,
Ltd., and other creditors.
MORE INFORMATION:
San
Francisco Chronicle
Appeals judges hear strip club mogul case at UNLV
By KEN RITTER, Associated Press
March 19, 2012
Attorney Dominic Gentile asked the three 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals judges to make a distinction between the one-year-and-one-day
sentence that ex-Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo served in the tax case
and the nine-month sentence that U.S. District Judge Philip Pro imposed
after hearing that Rizzolo failed to make restitution to a Kansas tourist
who was paralyzed in a scuffle with club bouncers in 2001.
"He committed the acts," Judge N. Randy Smith of Idaho
declared. "On that point, isn't it the end of the story?"
"We are challenging what the court did," Gentile responded.
"Why shouldn't we give Judge Pro the benefit to the doubt?"
asked Judge Jay Bybee of Nevada.
Federal appeals panel hears arguments in Rizzolo case
in Las Vegas
By Jeff German
LAS
VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Mar. 20, 2012
At one point, when pressed by 9th Circuit Judge N. Randy
Smith of Idaho, Gentile acknowledged that he wasn't contesting the acts
committed by Rizzolo that prompted Pro to send the topless club owner back
to prison.
"Isn't that the end of the story?" Smith asked.
Gentile responded that Pro had abused his discretion
when handing out the additional prison time, which violated the federal
law governing the judge's handling of the sentence.
The appeals panel did not issue an opinion after the
hearing.
ORANGE
COUNTY WEEKLY
Bada Bing!
Mike Carona's Dirty Vegas Strip Club Pal Whines about
Prison Punishment
By R. Scott Moxley
Tue., Mar. 20 2012
LISTEN TO 'THE
GHOST OF BUFFALO JIM"
