Rick
Rizzolo Stalls U.S. Federal Court
Indefinitely avoids paying
IRS, City of Las Vegas, FDIC, and Kirk Henry
.
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
August 16, 2010
LAS VEGAS - Former computer software salesman
Kirk
Henry has endured almost a decade of waiting to be paid $10 million
dollars restitution after his neck was broken in September 2001 for disputing
an $88 bar tab at Rick Rizzolo's then-topless bar the infamous Crazy
Horse Too.
Part of the reason Henry continues to wait
is a clever series of legal maneuvers created by Rizzolo's legal team to
stall the case until Henry dies of his injuries, or reporters tire of covering
the ad nauseam details of a federal case that seems to have no end.
Rizzolo plea bargained in 2005 for an abbreviated
one year federal prison sentence in exchange for his agreement to pay Henry
$10 million dollars, and pay over $18 million in other court ordered debts
including $6 million in taxes, interest, and penalties, a $2.3 million
dollar fine levied by the City of Las Vegas, and an unpaid
$5 million loan now owed to the FDIC.
Rizzolo welched on his plea agreement,
and each year that the debts remain unpaid, penalties and interest accrue.
Meanwhile, it appears Rizzolo is living the
good life.
According to a January 23, 2007 News
Release issued by United States Attorney Daniel Bogden: "The
Court also took important steps toward ensuring Kirk Henry and his family
received through our justice system, the restitution they need to cope
and deal with the brutal and tragic attack Crazy Horse Too employees inflicted
upon Kirk Henry in September 2001. In rendering its sentence, the Court
took particular care to note in the context of its 26 years on the Nevada
federal bench, the 'enormity' of the financial responsibilities defendants
assumed as part of their sentences as negotiated by our office as part
of their plea agreements."
Since Bogden's News Release boasting how
the court "ensured" that Henry would receive restitution during his lifetime,
Rizzolo and his legal team have made a mockery of Bogden and the federal
court system while forcing Kirk Henry and his family to endure seemingly
endless major financial hardships.
And the judge Bogden referred to as having
26 years on the Nevada federal bench, Philip Pro, has been rendered legally
impotent by Rizzolo's subsequent actions.
Three and one half years after Bogden's
statement about "... the 'enormity' of the financial
responsibilities defendants assumed as part of their sentences as negotiated
by our office as part of their plea agreements," Rizzolo is out
of prison years early, and no one including Henry has been paid one dime,
while a half dozen local attorneys make a fortune off a man who claims
to be broke!
Anticipating asset seizures, Rizzolo and
his wife Lisa in 2005 -- one month before he began plea negotiations --
staged a "sham"
divorce with the help of a friendly
family court judge, then with the help of the
brother of a federal judge transferred all their liquid assets off
shore and out of the reach of creditors.
Shortly thereafter, an overly
friendly Nevada state judge stopped Henry in his tracks erroneously
ruling that Henry could not investigate the Rizzolo's hidden assets now
stashed in the Cook Islands.
Henry appealed the ruling in United States
Federal Court.
Soon thereafter, U.S.
Magistrate Judge George Foley upheld the lower court ruling.
Henry appealed Foley's ruling to Federal
Judge Philip Pro who OVERRULED Foley, and opened the way for Henry to conduct
the long delayed DISCOVERY.
Then Rick Rizzolo pretended to be broke
and supposedly fired his original attorneys Dean Patti and Tony Sgro after
his personal financial records were purportedly destroyed in a "flood"
at their law office.
The "flood" claim stalled the case for
months while attorneys for both sides filed motions and responses. Patti
and Sgro continued to appear on behalf of Rizzolo claiming they were
doing so pro bono, but most people in Sin City know Rick Rizzolo is a cash
and carry type guy.
This ploy further stalled the case for
an additional ten months.
Henry's attorneys smelled a rat, and asked
the court to force Rizzolo to pay them for their time fighting Rizzolo's
stalling tactics that were now becoming more than obvious.
Judge Foley agreed with Henry's attorneys
and slapped Rizzolo with a questionably low $5,000 bill for their
services.
Full
docket text for document 287:
JUDGMENT
Filed and Entered on 02/22/2010 Attorney Fees in the amount of $5,000 for
the plaintiffs. Signed by Lance S. Wilson. (Copies have been distributed
pursuant to the NEF - AXM)
On March 22, 2010
Rizzolo's attorneys APPEALED Judge Foley's JUDGMENT to the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals. Local attorneys estimate that Rizzolo's legal team charged
him over ten thousand dollars to APPEAL Judge Foley's $5,000 JUDGMENT.
Full
docket text for document 333:
NOTICE
OF APPEAL Filed and Entered on 03/22/2010 as to [286] Order on Motion for
Attorney Fees, [287] Judgment on Attorney Fees by Defendants RLR Trust,
Fredrick Rizzolo, The Rick J. Rizzolo Separate Property Trust, The Rick
and Lisa Rizzolo Family Trust. Filing fee $ 455, receipt number 0978-1555704.
E-mail notice (NEF) sent to the US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. (Frizzell,
III, Kenneth)
On Friday, August
12, 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court DISMISSED Rizzolo's APPEAL.
Full
docket text for document 438:
ORDER
of USCA, Ninth Circuit Filed and Entered on 08/12/2010 DISMISSING [333]
Notice of Appeal, filed by The Rick and Lisa Rizzolo Family Trust, RLR
Trust, The Rick J. Rizzolo Separate Property Trust, Fredrick Rizzolo. (EDS)
Immediately following
the Ninth Circuit Court DISMISSAL, Henry's attorneys filed a MOTION with
Judge Foley for the release of the $5,000 that had been held in the court's
escrow account pending the Ninth Circuit's ruling.
Full
docket text for document 440:
MOTION
for Release of Funds Filed and Entered on 08/13/2010 Ex Parte Application
for Release of Supersedeas Bond by Plaintiff Kirk Henry. Motion ripe 8/13/2010.
(Rulis, Nathanael)
It will now be up
to Judge Foley to order Rizzolo to pay the measly $5,000; pocket change
for the former topless bar owner. The fact that he must be
forced
to pay Kirk Henry's attorneys for their inconvenience is a clear example
of Rizzolo's repeated refusal to abide by his plea agreement.
Meanwhile, a very reliable source tells
INSIDE VEGAS that Rizzolo is working for cash as a manager at the Palomino
Club in North Las Vegas.
If this rumor is true, Rizzolo is in ridicule
of U.S. Attorney Bogden who stated:
"As part of Rizzolo’s conditions of supervised release and pursuant to
his plea agreement, Rizzolo is not permitted to own or operate or have
any involvement with any strip clubs or similar businesses involved in
pornography or erotic entertainment or media in the United States and its
territories for the rest of his life."
It's not known whether
Rizzolo intends to APPEAL to the United States Supreme Court the Ninth
Circuit Court's DISMISSAL of Rizzolo's APPEAL of the $5,000 JUDGMENT. This
would be his last option (unless Judge Foley can be convinced to reverse
his ruling, or Judge Pro reverses if for him) and going to the U.S. Supreme
Court will cost Rizzolo tens of thousands more in legal fees and court
costs that he seems perfectly able to pay.
But don't hold your
breath waiting for Judge Foley to impose "severe sanctions" on Rizzolo
for refusing to provide answers to legitimate questions about his hidden
fortune. So far this judge has been a toothless tiger, bending over backward
to make sure Rizzolo is not burdened by his rulings including this latest
one filed on August 10, 2010:
| Case
2:08-cv-00635-PMP-GWF Document 437 Filed 08/10/10 Page 9 of 11
Defendant
Rick Rizzolo’s discovery responses in December 2008 and April 2009 regarding
his interests in testamentary or inter vivos trusts were clearly deceptive
(emphasis
added). At the time of these responses, Mr. Rizzolo must
have known of the existence of the RLR Trust and that he had transferred
$990,000 into the RLR Trust’s bank account in April 2008, which shortly
thereafter was withdrawn at his request to pay his attorneys fees, to repay
loans from Lisa Rizzolo and her trust, to repay a loan from his father,
and to cover Mr. Rizzolo’s living expenses. Rule 37(b) does not authorize
entry of a default judgment solely because a party has given false
or deceptive answers to interrogatories. The rule, instead, authorizes
the imposition of severe sanctions where the party’s violation of discovery
orders prejudices the opposing party’s ability to proceed to trial and
threatens the rightful decision of the case.
3.
Defendant
Rick Rizzolo is ordered to pay $1,000.00 to Plaintiffs, as and
for reasonable attorneys fees on the motion for sanctions, based
on his failure to comply with the Court’s order requiring him to
produce a complete copy of the RLR Trust’s bank account statements. Continued
failure to comply with this portion of the Court’s order will result in
imposition of more severe sanctions, which could include granting
Plaintiffs’ request for entry of a default judgment.
IT
IS FURTHER ORDERED that the discovery deadline in this case is extended
until October 8, 2010
for purposes of permitting Plaintiffs to take Mr. Rizzolo’s deposition.
DATED
this 10th day of August, 2010.
GEORGE
FOLEY, JR.
U.S.
MAGISTRATE JUDGE |
If the above discovery
deadline extension and $1,000 sanction against Rizzolo by Judge Foley is
any indication of how the court is getting tough on the convicted racketeer,
it's no wonder Rizzolo thumbs his nose at U.S. Attorney Bogden and the
entire federal court system!
With this flacid
ruling, Rick Rizzolo now owes Kirk Henry's attorneys a total of only
$6,000 which is chump change for a guy with a million dollar line of credit
in several Strip hotel casinos, and someone who absolutely has no intention
of honoring the court's orders no matter what empty sanctions or default
judgments this judge threatens.
In contrast, Judge
Foley threw
the book at a paralegal Rizzolo hired to ghost write dozens of court
documents Rizzolo signed as his own. Some think this was Judge Foley's
way of trying to appear tough on crime while giving Rizzolo every
legal break he could come up with.
To have paid over
twice what he was originally ordered to pay in legal fees in an effort
to deprive Henry's attorneys of a fraction of what they're owed shows the
greed by which Rizzolo has operated throughout his life, and is a perfect
example of the legal stalling this case has endured since it was first
filed in October 2001.
It was earlier estimated
that the trial would take place sometime in September 2010, but that date
was never ratified. At this time, there is no date listed for the
long awaited jury trial to determine if Rick and Lisa Rizzolo will be ordered
to repatriate the money they stashed in the Cook Islands to pay their court
ordered debts. (The Rizzolos were married at the time of Henry's beating
and when the other court ordered debts were incurred, and Nevada is a community
property state.)
Another tactic used
by Rizzolo to prevent a trial is his numerous hiring and firing of attorneys.
After purportedly terminating his original legal defense team, Rizzolo
stalled his case ten months by pretending to be his own attorney. At the
time he fraudulently plead "I can't even afford a new attorney:"
.
Dominic Gentile
Paola Armeni
When the court questioned his poverty,
Rizzolo surprised everyone by hiring one of the most expensive law firms
in town, Gordon and Silver, and formed a new legal team consisting of veteran
criminal defense attorney Dominic
Gentile and his associate Paola
Armeni.
With each new attorney hired, the trial
was postponed so incoming counsel could review the extensive files. Meanwhile,
Kirk Henry, the citizens of Las Vegas, and the IRS wait and wait and wait.
Its not yet been determined where Rizzolo
is getting the funds to pay his expensive new "Dream Team," but one thing's
for sure, this protracted case completely proves that "Justice delayed
is justice denied."
