PM's dad saved bootlegger from jail
Marty Gervais
Windsor Star   12-15-2004

He was called Canada's most notorious bootlegger.

And in the history of crime in this country, he was the one man who could claim partnerships with the American mafia as well as the fabulously rich and famous Kennedy clan.
I'm speaking about Rocco Perri, who created intricately structured gangs in this country and forged strong links with Chicago's Al Capone.

What many may not realize is that Perri, who operated primarily in Hamilton, Ont., and was the one who sold booze during Prohibition to the mob and Joe Kennedy (the father of John F. Kennedy), was saved from going to jail by the father of our present-day prime minister.

It was Paul Martin Sr., who on the eve of a re-election campaign in 1940, rushed to the defence of this callous criminal and managed to get him acquitted on a technicality.

This story has come to light in Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada's Most Notorious Bootlegger by Antonio Nicaso, the internationally recognized expert on organized crime.

He writes about how Martin, who later became a high-ranking cabinet minister in the Liberal governments of Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent and Pierre Trudeau, was hired to defend Perri against charges that he had bribed custom agents to facilitate an intricate smuggling ring in the Windsor-Detroit corridor.

The story really begins in 1939 when three separate law- enforcement agencies were on the hunt for Perri. It stemmed from information gained from an address book containing the telephone number of a Canadian customs agent who worked in Windsor.

That agent -- David Michael Armaly -- was picked up by police but finally agreed to collaborate in fingering Perri and his companion Annie Newman.

It seems Armaly had turned a blind eye to Perri's smugglers. He subsequently was also recruited by Newman to accompany her on her frequent trips to Chicago. Armaly was being given $25 for every car that he allowed to pass through on the Ambassador Bridge.

Perri and Newman were finally arrested in Toronto. Six other customs agents Armaly had been paying off to assist in this subterfuge were also taken into custody.

$200,000 fraud

The Crown had estimated that Perri had defrauded the Canadian taxpayers to the tune of at least $200,000.

Perri and Newman immediately turned to Paul Martin for help.

According to Nicaso, Martin was considered among the best criminal lawyers. And in this case, he certainly lived up to that reputation by discrediting Armaly's testimony.

Martin proved that the prosecution's key witness was hardly trustworthy.

He produced evidence that Armaly was receiving welfare payments from the City of Windsor, as well as money from the RCMP for his co- operation.

Nicaso maintains that it was Martin's shrewd stance on this that "threw the public prosecutor off course."

He writes: "He (Martin) gave the impression that he knew the Crown attorney's game plan and tactics, and seemed to have extremely detailed knowledge of the testimony of key witnesses. It was believed that Martin had been helped by a mole, but no one managed to figure out who his source might have been."

Another fascinating tale related to the court battle in this new biography is one involving former Windsor Star staff photographer Barney Gloster.

The photographer, who later during the war would photograph British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, had been sent to snap a picture of Newman as she arrived at trial.

But Perri's companion waved him off, protesting any notion of having her picture taken. She ordered Gloster to point his camera in another direction, but he wouldn't comply.

Perri, however, came to her defence, bent down to collect a couple of rocks, and then pelted Gloster with these.

The Star photographer raced from the scene, but not without the photograph, and that afternoon -- Jan. 25, 1940 -- there was Newman's picture.

The Star, of course, ran the headline: "Rocco throws rocks but photographer gets pictures."

And while Nicaso doesn't state this, the Star reported how the rock-throwing Perri had stood there defiantly "cussing" and challenging anyone else from the media to fight him right there and then. By then, most reporters had fled the scene.

And by the way, what Nicaso also doesn't say is how Martin's fierce cross-examination of Armaly's testimony led to that witness being arrested and charged later for defrauding the city by accepting welfare payments.

Marty Gervais can be reached by e-mail at mgervais@thestar.canwest.com.