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After seeing the last hope in his fight against being extradited fall to pieces, the reputed "godfather of the Montreal Mafia" was quickly dashed off Thursday to the Vito Rizzuto, 60, had been fighting the extradition request since his arrest in January 2004. The case dragged through the courts until Thursday, when the Supreme Court of Canada announced its decision not to hear his appeal of previous decisions by Shortly after the Supreme Court decision was made public, Rizzuto was escorted by An aircraft supplied by Less than three hours later, Rizzuto's name was posted on a schedule to appear to be arraigned in a Appearing before Judge Nicholas Garaufis, Rizzuto entered a not guilty plea. His next court date was set for Sept. 29. He was also ordered to be held in custody. Rizzuto is accused of being one of the gunmen in a triple murder carried out in a But they were greeted by a hail of gunfire and an informant witness has testified previously Rizzuto was one of a few men who hid in a closet and ambushed the victims. The men, all captains in the Bonanno family, were killed because they posed a threat to the established leadership in the crime family at the time. If convicted of racketeering, Rizzuto faces up to 20 years in prison. What definitely does not play in Rizzuto's favour is that the man who orchestrated the triple murder, former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, turned informant last year. In doing so, Massino avoided the death penalty for ordering the 1999 murder of Gerlando (George from Rizzuto has long been described by Canadian authorities as the head of a vast criminal organization involved mostly in drug trafficking. More than five years ago, when the federal government was pursuing Rizzuto in tax court, they openly referred to him as "the godfather of the Italian Mafia in He later denied that accusation while talking to a Montreal Gazette reporter. In his booming, baritone voice he joked he could accurately be described as a "jack of all trades." Antonio Nicaso, author of several books on the Mafia, said if Rizzuto is convicted, it will likely create a leadership void in the crime family. "I think the Rizzuto crime family will face a big challenge. It won't be easy to replace a charismatic leader like Vito Rizzuto," said Nicaso, who is currently writing a biography on Rizzuto. "He and all of the prominent members of the family are 60 and over so they are facing a generational problem (in that no one younger appears able to take the reins). "The way they handle this situation will be an indication of how they will do in the future."
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