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Inside Vegas - Steve Miller

Steve Miller is a former Las Vegas City Councilman. In 1991, the readers of the Las Vegas Review Journal voted him the "Most Effective Public Official" in Southern Nevada. Visit his website at: http://www.SteveMiller4LasVegas.com


Rick Rizzolo's 800 Year Payment Schedule
Racket boss agrees to pay $9 million dollar judgment
to beating victim in increments of $1,000 per month.
Is this a "Good Faith" effort, or just another sham?

INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
February 8, 2011

LAS VEGAS - A deal has been cut between parole officer Eric Christiansen and Rick Rizzolo.

The convicted racketeer and former Crazy Horse Too strip club owner has reportedly agreed to pay $9 million in court ordered restitution to beating victim Kirk Henry at the rate of $1,000 per month -- a payment schedule that, if approved, will take over 800 years to complete!

This is in response to a MOTION filed on April 23, 2010 by United States Attorney Daniel G. Bogden stating: "The Government asks the Court to deny defendant’s motion for final satisfaction and to modify defendant’s conditions of supervised release to require defendant to make monthly payments to the Henrys for his restitution obligation or settlement obligation or both."

However, it's doubtful that Bogden meant that Rizzolo pay only $1,000 per month for more than 800 years (do the math) while his vast fortune remains out of reach in off shore accounts while the felon thumbs his nose and parties like a rock star!

Now it's up to United States Federal Judge Philip Pro to approve the deal.

During plea negotiations in 2005 -- one month after Rizzolo hastily divorced his wife of 27 years -- Rizzolo bargained with federal prosecutors that he would pay Kirk Henry, a Kansas tourist whose neck was broken by one of Rizzolo's goons over a disputed $88 bar tab, $10 million in exchange for a shortened prison sentence. Henry initially received one million dollars from Rizzolo's insurance, but the rest has yet to be paid after Rizzolo got out of prison three years ahead of schedule based on his plea bargained agreement.

Rizzolo's excuse? He's broke.

Last week a source at the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation confirmed that Rizzolo and his parole officer conjured up paying $1,000 per month payments to Henry. It's assumed that this act of generosity will be used to prove "good faith" at Rizzolo's Parole Violation hearing set for February 16.

At the hearing, it's certain that the 800 year payment schedule will be mentioned, and court observers are anxiously awaiting Judge Pro's decision as to its fairness in light of millions of dollars Rizzolo transferred to his ex-wife in a "sham" divorce one month before his plea negotiations began in 2005, money Lisa Rizzolo with the help of the brother of another Federal Court Judge transferred to a Cook Islands bank in order to keep it from being seized by Henry and the IRS.

It's not yet known whether Chrisiansen and Rizzolo are making a similar offer to the IRS. If so, and if the deal is also approved by Judge Pro, it might add another eleven thousand payments of $1,000 per month onto Rizzolo's tab!

If Judge Pro does not extend or revoke Rizzolo's about-to-expire parole at the hearing on February 16, Rizzolo may be relieved of the Government's authority over his requirement to pay Kirk Henry. And his requirement to pay several IRS liens the U.S. Treasury has unexplainably not pursued may also be seriously hampered.
 

If Judge Pro acquiesces on February 16, Rizzolo will then be free of penalty to spend his hidden off shore fortune as he wishes, or transfer it to other countries out of the reach of Henry and the IRS, and also be free to leave the U.S. at will.

Here's a list of Rick and Lisa Rizzolo's debts in order of priority according to Judge Pro:
 
All of the United States Marshals Service's costs, expenses, and private counsel's attorney fees for the real property transaction related to the care and the sale of the Property and the Trademark and Trade name Crazy Horse Too, including but not limited to the maintenance, the protection, the repair, the service of process, the publication, the utilities, the insurance, the CB Richard Ellis real estate commission, the escrow, the closing costs, the real estate transfer tax, private counsel's attorney fees for the real property transaction, etc.; 
The Clark County Taxes owed on the Property with penalties and interest 
The City of Las Vegas sewer lien 
The Security Pacific Bank ($5 million dollar) loan with attorneys' fees, penalties, and interest 
The restitution of US $9,000,000.00 plus interest to Kirk and Amy Henry 
The restitution of US $1,734,000.00 plus accruals to the IRS 
The assessment of US $500.00 plus interest 
The fines of US $750,000.00 plus interest 
The forfeiture of US $4,250,000.00 plus interest 
The City of Las Vegas judgment lien of US $2,192,000.00 plus interest 
The IRS tax lien against Rizzolo for the 2006 individual income taxes of US $1,032,535.26 plus accruals 

(Click HERE for a list of the Rizzolo's assets.)

If Rizzolo's parole is allowed to expire as currently scheduled on April 1, 2011, it's very doubtful any of the above debts will ever get paid. As evidence of Rizzolo's long term devotion to avoid paying court ordered debts, I submit two CONFIDENTIAL documents for your perusal.

The first document (below) was authored by asset protection attorney John Dawson, the brother of United States Federal Judge Kent Dawson. Judge Dawson works in the same Las Vegas Federal Courthouse as Judge Pro, and it might be embarrassing to his colleagues on the Nevada Federal Court bench if it became known that Judge Dawson's brother is currently hiding assets for a convicted racketeer and tax cheat. Judge Dawson was appointed for life to the Federal bench in 1999 by United States Senator Harry Reid whose sons work for the same law firm as John Dawson. Senator Reid is also the business partner of Rizzolo's former attorney and Corporate Agent Jay Brown.

John Dawson wrote the letter in May, 2001 following a number of highly publicized personal injury lawsuits between April 2000 and January 2001 against Rizzolo and the Crazy Horse Too, along with the highly publicized 1995 wrongful death lawsuit against Rizzolo by the family of the late Scott David Fau. John Dawson's letter proves that the Rizzolos fully anticipated being in the position they are today.

At the time of the letter, several highly publicized lawsuits accused Crazy Horse Too shift manager Robert "Bobby" D'Apice and unnamed Crazy Horse Too employees of using force to compel customers to pay disputed charges. However, John Dawson gladly accepted the Rizzolos as new asset protection clients while the name "Rizzolo" was front page news.

Six years later, Judge Dawson coincidentally presided over the trials of 16 Rizzolo employees and gave most slaps on the wrist. During the 16 trials, the Judge never disclosed that his brother was hiding the assets of the Crazy Horse Too defendant's boss and his wife.

Rick Rizzolo along with his 16 employees including D'Apice were all later convicted of felonies, though Rizzolo stood trial down the hall in Judge Pro's court. Nonetheless, John Dawson became Rizzolo's Corporate Agent, and continues without shame to do asset protection work for Rick and Lisa Rizzolo. The Dawson brother's glaring conflict of interest in the "Crazy Horse 16" cases was never reported by the Nevada media.

I believe Rick and Lisa Rizzolo's relationship with the brother of a Nevada Federal Court Judge has caused Kirk Henry's case to languish.

Here's where the plot began:


             

The following CONFIDENTIAL FAX from the Rizzolo's attorney sent on July 8, 2008, asks John Dawson if the $1 million dollar proceeds from the sale of the Philadelphia Crazy Horse Too could be assigned to Rick's late father Bart "before somebody else seeks to attach the payments."

This highly revealing FAX clearly implicates the Rizzolo's legal team in an illegal scheme to evade paying the IRS and Mr. Henry. If John Dawson was a legitimate asset protection attorney, I believe he would have dropped the Rizzolos as clients upon receipt of such a memo.

With so much clear evidence of collusion, tax evasion, and fraudulent transfers of assets, it should not be difficult for Judge Pro to rule that Rick Rizzolo is a flight risk if he's released from parole in April, and that his parole should be extended, or revoked and Rizzolo re-imprisoned, until he cooperates in repatriating his assets to the U.S. where they can be seized to pay his court ordered debts.

If Judge Pro (left) treats Rick Rizzolo like any ordinary parolee on February 16, and determines there's probable cause that Rizzolo violated the conditions of his release in Contempt of Court, a Bench Warrant can be issued and Rizzolo taken into Federal custody directly from the courtroom.

Maybe if Rick Rizzolo is sent back to prison for a while, he might come to the realization that 800 years is far too long a time to take to pay his debts.

A recent Federal case in Minnesota established Case Law for Judge Pro to use with Rizzolo or anyone else who thinks they can avoid paying debts to the Government by transferring their assets off shore.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis sent huckster Trevor Cook to prison for "defying court orders by concealing financial assets and failing to account for and return millions of dollars of investors' money from overseas accounts."

Cook had tried to outsmart the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and screw his investors.  Rizzolo is trying to rip off the IRS and Kirk Henry.  Judge Davis sent a strong message that it's not a good idea to fool with the United States Government, and I hope Judge Pro and U.S. Attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden paid attention.

The ball is now in Judge Philip Pro's court.  If Judge Pro does not follow Judge Davis' example, the real outcome of Rizzolo's February 16 Parole Violation hearing will be to show that this high profile and very politicized case has not promoted public respect for the law, and is being allowed to continue ad nauseam, making a total mockery of Nevada's Federal Court system.

EDITOR'S NOTE: AmericanMafia.com will be in court on February 16 to cover Rick Rizzolo's Parole Violation hearing.



* If you would like to receive Steve's frequent E-Briefs about Las Vegas' scandals, click here: Steve Miller's Las Vegas E-Briefs

Copyright © Steve Miller


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