Judge Throws Book at Gangster Who "Chose Omerta"
 |
| Joseph Mignacca fired a Glock at a man with an AK47 in an attempt to murder Raynald Desjardins, now in prison awaiting trial. |
The man who saved the life of Vito Rizzuto's mortal enemy was sentenced to seven years in prison for exchanging gunfire with at least one man firing an AK47 (presumably a Mafia shooter sent to kill Raynald Desjardins, then a major figure in the Montreal underworld).
Quebec Court Judge Gilles Garneau added two years to the prosecution's recommended sentence.
Jonathan Mignacca, 30, a St-Léonard resident, was found guilty in January for discharging a firearm while with Desjardins, who reportedly split with the Rizzuto organization after serving a lengthy prison sentence. Allegedly Desjardins (whose nicknames include "Old" and "China," both rather baffling) buffered Rizzuto from becoming ensnared in the drug trafficking case.
Mignacca was convicted on several charges: intent to injure others; possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose; unauthorized possession of a firearm; careless use of a firearm; and possession of a prohibited or restricted and loaded firearm.
Garneau imposed the harsh sentence for many reasons, chiefly because the lives of many innocent bystanders were jeopardized. The gunfight took place on Sept 16, 2011, in broad daylight in Laval, Quebec.
Off Lévesque Blvd E. and near a bridge linking Montreal and Quebec., Mignacca and Desjardins were parked in separate vehicles so they could speak from their driver's seats when a man emerged from a location nearby and opened fire with an AK47.
Mignacca used a Glock semi-automatic pistol to return fire. Apparently he let loose enough of a barrage to send the gunman fleeing. Mignacca later tossed the pistol into a nearby river and tried to flee through nearby woods.
Police arrested him when he later emerged, not far from the scene of the shooting.
The other gunman who first opened fire has never been arrested. He escaped across the Rivière des Prairies apparently on a "Sea Doo" -- a kind of speedboat (this must be the first time in Mafia history that a Mafia assassin escaped on a vehicle with that name). The mystery shooter set the watercraft afire before abandoning it on the Montreal side.
Desjardins was stopped for questioning when police observed him driving along Lévesque Blvd. E. He sat in the backseat of a police cruiser and was remarkably composed for a man who had just been fired upon with an AK47.
Garneau noted that Mignacca “chose Omerta” when the police questioned him about the shooting.
The case against Mignacca involved circumstantial evidence. Despite the presence of many bystanders, no one who testified could say they actually saw Mignacca fire his Glock. Judge Garneau noted in his decision that everything transpired so quickly -- in seconds -- that this was not surprising.
Ballistics analysis matched six spent shell casings found inside Mignacca’s Dodge Journey to the Glock that a passerby discovered the following spring on the shore of Rivière des Prairies when the river’s water levels were unusually low. The gun was found not far from where the gunman and Mignacca exchanged gunfire.
Mignacca also inadvertently placed himself at the crime scene of the crime--twice. When he was first detained he told an officer: “That’s my vehicle over there,” meaning his bullet-riddled Journey.
Mignacca also inadvertently placed himself at the crime scene of the crime--twice. When he was first detained he told an officer: “That’s my vehicle over there,” meaning his bullet-riddled Journey.
He also had a minor wound to his chest that an expert on firearms testified was similar to injuries suffered by people holding the same type of Glock too close to their body when firing it. Spent shell casings eject from the rear of the pistol.
“Did he behave like a victim? Absolutely not,” Garneau said while delivering his decision. “Who takes part in this kind of thing? A simple citizen? No.”
Also fueling the decision was the fact that Mignacca refused to help prepare a pre-sentencing report about his life. He instead submitted a written statement summarizing his life "in six long paragraphs," one report said.
Mignacca wrote that he'd grown up in St-Léonard and that his parents separated when he was 12. A “very rebellious” teenager, he noted that he'd been placed in a group home at age 16.
Desjardins, 61, is charged with the first-degree murder of Salvatore Montagna, the former Bonanno boss who joined the the breakaway faction but then broke away and reportedly was trying to take control.
Some suggest Montagna was working in cahoots with a group of Bonannos in New York who may have viewed Rizzuto's absence as an opportunity to gain control of Montreal, a vital entry point for drug trafficking into the United States.
We do know that when Montagna first arrived in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and nearby Hamilton, it was with Ndrangheta members that he met, not Sicilian Cosa Nostra mobsters. Montagna was himself Sicilian, so this struck many as odd. At the time, 2009, there were 15 organized crime families operating in the region, nine of which were Calabrian Ndrines. It's believed Giacomo Luppino's arrival in Hamilton led to the dominance of the Calabrian Mafia in the region.
One theory suggests that Montagna's true plan was to help the Ndrangheta take control of the Port of Montreal, considered America's "front door" for drug smugglers. The Ndrangheta, allied with the Mexican cartels, was trafficking drugs into the U.S. via the "back door" -- Juarez, Mexico.
Ciudad Juarez was the murder capital of the world, with 8.5 murders a day recorded back in 2010, during the height of cartel violence.
(This reportedly has changed. Five years later, local officials say the city is much safer, and foreign tourists and investors are now being targeted as part of a tourism campaign launched by Juarez. "Juarez is Waiting for You" is the campaign's slogan.)
Desjardins is awaiting trial for the Nov. 24, 2011, murder of Montagna.
 |
| The gun that wasn't supposed to ever be found. |
Also fueling the decision was the fact that Mignacca refused to help prepare a pre-sentencing report about his life. He instead submitted a written statement summarizing his life "in six long paragraphs," one report said.
Mignacca wrote that he'd grown up in St-Léonard and that his parents separated when he was 12. A “very rebellious” teenager, he noted that he'd been placed in a group home at age 16.
Police who investigated the shooting testified that it seemed Mignacca was acting as Desjardins’ bodyguard. Aside from Mignacca defending himself and Desjardins, he was often seen in the company of the man once described as "one of the most powerful crime figures in Quebec."
A witness spent a night in jail for initially refusing to testify when the defense attorney called him.
Desjardins, 61, is charged with the first-degree murder of Salvatore Montagna, the former Bonanno boss who joined the the breakaway faction but then broke away and reportedly was trying to take control.
Some suggest Montagna was working in cahoots with a group of Bonannos in New York who may have viewed Rizzuto's absence as an opportunity to gain control of Montreal, a vital entry point for drug trafficking into the United States.
We do know that when Montagna first arrived in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and nearby Hamilton, it was with Ndrangheta members that he met, not Sicilian Cosa Nostra mobsters. Montagna was himself Sicilian, so this struck many as odd. At the time, 2009, there were 15 organized crime families operating in the region, nine of which were Calabrian Ndrines. It's believed Giacomo Luppino's arrival in Hamilton led to the dominance of the Calabrian Mafia in the region.
One theory suggests that Montagna's true plan was to help the Ndrangheta take control of the Port of Montreal, considered America's "front door" for drug smugglers. The Ndrangheta, allied with the Mexican cartels, was trafficking drugs into the U.S. via the "back door" -- Juarez, Mexico.
Ciudad Juarez was the murder capital of the world, with 8.5 murders a day recorded back in 2010, during the height of cartel violence.
(This reportedly has changed. Five years later, local officials say the city is much safer, and foreign tourists and investors are now being targeted as part of a tourism campaign launched by Juarez. "Juarez is Waiting for You" is the campaign's slogan.)
Desjardins is awaiting trial for the Nov. 24, 2011, murder of Montagna.