Two men plead guilty in attempted murder of alleged Mafia boss Leonardo Rizzuto (2024)

Perhaps a red Porsche is a bit too flashy for a Mob hit.

That appears to be what the people who wanted alleged Montreal Mafia leader Leonardo Rizzuto killed were thinking before he was shot three times in Laval last year.

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According to a joint statement of facts read into the court record at the Joliette courthouse Friday afternoon, someone rented a red Porsche Macan four days before Rizzuto was shot on March 15, 2023 while he drove along Highway 440 in Laval.

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As investigators used surveillance cameras and tracked cellphone GPS systems, they learned that Kevin Rochebrun, 33, the man who fired the shots, returned the red Porsche the day before the shooting and opted instead for a black one. Before he returned the red model, surveillance cameras recorded images of him and Steve Emmanuel Barthelemy, 35, riding in the flashy sports car.

As prosecutor Isabelle Poulin read from the statement of facts on Friday, she also revealed that images were recorded of Rochebrun and Barthelemy in the black Porsche as they parked it on Saguenay St. in Laval the day before the shooting and when they returned to it hours before they tried to kill Rizzuto.

Images of the Porsche were then recorded as it drove back and forth in front of the Rom Café in Laval, a frequent hangout of Rizzuto’s, and followed his Mercedes as he drove away from it.

“The evidence established that at the time, Rochebrun occupied the front passenger seat of the black Porsche vehicle and it was he who fired the shots in the direction of the victim Leonardo Rizzuto, hitting him in the upper body and legs,” Poulin said.

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She also said the evidence established that Barthelemy was the driver.

“A member of the Barreau du Québec since 1991, Leonardo Rizzuto refused to collaborate with the investigation. He is considered to be an influential actor at the head of traditional Italian organized crime,” the prosecutor said.

Quebec Court Judge Éric Côté accepted the guilty pleas from Rochebrun and Barthelemy.

Rochebrun pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Barthelemy pleaded guilty to charges related to the firearm used in the shooting and how he knew a prohibited firearm was inside the Porsche.

Poulin said Rizzuto’s injuries required a stay at a hospital for a couple of days.

On May 3, 2023, a few weeks after the shooting, the Sûreté du Québec found the semi-automatic Smith & Wesson pistol Rochebrun used to shoot Rizzuto in a ditch on Montée Champagne, a street the Porsche travelled on after the shooting on the highway.

The gun provided a ballistics match to the bullets removed from Rizzuto’s body.

Côté agreed with a joint recommendation from lawyers on both sides of the case that Rochebrun be sentenced to a 10-year prison term and Barthelemy to a five-year prison term. Rochebrun was represented by defence lawyer Marie-Hélène Giroux, while Barthelemy was represented by attorney Jean-Marc Tremblay.

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Although Rizzuto was injured and the tires on his car were left flattened, he managed to drive his black Mercedes GLE 53 and used an exit to get onto the Highway 13 service road and drive a couple of kilometres before coming to a stop in front of a funeral home.

Rochebrun has served time in the past following a conviction on charges related to the attempted murder of another person with alleged ties to the Montreal Mafia.

On Aug. 8, 2016, Marco Pizzi, an associate of Rizzuto, was driving along Grande-Allée Ave. near Prince-Albert St. when his vehicle was struck from behind by a BMW. When Pizzi got out of his vehicle to inspect the damage, two men carrying firearms jumped out of the BMW and chased him. In 2017, Rochebrun received a sentence of more than three years after he pleaded guilty to charges involving firearms and other offences related to the shooting.

Francesco (Chit) Del Balso, a former leader in the Rizzuto organization, was reportedly a suspect in the attempt on Rizzuto’s life. He was killed in Dorval in June last year.

While Del Balso’s name was not mentioned in the joint statement of facts on Friday, Poulin did tell the judge that Del Balso’s cellphone, seized in the investigation, should be confiscated.

pcherry@postmedia.com

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