Charles B. Rizzo
Chuck B. Rizzo is going from ex-trash hauling titan to jailbird.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland in Port Huron revoked the former trashing hauling titan's bond and ordered him to surrender to the U.S. Marshals Service by noon Tuesday as a result of allegations he tried to tamper with an FBI witness at a Christmas party in December at the MGM Grand Detroit casino, Robert Snell of The Detroit News reports.
Rizzo pleaded guilty on Nov. 9 and faces a March 13 sentencing. He faced charges of bribery and scheming with others to steal hundreds of thousand of dollars from Rizzo Environmental Services between between 2013 and 2016 when the majority owner was a New York-based private equity firm. The company has since been sold to GFL (Green For Life) Environmental.
Rizzo's lawyers at Thursday's hearing claimed the witness, Quintin Ramanauskas, appeared inebriated and questioned his version of events, saying he had incentive to lie because Ramanauskas was convicted alongside Rizzo and is awaiting a prison sentence.
Ramanauskas, 53, of Shelby Township was a trusted employee and associate of Rizzo’s and agreed to help the executive bribe politicians in Clinton Township and Chesterfield Township, Snell reports. He pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud. He could spend up to five years in federal prison.
The incident in involving the Ramanauska took place the evening of Dec. 16 at the Tap Room in the MGM Grand Detroit Casino. The key witness provided the FBI with incriminating evidence against him.
The document, reviewed by Deadline Detroit, refers to Ramanauskas only as "Witness A."
Ramanauska went to the MGM casino hotel with his wife to watch a sporting event and have dinner at the Tap Room, a bar-restaurant in the casino.
Quintin Ramanauskas (Facebook photo)
A short time after they arrived at the Tap Room, he saw a former driver for Rizzo Environmental Services, who told him he was there for a party for Titan, a company owned by Rizzo and his father Charles P. Rizzo. As a result of that, Ramanauskas and his wife left and went to "the round purple bar" inside the MGM hotel.
Shortly after, the witness received a text from Rizzo's father: “I heard your [sic] here at MGM, I would love to say hi. Let me know where you’re at.” Rizzo himself was forbidden, as part of his condition of bond, to have contact with witnesses in his case. The order did not apply to his father.
Ramanauskas replied: “I am at the round purple bar.” The father replied, “I’ll come to see you in about 20.”
Later, the father sent a text to the witness stating, “I’m here.”
At 7:49 p.m., while Ramanauskas was using a restroom near the purple bar, he received a follow up text from the elder Rizzo saying: “Where are you?"
Ramanauskas replied: “Restroom, coming back now.”
Ramanauskas returned to the purple bar, expecting to see the father. Instead, the son, Charles B. Rizzo was there.
According to the federal document:
Chuck Rizzo began by berating (Ramanauskas), stating that it was (his) fault that Rizzo was going to jail for as long as he was. Rizzo then chastised (Ramanauskas) for telling federal authorities that their theft scheme from Rizzo Environmental Services (RES) started in 2014, which put the total of the stolen money over $500,000.
Chuck Rizzo continued discussing his case with (Ramanauskas) attempting to influence him to say that a portion of the money that Rizzo was stealing from RES actually amounted to other people paying Rizzo back money that Rizzo had given them previously...
Finally, before his communication with (Ramanauskas) concluded, Rizzo told (Ramanauskas) that he needed to meet with Rizzo’s attorneys (presumably for the purposes of signing an affidavit that Rizzo could use at sentencing). (Ramanauska) had previously declined repeated offers to meet with Rizzo’s attorneys because he did not feel comfortable doing so. Instead, (Ramanauskas) proposed that he answer questions submitted through his own attorney. Finally, Rizzo told (Ramanauskas) that if (he) met with Rizzo’s attorneys, "I could help you."
