THUNDER BAY – An appeal of a conviction filed by a notorious Thunder Bay drug dealer has been denied.
Arrested as part of Project Dolphin and found guilty of selling cocaine and marijuana, John Tsekouras was released on bail pending an appeal of his 9.5-year sentence.
On Tuesday Ontario Court of Appeal Judge David Watt released his decision.
“The core findings of fact made by the trial judge to not reflect palpable and overriding error. The inferences drawn by the trial judge from the cumulative effect of this evidence fall well within the field of reasonable inferences available on this evidence,” Watt writes.
“As the communications reveal, this was not a first-time transaction between (Keith) Ritchie and the appellant, on the one hand, and Penguin, on the other. The quantity of drugs shipped – two kilograms – was plainly for the purpose of trafficking. The drugs were being shipped to a place for pick-up in a package that the appellant had the information necessary to locate. Nothing more was required.”
Penguin was the code name of a co-conspirator, while Ritchie was convicted this past February and also sentenced to 9.5 years behind bars in a federal penitentiary.
On June 15, 2011, police executed a number of search warrants at residences throughout Thunder Bay, an investigation known as Project Dolphin.
A total of eighteen one-kilogram bags of marijuana and a one kilogram brick of cocaine was seized from the garage of Sal Larizza’s home.
That same day Tsekouras was arrested, seizing an encrypted cell phone, which was allowed to be entered as evidence into the Tsekouras trial.
Using evidence found in the phone, investigators were able to attach names to monikers used by senders and receivers of emails, including Ritchie, who was known as either Daft Punk or Surf Dawg. Tsekouras was known as Sega Time and Muzzi, who would later plead guilty to a number of drug charges, was 7710.
Larizza, murdered in his Belton Road home on Oct. 25, 2012, gave an 80-minute recorded statement to police before his death implicating Muzzi as the man who delivered the drugs to his home.
Tsekouras’ legal team based that appeal on five grounds, claiming data taken from his Blackberry seized during his arrest had been done so without a warrant. His lawyers also objected to the hearsay statements of Larizza.
Muzzi pleaded guilty to four counts including conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and marijuana.
During Tsekouras’ trial the judge rejected the defendant’s contention of a reasonable expectation of privacy on his phone because during the arrest he’d thrown it to the ground, thus discarding it before being arrested.
A search warrant was obtained after the fact, which the judge factored into his decision, stating it would have been obtained earlier if thought necessary.
During the appeal process the ruling judge pointed out that in 2014, when Tsekouras first went on trial, the rules surrounding cell phone searches were hazy and lacked consistency.
Tsekouras’ lawyers also objected to the statement of fact filed and relied upon in Muzzi’s guilty plea proceedings and the hearsay statements of both Larizza and Muzzi under the co-conspirators’ exception to the hearsay rule.
According to the ruling, about three months after his arrest, Larizza gave an 80-minute statement to police, admitting he provided a stash house for Muzzi and another man, Muzzi promising he would remove the drugs the next day. He was unable to do so after police raided Larizza’s home.
The appeal judge allowed Larizza’s statement to stand because it had been audio and video recorded and it was made under oath. That Larizza had initiated the interview was also factored into the decision.
Lawyers for Tsekouras argued neither Muzzi’s guilty plea nor the acceptance of facts surrounding it should have been accepted, calling each hearsay and not reliable.
