Loris Cavaliere, the Montreal defence lawyer who was sentenced to a 34-month prison term for letting alleged Montreal Mafia leaders use his offices to conduct their meetings, has been granted full parole.
On Wednesday, the Parole Board of Canada released a written copy of a decision that was made on May 18. Cavaliere did not have a hearing as his case involved two parole board members who went over documents in his file.
He received the sentence on Feb. 1, 2017, after pleading guilty to a gangsterism charge. He admitted that he let Leonardo Rizzuto and Stefano Sollecito, alleged leaders in the Montreal Mafia, use his law offices in Little Italy to hold their meetings. Rizzuto and Sollecito were charged in the same investigation, but the cases against them were dropped after Superior Court Justice Éric Downs ruled that the wiretaps used to record some of the conversation were illegal because they violated solicitor-client privilege. Rizzuto is a lawyer and he worked for Cavaliere’s firm. Meanwhile, Sollecito was represented by another lawyer who worked at the firm who was not a target of the investigation.
Cavaliere pleaded guilty and had already been granted day parole by the time Downs delivered his decision.
Cavaliere was released to a halfway house late last year. The new parole decision notes that his time at the halfway house had been “exemplary” as he followed all of the conditions imposed on him. It also notes that he was able to find a full-time job after he was released from a penitentiary in Laval. The type of work Cavaliere did was redacted from the copy of the decision obtained by the Montreal Gazette.
“You have constructed a constructive and pro-social lifestyle, oriented toward your family ties and some of your friends (and) your work,” the summary reads. It also noted Cavaliere’s recent participation in physical training. When he appeared before the parole board in November, he appeared to have dropped 30 to 40 pounds from the time he practised at the Montreal courthouse. He told the parole board he decided to spend much of his time in the penitentiary gym to avoid associating with organized crime figures.
The investigation that produced Cavaliere’s arrest, along with Rizzuto and Sollecito, revealed the attorney acted as a go-between for the Montreal Mafia, the Hells Angels and street gang leaders.
Part of Cavaliere’s sentence involves his guilty plea to the possession of a firearm seized following his arrest in November 2015. Cavaliere had told the parole board that someone gave him the firearm after he received threats in 2007.
Cavaliere is required to keep away from the type of cafés used as hangouts for Mafia members while his sentence continues. He is also not allowed to associate with anyone with a criminal record or who has known ties to organized crime.
Last month, Cavaliere informed the Barreau du Québec that he would not challenge a decision made by the bar’s disciplinary committee to bar him from practising as a lawyer again.