Giovanni "Johnny" Cazzetta was born on 1957 and is a Canadian outlaw biker and gangster who, along with his brother Salvatore Cazzetta, was a co-founder of the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club in Montreal.
22 Facts About Giovanni Cazzetta
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Giovanni Cazzetta was the club's second in command, and had considerable connections with Quebec's Mafia figures.
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The Giovanni Cazzetta brothers offered Boucher membership in the Rock Machine, but he declined the offer.
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Giovanni Cazzetta held the position of second-in-command, with only his brother Salvatore holding more influence.
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The Giovanni Cazzetta brothers recruited some of the best talent available, and by the early 1990s, the Rock Machine had over 100 members or prospective members between its Montreal and Quebec City chapters.
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The Giovanni Cazzetta brothers had business dealings and ties with Italian-Canadian Mafia groups in Quebec, particularly the Sicilian Rizzuto family.
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Giovanni Cazzetta was particularly involved with the Mafia, being friends with several high profile Mafia members.
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The Rock Machine's cocaine smuggling and distribution resulted in increased police scrutiny, and 1994, Salvatore Giovanni Cazzetta was arrested with eleven tons of cocaine.
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Giovanni Cazzetta was released from prison in early 1997 and continued as a senior member of the Rock Machine.
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Claude Vezina, who became national president of the Rock Machine following the imprisonment of Salvatore Cazzetta, subsequently stepped down from the position and was succeeded by Giovanni Cazzetta, who led the club through the biker war until May 1997.
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Giovanni Cazzetta was one of those arrested in an operation by Quebec police on 20 May 1997.
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When Giovanni Cazzetta contacted Richard Matticks of the West End Gang about obtaining the required amount for the sale, he was told that an amount that large was hard to acquire on such short notice.
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Giovanni Cazzetta, who was still on probation from his prior narcotics charges in 1993, was sentenced to nine years in prison time in April 1998.
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Rock Machine national vice president Gillies Lambert was arrested alongside Giovanni Cazzetta and received three years for narcotics trafficking.
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Giovanni Cazzetta received five more years, to be served concurrently with his nine year sentence, and the Canadian government seized more than $600,000 in assets, including Cazzetta's engraved Rock Machine gold ring, a 1994 Jeep Cherokee, a 1959 Corvette, and a 1992 Lexus.
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In 2004, Giovanni Cazzetta was moved a maximum-security to a medium-security penitentiary located in Laval, Quebec.
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In reality, Giovanni Cazzetta had been very influential during the conflict while he was not incarcerated in 1997.
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Giovanni Cazzetta was well connected in Quebec's underworld and was able to facilitate large transactions of narcotics.
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Giovanni Cazzetta argued that the reason he had aided the Rock Machine was due to the fact that he wanted to "help his friends".
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Giovanni Cazzetta added that returning to the Rock Machine brought security, which he needed.
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Nonetheless, he Giovanni Cazzetta affirmed that he was done with his life of crime and he tried to distance himself from his former associates.
22.
Salvatore Giovanni Cazzetta chose to join the Hells Angels in 2005.