Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari
Broward judge promises to speed up murder trial in Boulis case
FORT LAUDERDALE — A circuit judge pledged Thursday to speed up the murder trial of three men accused of the 2001 mob-style slaying of Miami Subs and SunCruz Casinos founder Gus Boulis.
The Broward State Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari, James "Pudgy" Fiorillo, and the alleged ringleader, Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello. They were arrested and charged in 2005.
On Thursday, Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes said she's had enough.
"I've got to move this case like you would not believe," Holmes said. "You are all going to have to get busy."
The judge is expected to issue a written decision Monday on a longstanding defense motion to suppress telephone records that, prosecutors say, could help put two of the defendants at the scene of the crime.
The judge said the trial may be set for May. The next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24.
"This case is going to have to take priority in your schedules," Holmes told the lawyers. "I've got these gentlemen sitting in jail."
The judge referred to Ferrari and Fiorillo. Fiorillo has written Holmes letters from jail asking her to set "some sort of time table."
Moscatiello is out on bond and, with court permission, has flown to New York for family events.
As recently depicted in the movie "Casino Jack," Boulis, 51, was ambushed in his car and shot to death on Feb. 2, 2001. The movie does not stick to the indictment in all particulars.
It does suggest, accurately, that Boulis had been embroiled in a contentious, fraud-plagued $147.5 million sale of his SunCruz fleet, and that he was trying to regain control of the ships at the time of his death.
Prosecutors say Moscatiello and Ferrari orchestrated the killing to protect a steady stream of SunCruz money coming to them via Adam Kidan, a New York businessman who was buying SunCruz with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
A year after the slaying, Kidan and Abramoff pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to defraud lenders in the SunCruz deal. Both did prison time that was reduced because they cooperated with federal prosecutors.
The state's murder theory is that Moscatiello and Ferrari recruited Fiorillo to assist, but the actual shooter was a New York mobster, since deceased, named John Gurino.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...,7560895.story
Bookmarks