Reputed Mob Leader Found Not Guilty in Securities Case

Reputed West Coast Mafia leader Michael Anthony Rizzitello and two other defendants were acquitted Friday on charges stemming from the attempted sale of $1 million in stolen securities.

Rizzitello, 60, a Canoga Park resident identified by the state attorney general’s office as a leader in the Southern California Mafia, had been accused of assisting in the sale of the stolen bonds and collecting part of the proceeds in payment.

According to federal prosecutors at the trial in federal court in Los Angeles, the scheme involved public improvement bonds stolen from the Manufacturers Hanover Trust bank in New York in 1983.

The indictment alleged that the defendants attempted to market the stolen bonds through a legitimate broker, representing to potential buyers that the bonds had been acquired by former Colorado businessman Steve Finkel in exchange for 80 acres of land in Alaska.

Said Informants Lied

However, Rizzitello asserted in his defense that he never was involved in the bond scheme, and said that two government informants who testified against him had lied.

Acquitted with Rizzitello were Robert Zeichick, 50, of Woodland Hills and Thomas Saullo Jr., 41, of New York.

The federal court jury convicted Finkel on conspiracy and wire fraud charges stemming from the bonds scheme. Jack Fineberg, 65, formerly of Los Angeles, was convicted of conspiracy, but acquitted on a separate charge of wire fraud.

Jurors deadlocked 10 to 2 for acquittal of a sixth defendant, Jacob Zemer, 40, of Tarzana. U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real scheduled a new trial for Nov. 3., and set Finkel’s sentencing for the same date.