Rob Ford's Friends Have Criminal Records and Tend to Live with Their Parents
It's been just over three months since reports first emerged of the existence of a video showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, and now Toronto police appear to be slowly putting the complicated puzzle behind Ford and his questionable associates together.
.It's been just over three months since reports first emerged of the existence of a video showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, and now Toronto police appear to be slowly putting the complicated puzzle behind Ford and his questionable associates together.
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As we learned last week, Ford mysteriously attempted to visit an old friend and known crack user in jail well after visiting hours last March. That friend is Bruno Bellisimo, who was in jail at the time of Ford's visit for assaulting his own parents, in whose basement he was living at the time (he's since entered a substance abuse treatment program). Two of Bellissimo’s friends told the Toronto Star that he previously boasted about Ford giving him a debit card that the mayor told him he "could use $500 for himself from time to time."
Then over the weekend, the Star reported that Toronto police are investigating the role of several Ford associates in their possible attempts to retrieve the infamous video that allegedly shows the mayor smoking crack cocaine.
At least one target of that investigation is "Sandro" Lisi, who has a criminal history of threatening and assaulting women as well as drug possession. Currently living with his parents, Lisi is also an occasional driver and security guard for Ford.
The Star reported that Lisi approached Fabio Basso, also a Ford pal as well an occupant of a Toronto home long suspected of drug activity, June 4 and asked Basso, "where are the guys who made the video?" The following day, an unknown attacker broke into the same house and assaulted Basso, his girlfriend and his mother. In the meantime, another associate of Ford, David Price (the mayor's former football coach and current "logistics director"), reportedly pursued leads in the high-rise community where two Star reporters say they originally saw the crack video.
And then there's Peter Kordas, a former city bus driver whom the Star reports has told friends he occasionally serves as Ford's driver when the mayor wants to go out. Kordas, who was pressured to resign from his job after a young woman accused him of propositioning her, was reportedly present at a St. Patrick's Day event last year from which Mayor Ford was eventually asked to leave for appearing "incoherent" and "hammered." Kordas currently lives with his parents (sensing a theme here?).
Meanwhile, in Toronto City Hall, it's business as usual for Ford, who has not commented on the Star's weekend report. Later today the mayor plans to give a key to the city to his one of his few remaining allies, City Councillor and former deputy mayor Doug Holyday. Holyday has consistently come to Ford's defense since the crack scandal first exploded, most recently after videos and photos surfaced last weekend of Ford appearing to be intoxicated and slurring his words while attending a Greek food festival.