John “Big Man” Venizelos of New York, who authorities said is connected to the Bonanno crime family and charged with teaming up with Canadian drug kingpin Jimmy “Cosmo” Cournoyer, was arrested again after ominously warning a witness that a bank account to finance contract murders had been set up.
“Venizelos sent an encrypted message” to a co-conspirator, warning that person “that he/she had better hope that Cournoyer or members of his organization never found out that (the co-conspirator) had spoken with law enforcement agents because Cournoyer has $2 million set aside to pay for the murder of cooperating witnesses,” Brooklyn Assistant US Attorney Steven Tiscione wrote to a judge.
The feds included encrypted messages that Venizelos sent out the murder fund that government experts just recently deciphered, it was reported by the New York Post.
“Seriously bro. I know he has like 2 mil …just to pay guys to handle that once he sentenced,” Venizelos wrote in the message, referring to Cournoyer, according to a court transcript.
Cournoyer, 33, who is awaiting trial in Brooklyn federal court, allegedly lies at the center of a $1 billion narcotics ring operated through alliances he created between the Canadian Mafia, the Hells Angels, a Mexican drug cartel, and the Bonanno crime family, The Post first reported last month. Prosecutors said that Cournoyer was one of the biggest suppliers of marijuana to New York City until his arrest last year.
The feds also seized letters that they believe were written by an unnamed organized crime colleague of Venizelos, which they say clearly establish the nightclub manager’s Mafia activities and involvement in bloody crimes. After the DEA arrested Venizelos two months ago and charged him with being one of Cournoyer’s biggest customers, his attorney insisted that the $100,000-plus seized by feds at Venizelos’ residence wan’t drug money – it was just cash for tipping strippers at the “Jaguars 3″ club.
Defense attorney John Meringolo argued that the money belongs to the nightclub and insists that Venizelos – the club’s manager – was going to bring the cash to the bank to exchange it for tens of thousands of single dollar bills. “Every other week he procures up to $50,000 in singles for the business of exotic dancers,” Meringolo told The Post.
The $1 bill is an essential element of strip club operations and are coveted by customers who want to give get a rush from up-close and very personal cash tips to gyrating strippers. “By no means does this money have anything to do with drug proceeds,” Meringolo said.
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