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It was one of the few times Vito Rizzuto actually had to go to court.

It was 2003, and the leader of the Montreal Mafia was at the city’s municipal courthouse, fighting a charge of impaired driving. He had been pulled over late one night in downtown Montreal, after a police officer noticed a Jeep making an abrupt stop on Aylmer St.

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Wearing a grey suit, his thinning hair combed back, Rizzuto walked out of the courtroom. A group of reporters waited for a chance to ask questions of a man police alleged was running an international crime ring.

Rizzuto, then 57 years old, denied he was the “Godfather of the Italian Mafia in Montreal,” as federal authorities had previously described him.

“I deny everything they said,” he said.

How would you describe yourself professionally, a reporter asked.

Rizzuto smiled.

“I’m the jack of all trades,” he said.

The latest episode of our new podcast, The Dark North: Gangs of Montreal takes a closer look at the man who ran Montreal’s underworld for decades. Vito Rizzuto was born in a small hill town in western Sicily, Italy and went on to become one of the most powerful organized crime leaders in Canada and the world.

The Dark North: Gangs of Montreal is hosted by Paul Cherry, the Montreal Gazette’s crime reporter. You can subscribe to The Dark North on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.