Accused in Vaughan crash Marco Muzzo has history of provincial offences
The Ministry of the Attorney General confirmed to the Star that a man with the same name and birth date as Muzzo has faced various provincial offences in six different jurisdictions in the GTA.
Thestar.com
Sept. 28, 2015
By Jacques Gallant
Marco Muzzo has faced provincial offences in the past involving, separately, alcohol and driving, according to court records.
The charges laid against the 29-year-old on Monday, for offences causing death and bodily harm related to Sunday’s deadly road crash in Vaughan, are the first time he has faced criminal charges. Muzzo was brought into a Newmarket courtroom in handcuffs. His hair was tousled, he wore a short beard and was clad in jeans and a black, graphic T-shirt.
His lawyer, Rudi Covre, declined to comment on the specifics of the case and would not say how his client intends to plea.
“I’m not going to tell you what he said to me. It’s a tough go right now for him, as I’m sure you can appreciate,” Covre told reporters after the court appearance. “Twenty-four hours hasn’t even passed so we still have a long row to hoe.”
The Ministry of the Attorney General confirmed to the Star that a man with the same name and birth date as Muzzo has faced various provincial offences in six different jurisdictions in the GTA.
In contrast, criminal offences are enacted by Parliament and are listed in the Criminal Code.
They tend to be more serious in nature and lead to a criminal record if convicted. A provincial offence does not appear on a person’s criminal record. They are enacted by a provincial legislature and are generally less serious than a criminal offence.
The Star confirmed that Muzzo paid a fine in February 2012 for being intoxicated in a public place in Richmond Hill and paid another ticket for a speeding offence in August 2013 in Newmarket.
He paid a ticket this year for a cellphone-related offence in Caledon, but an official at the provincial offences court was unable to provide the Star with more details Monday.
Muzzo, who planned to be married next month, comes from a wealthy and influential York Region family.
His grandfather, Marco, was a powerhouse in Ontario real estate, a politically well-connected developer but also a fiercely private person who was ranked among the wealthiest men in Canada by the time of his death in 2005.
The older Marco died in 2005 at 73. The younger Marco was one of 11 grandchildren named in his obituary.
After the younger Marco’s father, Robert, died of cancer in 2004, the Muzzo family began hosting Motoamore, an annual fundraiser that allows people to drive their own vehicle on the Mosport International Raceway. By 2011, it had raised more than $2.2 million for the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation.
The elder Marco emigrated from northern Italy with his brother Elio in the 1950s, working as a plasterer and drywaller. They started Marel Contractors, now Canada’s largest drywall installer, and Marco slowly built up a real estate empire, with numerous building projects in Toronto and its growing suburbs.
In the years before his death, he headed the Pemberton Group, a condominium developer with projects in Toronto, Mississauga and Richmond Hill. A year before his death, Canadian Business magazine declared him the 48th wealthiest man in Canada, worth more than $645 million.
“He was very tough in negotiations,” former Vaughan mayor Michael Di Biase told the Star in 2005. “Very tough in business and very tough in getting what he wanted, but also very generous.”
