Unsealed documents reveal new details about the night that Rob Ford and his sister, Kathy, smoked crack together in her basement, during a party that spurred the Toronto mayor to go to rehab once photos went public.
The documents suggest that, months before Ford dropped out of Toronto’s mayoral race to receive treatment for a malignant tumour in his stomach, police were actively investigating any criminality that might be associated with the mayor.
The information was ordered released on Wednesday by Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer after a court battle between media lawyers and the provincial Crown attorney.
The allegations were laid out in a document called an Information to Obtain, or ITO, drafted by Toronto Police in order to get permission to carry out search warrants.
None of the allegations contained in the ITO have been proven in a court of law.
The ITO, drafted as part of Project Brazen 2, contains more details about the night of Apr. 26, when the second video purportedly showing the mayor smoking crack was filmed.
The documents include an interview with Kathy Ford, who confirms that she used drugs with her brother that night. She also claims that her brother and his former friend and occasional driver, Sandro Lisi, were never involved in a violent confrontation that evening in spite of allegations the mayor had assaulted him.
Ford returned home Tuesday after his first round of chemotherapy for a malignant tumour. He dropped out of the mayoral race and has been replaced by his brother, Coun. Doug Ford. The mayor is running for his old council seat in Ward 2.
In the police documents, Kathy Ford says that on the April night during which she and the mayor smoked crack, her brother arrived at the house intoxicated but not high, dropped off by his driver.
Later, Kathy Ford let Michael James, also known as “Jugga,” into her home when he arrived at her doorstep. She confirmed in her interview with police that James supplied the crack that she and the mayor smoked that night.
James took a video without Kathy, Rob, or Lisi being aware of it. Kathy Ford only found out they were recorded when the Globe and Mail reported on the video and reporters called her for comment.
According to the documents, Kathy Ford told police that James was the one who recorded the video because it wasn’t her, her brother or Lisi. James was the only one who was “fooling around” with a phone.
The mayor took a leave of absence to attend rehab in the wake of the media reports detailing the second video, as well as the release of an audio recording in which he made lewd comments about his then-rival in the mayoral race, Coun. Karen Stintz. Ford spent several weeks at GreeneStone, a facility in cottage country north of Toronto.
The police documents explain that police put out an internal bulletin for two individuals and a vehicle after a Globe and Mail reporter provided information on her meeting with two men who showed her the video. The video was the second one to show the mayor smoking crack.
The reporter told police that the men introduced themselves as “Jugga” and “S. Pablo” and neither of them minded having their names published.
Police set up surveillance on “Jugga,” who is referred to by his last name, James, in the police documents. He is also describedas a 20-year-old man with no criminal record but suspected of being a drug dealer and potentially armed.
Police caught up with James at a Toronto home, at an address that has been blacked out in the police document. Police later charged him with possession of a set of brass knuckles. The charge was recently stayed.
The documents show that police filed an application in court to search three cellular telephones that belong to James. Investigators write in the ITO that believe they will find the second crack video on one of James’s phones.
“I have not listed any drug trafficking or drug possession charges in this affidavit,” writes Det.-Const. David LaVallee. “However, I believe that the aforementioned video will be found on one of James’ mobile devices, and that it may provide evidence of drug trafficking and drug possession against James and/or drug possession against Robert Ford.”
LaVallee writes that he is also seeking proof from James’s phones of further “surreptitious” recordings, particularly showing Lisi and Kathy Ford in conversation. If Lisi is seen to be associating with Kathy Ford it would be a failure to comply with the terms of his recognizance because he knows she has a criminal record.
Lisi is currently on bail on extortion charges and is not allowed to associate with anyone who had a criminal record.
Lawyer Peter Jacobsen, who represented the media in the fight to get the documents released, said that the ITO’s release shows that although the court system is “slow,” it is “trying to be transparent, trying to give us the information that the public needs, particularly in advance of the election.”
Warrant Materials June.9.14 - Redacted
