Witness wanted $100K to testify against Hamilton cop, corruption trial hears

A former drug dealer told a Toronto court Tuesday he wanted to be paid $100,000 by authorities in exchange for testifying against Hamilton police officer Craig Ruthowsky.

Nigel Dheilly-Mattiuzi, who alleges Ruthowsky sold him a cocaine press from a secret police location, returned to the witness box today at Ruthowsky's corruption trial.

The veteran Hamilton cop is accused of selling police secrets and protection for $20,000 monthly payments from a cadre of drug dealers. 

Ruthowsky, 44, has pleaded not guilty in Superior Court in Toronto to charges of bribery, attempting to obstruct justice, trafficking cocaine, criminal breach of trust, and conspiring to traffic marijuana.

Dheilly-Mattiuzzi, 30, told the jury that he met with officers who were investigating the case in Montreal back in 2016. He said he gave them a "wish list" of things he would like in exchange for his cooperation — and tops on the list was cash.

"So you were hoping for $100,000 for cooperation in the prosecution of Craig Ruthowsky?" said Greg Lafontaine, Ruthowsky's lawyer.

"Correct," Dheilly-Mattiuzzi responded. He said the officers later told him that wasn't possible. 

Dheilly-Mattiuzzi testified he also asked for his criminal record to be expunged.

Witness says he believes he's being followed

Lafontaine continued his cross-examination of the witness after beginning late Thursday afternoon. Dheilly-Mattiuzzi spoke quickly, and referred to himself as "we" at one juncture.

Lafontaine asked the witness if he has been dealing with any mental health issues.

"I believe I'm being followed everywhere I go," Dheilly-Mattiuzzi responded.

Lafontaine later asked Dheilly-Mattiuzzi about where the cocaine press Ruthowsky allegedly sold him was taken after it was handed off.

He previously testified that he bought the hydraulic press — which can be used to form cocaine into bricks — under cover of darkness at a shuttered Hamilton police station that was being used as an outpost for the guns and gangs unit.

Court heard Tuesday that the press ended up at his father's machine shop on Frid Street.

"A hydraulic press is something you use in a machine shop, right sir?" Lafontaine said.

"You could, yes sir," the witness responded.

Lafontaine then "suggested" that the dealer who was allegedly paying off Ruthowsky sent him to pick up the press, and that the plan was for his father to use it in his machine shop. Dheilly-Mattiuzzi said no, and that his father later sold the press.

"[Your father] treated it as if it was his own … because it was his, right?" Lafontaine asked.

"No," the witness responded.

'I was paying Craig'

In court's afternoon session, the Crown called one of its final witnesses — one of the other dealers who was allegedly paying into the pay-for-protection scheme with Ruthowsky.

The witness cannot be named under a publication ban.

He told the jury that he was the one who told the Crown's key witness — another drug dealer — that Ruthowsky could be bought.

"I was paying Craig prior to him paying Craig," the dealer testified. He said that he never actually paid Ruthowsky in person, but instead funnelled cash to the Hamilton cop through other sources they both knew.

He said that "program" ended because of some "ill will" between the two men after a robbery.

The Crown's key witness previously testified that he started paying Ruthowsky $20,000 payments on behalf of himself and three of his associates. The dealer who testified Tuesday said that he was one of those three other people.

He said that he was paying his associate $2,500 a month to be part of the deal. The Crown's key witness had previously testified each person was paying $5,000.

During his cross-examination, Ruthowsky's defence team ran through the witness' extensive criminal background, which included convictions for robbery, careless use of a firearm, uttering threats, jail assaults, and drug trafficking.

Lafontaine is expected to conclude his cross-examination Wednesday morning.

adam.carter@cbc.ca