Parole board revokes Del Balso’s release
Francesco Del Balso is convinced the armed men who stormed into his home in May did so with the intention to kill him.
The man who was proved to be one of the leaders of the Rizzuto organization during a police investigation that ended in 2006 told the Parole Board of Canada on Friday that, late on the morning of May 6, one of the men who entered his home pointed a firearm at his wife and then his eldest son and demanded to know where he was.
Although he and his family were the victims of the home invasion, it set off a chain of events that saw Del Balso returned to a federal penitentiary to continue serving the overall 15-year sentence he received in 2008 after he pleaded guilty to cocaine smuggling, gangsterism and tax evasion.
On Friday, Del Balso asked the parole board to cancel the suspension of the statutory release he was granted in 2016. Parole board member Suzanne Chartrand decided instead to revoke his release, which means he will have to remain behind bars for at least a few more months.
Del Balso uttered a quick “thank you” but jumped out of his seat in the hearing room at a Laval penitentiary and exited quickly before Chartrand could explain the reasons behind her decision. The home invasion and the danger Del Balso represents to public safety as a walking target were not the only reasons behind the decision.
Del Balso talked about the home invasion at length during the hearing and said it left him in shock for weeks because his family was at risk.
He described how he was running a series of errands that any parent might find themselves doing in Laval on a Saturday morning when he received a text message from his 12-year-old son that sent chills through his body.
“Daddy. Daddy. Help help help. There’s a man with a gun” and he was pointing it at Del Balso’s other, much older son, Del Balso told Chartrand while describing the message. He added the detail of how his son included seven crying emojis in the text message — an image Del Balso said he will never forget. The 12-year-old boy was upstairs at the time while one of the armed men was on the main floor and pointing a gun at his brother, demanding to know where Del Balso was.
Del Balso said he called 911 and headed straight for his home, and he arrived at the same time as Laval police officers did. By then, the two armed men had fled (two suspects were arrested minutes later near Highway 13), but the Laval police ordered Del Balso to wait while they made sure his home was secure. While waiting, Del Balso said, his wife and eldest son told him it wasn’t safe for him to be standing around outside.
“I felt like a sitting duck,” Del Balso said while explaining why he “ripped off” an ankle bracelet with a GPS tracking device that he agreed to wear while he was subject to his conditional release so that he could work for a Montreal company that distributes food to restaurants. He said he left the bracelet on the lawn of his home in the hopes it would draw more police officers to his home and protect his family.
Another image that remains clear in his mind today, Del Balso said, was seeing his younger son crying in the arms of his older son just before he left.
He disappeared for more than two hours before turning himself in to the Laval police. Correctional Service Canada determined he was less than forthcoming about
I tried really hard to get away from all this. Someone tried to come after me. I didn’t ask someone to come after me.
his whereabouts during those two hours and that contributed to the suspension of his release, Chartrand was told on Friday.
Parole officer Alexandre Brousseau also said Del Balso would go on long walks in Montreal — on Côte-des-Neiges Rd. and on Sherbrooke St. in Westmount — while he was only allowed to be in Montreal for work, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
“His return to the community represents a risk if he is released,” Brousseau said. “He clearly tried to test the limits of his release (while he was at work).”
Del Balso said he only went for the long walks because he would receive few phone calls at work in the afternoon. He said that almost every time he did go for a walk, he found a police officer following him.
“I know someone wants to kill me. I have to watch myself,” Del Balso told Chartrand during his unsuccessful effort to be released again. “I tried really hard to get away from all this,” he said later after claiming he decided to leave organized crime in 2011. “Someone tried to come after me. I didn’t ask someone to come after me.”