HE led a lavish millionaire lifestyle but most of his money came from crime.
John Gizzi, the man who drove round in luxury cars and once lived in a £1.75 million mansion, is back behind bars, two years after he was released from a five-year prison sentence.
This time Gizzi, 39, from St George, has gone down for 11 years for leading a plot to bring cocaine into North Wales.
The self-styled hardman who boasted that he “ran Rhyl” was the subject of a recent BBC Wales Week in Weekout documentary on his years of crime. In the programme Det Inspector
Gerwyn Lloyd, the man who led Operation Thunder, a 12 month long undercover investigation, said the jailing of Gizzi showed that criminals like him are “not untouchable”.
He said: “I’ve got news for them, they're not untouchable, we can touch them and we will catch them.”
Gizzi, who portrayed himself as a legitimate builder, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine with nine other members of the gang.
He now faces a second Proceeds of Crime investigation to claw back money he has made from crime.
The last time it happened was in 2006 when he was jailed for five and a half years.
Then his luxury mansion at St Asaph, Bentley, Range Rover and Mercedes cars were confiscated.
At Friday's hearing at Caernarfon Crown Court, police told how they found cocaine with a street value of £162,000 when they stopped a taxi at Queensferry in April last year.
Judge Merfyn Hughes QC told Gizzi:
“You played a primary role in the organisation which brought significant quantities of cocaine into North Wales.”
Five other local men were jailed for their part in the conpsiracy.
Karl Evans, 30, a builder and keen boxer, of Llys Nant, Towyn, and said to be Gizzi’s right hand man got sevenand-
a-half years; Christian Suckley, 27, of Llys y Mor, Abergele, six years and eight months; John Etheridge, 31, of Llys Arthur, Towyn, a former holiday park security man, six years; Gregory
Gorst, 28, of Brook Avenue, Towyn, five years and three months.
Derek Richards, 50, of East Parade,Rhyl, the taxi driver, was jailed for four-and-a-half years as was Michael Bennett, 33, of Pen Lan, Towyn.
Three men from Liverpool received prison sentences ranging from five years and eight months to nine years.
The judge commended the “prolonged and painstaking” police investigation which he said wasn’t without personal risk to officers watching the gang.
Det Insp Lloyd said after the hearing: “This was quite clearly a group of people who were intent on using cocaine as a commodity with which to make significant amounts of money.”