The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 3

TheWindsorStar Local METRO EDITOR: TOM McMAHON 256-5533 FAX 255-5515 FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2002 A3 Sopranos fm tesroillzed tortuir tciiaD told Devoted follower of show accused of assaulting cousins over theft of sports cards "You're trumping up these charges aren't you?" asked Kruse. "Nobody's trumping up anything," said Fulop. "The only lies are coming from your mouth and his (Formosa)." In earlier testimony, Fulop said he and Varga had been invited to Formosa's apartment to watch some television. "He was watching the Sopranos," said Fulop. "He was devoted to it, watched it every week, taped it." Fulop said tears came to Formosa's eyes when he listened to the soundtrack of the episode they were watching about a character being murdered for "ratting someone out or something." Fulop said the assault began shortly after the tape ended.

Formosa faces two counts of unlawful confinement, two counts of assault with a weapon and one count of threatening with an imitation handgun. The trial continues today With files from Don Lajoie poked and jabbed with a knife during the alleged assault. Varga also lost some front teeth when Formosa threw a copy of a Sopranos' videotape at him in the early morning hours of April 12, 2000, Fulop said. "Sammy was mad at Frank because he thought Frank knew who broke into his house and stole the cards," said Fulop. "He slapped Frankie and started punching him.

Every time Frankie tried to say something, he'd get hit again he just sat there and took a beating. "Frankie knew the cards had been stolen by Sammy's brother but he refused to go stoolie on him. "I tried stopping it but whenever I did, he'd put the knife near my throat and I'd be wrestling, trying to stop him from stabbing me. "He kept on telling us we were dead." Fulop said the assault finally ended when he made a break for the door while Formosa was punching Varga. Varga was also able to get away, Fulop said, when Formosa chased him (Fulop) into the street.

The two eventually made their way to police headquarters where they gave a video statement about the incident after a stop at the hospital for treatment. Defence lawyer Michael Kruse attacked Fulop's credibility during cross-examination in which Fulop admitted involvement in two arson incidents and acknowledged two convictions for theft and another for assault. Kruse pointed out numerous discrepancies by comparing Fulop's testimony on the videotape, at the preliminary hearing and during the trial which began Wednesday. "You're making this up as you go along, aren't you," Kruse said. "This was a botched robbery.

Mr. Formosa got the better of you and Mr. Varga and this is all about revenge. By Dave Hall star staff reporter A Windsor man accused of assaulting and torturing two cousins was a devoted Sopranos fan who shed tears during an episode of the TV show before he terrorized his victims, a trial was told. Sammy Formosa, 34, is accused of assaulting the two men and threatening to kill them during a four-hour ordeal two years ago.

Thursday, Shawn Fulop told a Superior Court jury that he feared for his life after Formosa became enraged over the theft of some sports cards. "I was so scared and I was thinking about my kids," Fulop, 32, said under questioning from assistant Crown attorney Frank Schwalm. Fulop testified that he was punched, slapped and jabbed with a knife and that his cousin, Frank Varga, was repeatedly punched, elbowed in the head, Sammy Formosa leaves Superior Court during the noon hour break in his trial Thursday. He is accused of assaulting his two cousins. Star photo: Scott Webster 111 WINDSOR IN BRIEF LaSalle man jailed for fleeing customs at bridge A LaSalle man has been sentenced to 46 days in jail for fleeing customs inspectors at the Ambassador Bridge last December, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency has announced.

Mail caper unresolved By Dave Hall star staff reporter After more than five months of inquiries, a Windsor couple is still wondering how their mail came to be redirected to Ohio and who had a British passport and other papers sent to their west-side home by priority post last year. Robert and Karen Smith remain in the dark as Canada Post and the British High Commission in Ottawa have declined to discuss the case. "If what happened turns out to be the first step in some type of criminal activity, we would not want to disclose any information that might tip off the perpetrator," said Tom Creech, a spokesman for Canada Post in London. Ronald Antaya, 49, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the Ontario Court of Justice to one charge of failing to report to customs and one charge of failing to appear in court. The second charge was added after Antaya did not attend his first court appearance Feb.

28 to answer the customs charge. Pat Kisil, communications manager for Canada Customs, said Antaya entered Canada via the bridge Dec. 24. He complied with requests to produce a birth certificate and driver's licence to verify his identity But when the officer asked Antaya to shut off his vehicle, he drove the car off the plaza and fled down a Windsor street. Windsor police were called to intercept the vehicle.

After further investigation, officers charged Antaya. A spokesman for the British High Commission said his department is aware of the Smiths' situation, but it was against the commission's policy to comment. The strange odyssey began last fall when the Smiths received a package by priority mail at Karen Smith Federal NDP Leader Alexa McDonough greets supporters as she makes her entrance into the nomination meeting for Star photo: Ted Rhodes Brian Masse at Branch 143 of the Royal Canadian Legion Thursday night. Masse carries NDP banner PASSING THE HAT In the hour and a half it took 150 New Democrats to acclaim Brian Masse as their candidate for the May 13 byelection in Windsor West, they managed collect $26,150 from supporters. on hand to rally the troops.

"We have five weeks to fight seven byelections in five provinces," she said. "That's a lot of door knocking, a lot of phone calls, a lot of work and determination. But right here in Windsor West, we have an opportunity to surprise a lot of people." McDonough would not comment on whether Windsor West has been a Liberal bastion or a Herb Gray their west-side home. It was addressed to R. Smith but when they opened it, they found a British passport in the name of Roger H.

Smith, a marriage certificate, a birth certificate and Ontario drivers' licence in the name of Roger H. Smith but carrying their address. "We assumed there had been a mistake so we sent it back to the British High Commission in Ottawa," Karen said. "We also wrote a letter asking them to explain what happened and all they've said is that it was a mistake but that doesn't explain how the person picked our name and address and came to have identification with that address." The Smiths thought everything was resolved, but within days they stopped receiving mail. "After waiting a few days, we called the post office and they told us our mail had been redirected to an address in Ohio," Karen said.

"They wouldn't tell us the address so I guess a person doesn't have the right to know where their own mail is going." The Smiths are convinced their mail was redirected by the mystery person so he could intercept their mail, including the passport. Their mail delivery is now back to normal, but the Smiths are still concerned. "What bothers us as much as anything is the refusal by officials at both Canada Post and the British High Commission to share information with us. It was our address and our mail that was being used." CCAC appoints five new board members The WindsorEssex Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) has appointed five new members to its board. Rassan Jafar, Patricia Pacuta, Nillo Piccinin, Ruth Stark and William Yee are the new members.

Jafar is a local pharmacist and businessman and Pacuta is a registered nurse who has spent 30 years working in the long-term care sector. Piccinin is retired controller of a Toronto manufacturing company, Stark works in the health-care field and Yee has 10 years' experience in health care and has a 15-year relationship with the CCAC. On Feb. 16 the WindsorEssex CCAC was converted to a statutory corporation along with 40 other CCACs in Ontario. All board members and executive directors are appointed by the province through orders-in-council.

The WindsorEssex CCAC is a provincially funded, charitable nonprofit organization that provides home care, placement services and information and referral to more than 5,200 clients daily By Dun Lajoie star staff reporter After being acclaimed Thursday as the NDP candidate for the federal byelection in Windsor West, city Councillor Brian Masse said voters must now choose between a committed activist and a backbencher "who will toe the party line." Setting his sights on Liberal candidate Richard Pollock, Masse told about 150 party supporters at a Wyandotte Street legion hall that he would work for the interests of the community and not be a yes man for an official government line which neglects local concerns. "I say to all of Windsor West, work with me to protect our interests," said Masse, in accepting the nomination. "Make your voice loud and clear on May 13." "This riding belongs to the people of Windsor West," she said. "I see people here who are optimistic, people who are pumped, people commit He said Windsor West deserves better than long waits in hospital emergency rooms, poor health due to environmental degradation, an eroding manufacturing sector, deteriorating infrastructure and threats to turn Huron Church Road and the E.C. Row Expressway into freeways for 18-wheelers.

"We've been taken for granted far too long," Masse said. As a sign of the importance the party is placing on Windsor West, NDP Leader Alexa McDonough was ted to winning." She said the Liberals have let Canadians down and moved so far to the right the Canadian Alliance and Conservatives no longer have to worry about a united right, it al ready exists in Ottawa. Pain of bullying lives on through the ages Bullies. I hadn't even thought about the term until a few weeks ago when the school my son attends in Windsor sent home a note ad-dressing the prob-f lem and warning that action would be taken to curb 1 1 any sucn Denav-iour at school. About that same time, I heard the story of mk I was the class nerd, I guess.

And I had a bad They were always laughing at me and that was fine, but this one boy would trip me every time I would walk up the aisle. "I was eight or nine at the time, and he was the same age, but bigger. 1 told the teacher about it and she talked to him and warned him that she would call his parents. "One day, he waited for me after school and pushed me into some garbage cans in an alley and then dumped the garbage all over me. "He told me: 'If you say anything, I'll make you sorry that you are The bullying continued, according to the letter writer, until the boy moved away.

Are there any answers to this problem that has been going on forever? Apparently not. Marty Gervats can be reached by mail at mgervalsCti wln.southain.ca "Sure," I said. "Tell me." "Well, she was 17 and I was 11 and she was always after us, even sexually molesting some of us. "I still hate her!" She then proceeded to tell me how she got back at this woman. "Years later, I was on a bus, and there she was, this same person now seven or eights months pregnant and carrying two bags of groceries.

'Swift kick' "I was in the service (army) then, and I waited, and when she turned to get off the bus, I gave her a good, swift kick In the back and she went flying. "The last I saw of her was her rolling in a ditch and the groceries scattered all over the place. "And you know, 1 felt good! Another writes me a note to say how he was bullied by a fellow at an east-end school for a couple of years. "They made fun of the way I looked when suddenly Bill would fly into action, usually wrestling this brute to the ground and giving him a good beating. I'd be standing nearby, tapping my foot on the ground, feeling cocky and often getting in one last word.

Others weren't as fortunate. Like a man who called me to say he was picked on at an elementary school In the west end because he refused to fight. His parents had told him it was wrong to fight and to report anything that befell him to his teacher. After a time, he came to be known as a "chronic complainer." After a while, he said, no one believed him. That was 20 years ago.

There was also a woman now in her 80s who telephoned me Immediately after reading my column. After all these years, she still fears her bully from a one-room school on the outskirts of Windsor. This caller said: "Do you want to know about what I did with this bully?" humiliates and terrorizes you at every move. I never experienced this because I had a personal bodyguard, a lean fighting machine, someone two years older and someone who harboured a fierce loyalty and determination to protect me from harm. That was my brother.

Why did he feel this way? I don't know. Foaming at mouth But I was constantly in trouble because of my mouth. 1 was ever the critic, always foaming at my mouth with sarcasm. Naturally, I could never back it up. I suffered from two deficiencies: 1 talked big and couldn't run fast enough to get away.

And so there I was Incident after incident at St. Thomas school In Riverside, flat on my back with some bully ready to execute me on the spot MARTY a woman who GERVAIS was terrorized a a one-room school some 70 MY TOWN 255-6760 years ago. I wrote about this Monday, and since then I've been hearing horror stories from all parts of the city and area. I don't think I realized how devastating it can be to be victimized by some insensitive boor who strong-arms and.