Mayor Rob Ford’s part-time driver, Alexander “Sandro” Lisi, was granted $5,000 no-deposit bail earlier Friday morning after he was arrested Thursday and charged with extortion. He will be released into his father’s custody with a series of conditions.
Lisi, 35, was told at his Friday morning bail hearing at Old City Hall that he must not associate with anyone with a criminal record without his lawyer, use drugs or contact Elaine and Fabio Basso, residents at 15 Windsor Rd., a suspected drug house, according to court records made public Thursday.
Lisi also cannot attempt to contact Liban Sayid and Mohamed Siad.
Police say that Lisi threatened Siad and Siyad in an attempt to acquire a video at that appears to show Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking from what looks like a crack pipe, sometime between May 16 and 18.
Police arrested Sayid in October on drug charges as part of Project Traveller, a series of gang-related raids back in June.
The Toronto Star reported that Siad shared the same video of Ford with of its reporters earlier this year.
Police Chief Bill Blair announced Thursday that police recovered the digital video from a hard drive seized during Project Traveller and that it is consistent with the Star’s reports.
More than an hour after Lisi’s bail hearing Friday, a woman picked up Lisi in a grey SUV right as he left the courthouse, racing away from a throng of reporters who surrounded the back exit of Old City Hall.
Lisi’s lawyers, Dominic Basile and Seth Weinstein came out of the courthouse soon after.
“It’s been very difficult for him,” Weinstein said. “He’s been living under a spotlight that is extraordinary and quite frankly I’ve never seen before.”
Lisi was first arrested on Oct 2. on drug charges. He posted bail, and was released soon after.
He will have to return to court on Dec. 6. All evidence at the trial is under a publication ban.
Arman Aghbali graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2014 and was a reporter with for Ryersonian.ca.