Rob Ford Scandal: Resident in Home Convicted of Drug Trafficking

Mayor crack house scandal: A resident of a home where Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was allegedly photographed with a murder victim was charged with trafficking cocaine in 2011.
Rob Ford Scandal: Resident in Home Convicted of Drug Trafficking
A screenshot of the Toronto Star shows Mayor Rob Ford with two other men at what was reported as a house on 15 Windsor Rd. Neighbors said the home was a “crack house."
Jack Phillips
6/7/2013
Updated:
6/7/2013

A resident of a home where Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was allegedly photographed with a murder victim was charged with trafficking cocaine in 2011.

Elena Johnson, who is the daughter of homeowner Lina Basso, was convicted of cocaine trafficking. Another resident was also convicted of possessing a prohibited weapon, reported the Toronto Star.

The Star and Gawker.com reported several weeks ago a video surfaced showing Ford smoking crack. The video never surfaced or was published online, and Ford has denied he smoked crack or appears in a video.

But recently, a photo appears to show Ford alongside several other people, including Anthony Smith, 21, who was killed in downtown Toronto in a gangland murder. The Star and the Globe and Mail reported that Ford and the others were photographed at the home at 15 Windsor Rd., where Elena Johnson and Lina Basso live.

Other reports said neighbors described the Windsor home as a crack house.

The photo of Ford was not part of the video but was given to the Star by people trying to sell the footage.

Gawker said that it raised $200,000 to purchase the Ford video footage but it later said it is “gone.”

Officers went to the Windsor home on May 21 for assault, officers said on Thursday, according to the Star. A man reportedly broke into the home and assaulted several people with a weapon.

Gawker said the assault on May 21 was over the video.

“A source who knows both [Fabio] Basso and Ford tells Gawker that the men are longtime friends, and that Ford has been a frequent visitor to 15 Windsor over the years. According to this source, the video of Ford smoking crack was recorded there at some point six to eight months ago,’” Gawker wrote.

A lawyer with Ford said that Ford has had his picture taken with numerous people.

“Say somebody says ‘here, take a picture’ and it’s in front of a certain location. You have no idea that location may be involved in something illegal or improper, allegedly, that type of thing,” lawyer Dennis Morris told the Globe and Mail. “You as an innocent party have a photo taken. So where does that put you? It puts you as an innocent party.”

His brother took a more direct approach.

“I’ve been getting calls from some councillors too, which I think this is absolutely disgusting and racist, that what is Rob doing with his arms around two young black men?” his brother, Doug Ford, on a local  Toronto radio, according to Canada.com. “That’s a racist comment. Rob has taken thousands of pictures with young black men, with their hats on, with their little funny signs and everything else.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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