Justice For Virgilio Amado Ruiz Fundraiser

As many of you know, Virgilio, a coach, and official within the community, was accused some years ago of sexual assault by another official member of Wrestling Canada and Ontario Wrestling’s officials associations.

Despite Virgilio having at all times maintained his innocence, many letters of support and financial support from the community, and evidence that this same individual has accused others of similar wrongdoing having been brought forward, none of OAWA, WCL, nor their respective officials associations seemingly did anything to assist Virgilio in his defence.

Based on donations made by myself, my companies, and other members of the community, 125k was spent defending Virgilio, whom we always believed was innocent.

Finally, Virgilio’s conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal, meaning that his matter is being returned to the lower courts for a new trial.

Unfortunately, by the time the appeal was heard, Virgilio had already served the six-month jail sentence imposed by the trial judge whose decision has now been overturned. I visited him while in detention as did several of my family members, fellow coaches, colleagues, and teammates.

This ordeal and what we maintain wrongful conviction, have resulted in immense reputational and economic damage to Virgilio. Not to mention the possibility of him being at risk of deportation back to Cuba, where he would face an immediate risk of up to 10 years of detention in Cuba for having defected on a diplomatic passport.  

During this debacle and miscarriage of justice, Virgilio’s family has been forced to remain in Cuba as his immigration process was halted due to the charges and subsequent, now overturned, conviction. 

The good news is that Virgilio won his criminal appeal. Please see the decision below. This type of decision is doubtful in Canada, as we understand in Canada the successful criminal appeal rate is less than 30%.

We are currently looking to raise money to fund Virgilio’s re-trial, or hopefully negotiate the abandonment of the re-trial by the prosecution. A similar claim by the same accuser has already been dismissed in Alberta; a fact which will be stressed at the new hearing.  

The same alleged victim recently attempted to have a story printed in the Globe & Mail, that painted Virgilio as a predator. The intent of the effort was clearly to damage our club and Virgilio personally, again. Virgilio had already served six months for a crime he denies having committed. Our litigator had to deal with Bell Globe Media’s legal department to prevent the story from proceeding.

We respectfully request the Canadian wrestling community’s support of Virgilio in this new trial. Any financial assistance granted is greatly appreciated. Virgilio is a good man, and we want to help him prove his innocence.

Jay Jordon

Central Toronto Wrestling Club

Founder