Rivera case starts

By Adam Koob (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Tuesday, August 12, 2008

NATCHEZ — It all started in Toronto in the winter of 2004.

That’s when Mark Trevisiol met John Rivera for the first time.

The events that transpired ultimately landed the two men in the Adams County Chancery Court on Monday morning.

Trevisiol is suing Rivera for money he says he’s owed for helping Rivera’s business stay afloat.

The suit was originally filed in July 2007, and Monday was the first day of the trial.

Trevisiol was questioned by his attorney, Rick Bass, and cross-examined by one of Rivera’s attorneys, Scott Pintard, for the entire first day.

Rivera was vocal with his attorneys during the proceedings and appeared to be checking his blood sugar levels and giving himself injections during the hearings.

While on the stand Trevisiol told the story of how he first became involved with Rivera.

Trevisiol said it was early 2004 when his friend, Nick Dellece, approached him to examine plans for Rivera’s plant.

At the time Rivera was operating a facility in Port Gibson that was said to be producing oil, fuel and carbon byproducts from shredded tires and chicken feathers.

Trevisiol said Dellece brought him the plans to evaluate because of Trevisiol’s years of experience as a mechanical engineer.

And upon initial inspection Trevisiol thought the plans had merit.

In fact, Trevisiol began preliminary planning to develop a facility using the Rivera process in Ontario, Canada, where he lives.

In the early part of 2004, Trevisiol continued to study the plans and met with Rivera in December in Toronto at a hotel near the airport.

While Rivera was in Toronto on other business, Trevisiol said he and Dellece made the trip from Ontario just to meet him.

The duo made the trip to discuss the facility but Trevisiol said Rivera had another idea — he asked for money almost immediately.

“We wanted to talk about a potential venture moving forward in Canada,” he said.

Instead, Rivera told Trevisiol his Port Gibson facility was in a dire financial situation and would need $400,000 in financing to keep the business from going under.

“We were quite surprised,” Trevisiol said of Rivera’s need for money.

Trevisiol said he believed so strongly in the process that he wanted to fund Rivera.

Compounding Trevisiol’s desire to help Rivera, he testified Rivera said if the facility were lost, the process could also possibly be lost as well.

Trevisiol testified that Rivera named Waste Management as a possible buyer and said the group could purchase the facility for as much as $100 million.

Close to Christmas that year is when Trevisiol began sending Rivera money.

By February Trevisiol formed his own company, Noront Recycling, and purchased the Port Gibson facility that Rivera had been renting.

At the time of purchase Rivera was operating the facility under the name Thremolysis Recovery America.

Trevisiol, using Rivera and another woman believed to be his girlfriend as co-signers, purchased the warehouse for $140,000 and provided Rivera $25,000 to keep the facility running.

Trevisiol said he gave Rivera approximately $200,000.

For his assistance Rivera and Trevisiol made a deal — but the money changed hands before the deal was signed.

“I trusted in John,” he said.

Rivera was supposed to have paid the taxes on the property, paid for the necessary insurance and paid $495 in rent per month to Trevisiol threemonths after the closing date.

Trevisiol said none of those things ever happened.

And that was the small end of the bargain.

Trevisiol said the agreement between the two men was supposed to also have given him rights to develop the Rivera process in Canada, a percent of the sales coming from the Port Gibson facility and, if the process were to be sold, a percentage of the sale price that amounted to 8 percent after one year of closing on the Port Gibson facility.

The memorandum of agreement with the three-pronged term condition was not signed until April 2005.

And since Rivera later transferred the process, of which he is the inventor, to U.S. Sustainable Energy Corp., a company of which he is the primary shareholder, Trevisiol said he is entitled to 8 percent of the sale price.

Since Rivera is believed to own 482 million shares of USSEC, Trevisiol’s said he’s owed approximately $13.5 million.

But Rivera, and his attorneys, said Trevisiol is not entitled to the money because the process which Rivera transferred to USSEC is not the same process that was being used at the Port Gibson facility.

And much of Pintard’s cross-examination was hinged on the process of converting feedstock, like shredded tires and chicken feathers, into oil or fuel.

Trevisiol said the catalyst that Rivera used was referred to as a “magic catalyst,” by Rivera.

Pintard argued that catalyst altered the process and because of that the process used in Port Gibson was not the same used at the USSEC plant in Natchez.

The main feedstock at the Port Gibson plant was supposed to have been shredded tires.

After Monday’s proceedings Rivera said there is no way tires could have been used at the USSEC plant.

“You’d blow up,” he said.

However Rivera would not say what separated the processes.

The case is expected to end today.

Neither Bass nor Pintard could say with certainty if Rivera would take the stand today.

Trevisiol said he was simply glad to have an opportunity to tell his story.

Rivera was less cathartic when the day wrapped.

“He wants a part of me till the day I die,” he said of Trevisiol.

The case resumes at 9 a.m. today.