Mass. July:
Peter Limone, alleged leader of the New England Mafia who was framed by the FBI and imprisoned for 33 years for a murder he didn’t commit, pleaded no contest to state gambling, extortion and loan sharking charges. Limone, 76, spent 10 years on death row and was awarded $26 million for his wrongful 1968 conviction for the mob slaying of Edward Deegan.
Middlesex District Attorney David Solet said Limone has been the leader of a Boston area organization that took in tens of thousands of dollars from illegal gambling and extorting rent payments from independent bookmakers in return for their continuing operation. Solet said, Limone has deposited $178,805 in his personal bank account since 2001 despite not working but observed, "posting a parade of visitors at North End businesses with which he had no affiliation."
Middlesex Superiour Court Judge Leila Kern sentenced Limone to five years probation, ordered him to wear a GPS bracelet and told him to stay away from his reputed mafia pals. “The fact that Mr. Limone spent 33 years in prison, 10 of which were on death row, for a crime he did not commit is there. It’s a fact. We cannot forget it,” Kerns said. “But it is not a get-out-of-jail free card.”
Limone’s attorney, Juliane Balliro stated, “It may appear to the court that Mr. Limone perhaps didn’t learn his lesson after spending 33 years in prison,” she said. “He wants only to be able to spend the time he and his wife have left together.”
Balliro said, “What you’ll see from Mr. Limone is a complete change in lifestyle from this day forward.”
Providence, RI: July:
Michael Sparfven after testifying against reputed Genovese capo Angelo Prisco is making a new life in Providence, RI. Prisco was convicted last April in a NYC federal court for the 1992 murder of Angelo Sangiuolo.
Sparfven's ticket out of Federal Correctional Institution in Edgefield, South Carolina arrived in 2008 when New York mobster Angelo Prisco entered Unit B-2 of the medium-security federal prison. Any Italians here? asked Prisco, a longtime captain in the infamous Genovese crime family. Anyone from up north? An inmate pointed at Sparfven.
According to court records, Prisco told Sparfven that he had arranged a hit on his mobster cousin in 1992. The feds were onto him and Prisco said he would have to rub out some witnesses. Sparfven secretly took notes and then tipped off federal agents.
In a Manhattan courtroom in April 2009, Sparfven took the witness stand and according to court transcripts, testified that federal prosecutors had persuaded a judge to release him from federal prison, six months early, for his testimony.
Under questioning, he described how he and Prisco spent a lot of time together and talked all of the time, even through the vent between their adjacent cells. During those conversations, Prisco talked about his boss, Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, head of the Genovese family. Prisco said he had his own crew in New Jersey and made money through gambling, loan sharking, a strip club, extortion and home invasions. He let it be known that he helped actor Steven Seagal when he was being shaken down by the Gambino family and that he was mentioned in “Soprano State,” a book about corruption in New Jersey.
After trial Prisco was found guilty of murder, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, robbery, extortion, firearms crimes, property theft and operating an illegal gambling business.
Sparfven didn’t enter Witness Protection or use an alias but instead opened a business in the Jewelry District of Providence R.I.
Wisconsin, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia: July:
Two defendants, Thomas Petrini and Mark Jason Fiel sought release from jail Monday, in the federal government's Outlaws motorcycle gang racketeering case.U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson released Thomas Petrini to his sister's custody but ruled that Mark Jason Fiel must remain in jail until trial, scheduled for Oct. 20.
Petrini and Fiel were affiliated with the Manassas chapter of the Outlaws motorcycle gang. They were among 27 former and current motorcycle gang members from seven states indicted last month on racketeering and other charges. One of the Outlaws, Thomas "Tomcat" Mayne was shot to death in a gun battle with ATF agents as they tried to arrest him in Maine.
Hudson said it was clear Petrini "played a marginal role" in the Outlaws and had renounced his membership in 2008. He also said Petrini did not appear to be an active participant in an assault on an Outlaws probationary member who was being punished for disrespecting a full-fledged member.
Hudson ruled Petrini must submit to electronic monitoring and periodic drug testing. He also is prohibited from having any contact with Outlaws members.The judge went on to state several factors weighed against Fiel's request to be released to his family's custody. Hudson said he was troubled by evidence that Fiel participated in a racially motivated assault of a black man and that he relayed orders from the Outlaws president to attack rival motorcycle gang members.
Jeremiah Fiel testified that his brother was "a standup guy" from a close-knit family who coached his daughters' soccer teams and was well-regarded by co-workers at the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Hudson acknowledged that Jason Fiel seemed to be "a good father" but added: "Unfortunately, the evidence introduced by the United States shows a darker side." He said he also was concerned that Fiel apparently resumed associating with the Outlaws after briefly breaking away.
Fiel and Petrini are both charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering. Fiel also is charged with a civil rights violation, and Petrini is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.
The June 10 indictment alleges the Outlaws gang is a highly organized criminal enterprise that has engaged in violent activities intended in part to gain an advantage over the rival Hell's Angels. Defendants are from Wisconsin, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia.
Providence, RI: July:
On Thursday the four Democratic candidates running for mayor in Providence, RI debated, and Christopher F. Young "proposed expanding the police department's organized crime unit to investigate city nightclubs and what he described as their associations with international drug cartels"
He also called for an investigation into the awarding of a city liquor license to the Cadillac Lounge, a North End strip club, after the city passed an ordinance banning strip clubs from getting alcohol permits. The incident is the subject of an ongoing F.B.I. probe.
Global, July:
James ‘Whitey’ Bulger is still Public Enemy Number One according to the just released FBI Most Wanted list. The Feds are now offering a $2 million reward for the 81-year-old who is still on the run with his girlfriend Catherine Greig.
The Irish American gangster from Boston is wanted for 19 counts of murder , conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit extortion, narcotics distribution and money laundering.The Feds say his aliases include Thomas F. Baxter, Mark Shapeton, Jimmy Bulger, James Joseph Bulger, James J. Bulger, Jr., James Joseph Bulger, Jr., Tom Harris, Tom Marshall, Ernest E. Beaudreau, Harold W. Evers, Robert William Hanson.
"Whitey" Bulger , the FBI says is an avid reader with an interest in history. He is known to frequent libraries and historic sites. has been known to alter his appearance through the use of disguises. He maintains his physical fitness by walking on beaches and in parks with his female companion, Catherine Elizabeth Greig.
“He has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times…. he is “considered armed and extremely dangerous,” say the Feds.
New York, July:
In New York U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel denied defense motions to move the November 1st date scheduled for the trial against several individuals charged in the 2003 hit on Genovese capo Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno in Springfield, MA.
The defendants include reputed former acting New York boss Arthur Nigro and Anthony Arillotta, the reputed capo who allegedly succeeded Bruno. Arillotta is reportedly now a government informant.
Three other defendants, Fotios "Freddy" Geas, his brother Ty Geas, and reputed capo Emilio Fusco also have been charged in connection with the murder of Gary D. Westerman, a fringe gangster who disappeared three weeks before Bruno was killed in November 2003. Westerman's bones, clothing and jewelry were unearthed in April, within days of Arillotta dropping out of the federal prison system.
"I just don't believe we can get this case investigated and prepared for November 1," Frederick Cohn, one of Geas' defense lawyers, pleaded to Castel, who snapped back: "It's July. What am I missing?"
As of Friday , Fotios Geas and his younger brother Ty Geas, formerly Arillotta's reputed enforcers, along with aging mobster Felix L. Tranghese and Italian-born mob captain Emilio Fusco also were charged in connection with Bruno's death.
Tranghese, 58, of East Longmeadow, and Ty Geas, 38, of Westfield, were arrested early Friday by FBI agents and state police. Fusco, 41, of Longmeadow, is believed to have fled to Italy and remains a fugitive. Tranghese and Ty Geas are being held without bail.
Providence, RI, July:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. The wife and son of reputed mafia captain Anthony “The Saint” St. Laurent Sr. have made a deal with prosecutors in a pending federal extortion case.
Dorothy St. Laurent and her son Anthony Jr. have agreed to plead guilty to shaking down Massachusetts bookmakers for protection money. In exchange for the guilty plea, St. Laurent Jr. will not have to testify against his father, who is also facing extortion charges. The plea also states the U.S. Attorney's office will recommend Dorothy St. Laurent do no jail time and be sentenced to probation. Prosecutors accuse Dorothy St. Laurent of being the "primary collection agent" for the family and collected about $4,100 every two weeks.
A judge ultimately has to sign off on the deal and can impose any sentence.
Read Plea agreement Documents
Dorothy St. Laurent Plea Deal (PDF Format)
Anthony St. Laurent Jr. Plea Deal (PDF Format)
Both defendants, prosecutors claim, collected between $800,000 and $1.5 million in protection money from Taunton, Mass.bookies between 1988 and 2009.
Federal investigators say the elder St. Laurent has been shaking down bookmakers in the area since the 1970s. He is not part of this plea deal.
St. Laurent Sr., who investigators have identified as a Capo Regime in the Patriarca crime family, is also facing additional federal charges in a separate murder-for-hire case.
Providence,RI, August:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. The wife and son of reputed mafia captain Anthony “The Saint” St. Laurent Sr. have been arraigned,
Providence,RI, August:
The wife and son of reputed mobster Anthony M. “The Saint” St. Laurent pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to charges in connection with extorting payments from bookmakers in the Taunton, Mass., area.
Dorothy St. Laurent, 71, of Johnston, and her son, Anthony St. Laurent Jr., 44, of Cranston, entered the pleas before U.S. District Judge William E. Smith. Sentencing is slated for Dec. 10.
FBI Press Release
For Immediate Release
August 25, 2010 United States Attorney's Office
District of Rhode Island
Contact: (401) 709-5000
Wife and Son of Organized Crime Figure Plead Guilty to Interstate Extortion
PROVIDENCE, RI—Dorothy St. Laurent, 71, of Johnston, R.I., and her son Anthony St. Laurent, Jr., 44, of Cranston, R.I., pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Providence to interstate extortion, in violation of the Hobbs Act. The wife and son of Anthony St. Laurent, Sr., a person identified by law enforcement as a member of organized crime, were charged in a federal complaint in February with extorting payments from bookmakers in the Taunton, Mass. area on behalf of Anthony St. Laurent, Sr.
The guilty pleas were announced by U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The pleas were entered before U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith.
At the defendants’ change of plea hearings, Trial Attorney Scott Lawson of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section told the court, had the matter proceeded to trial, the government would have presented evidence that beginning at least as early as 1988 and continuing through early February 2009, Dorothy St. Laurent and Anthony St. Laurent, Jr., conspired with each other, Anthony St. Laurent, Sr. and others, to extort "protection" payments from a group of illegal bookmakers operating in and around Taunton, Mass. The extortion of these bookmakers was accomplished through exploitation of Anthony St. Laurent, Sr.’s position and status in organized crime—more precisely, the New England branch of La Cosa Nostra (LCN), also known as the Patriarca crime family. Using his position in organized crime and the accompanying fear and threat of violence that status conveyed, St. Laurent Sr. coerced the bookmakers to pay protection money for the privilege of operating their bookmaking businesses.
The government’s evidence includes a number of conversations recorded by the FBI in late 2008 and early 2009 that capture Dorothy St. Laurent and Anthony St. Laurent, Jr. in conversation with a cooperating witness as they discuss efforts to maintain the extortion scheme, which, at that time, was generating $4100 in cash collected by Dorothy St. Laurent every two weeks. The plea agreement stipulates that the defendants extorted in excess of $800,000 and less than $1.5 million.
Anthony St. Laurent, Sr. functioned as the overall leader of this scheme, with Dorothy St. Laurent serving as the primary collection agent of the cash payments provided by the bookmakers. Anthony St. Laurent, Jr.'s role was to both threaten violence and on at least one occasion, engage in actual violence to enforce continued payment, a role made more important during his father's frequent periods of incarceration.
Anthony St. Laurent Sr.’s participation in this extortion scheme predates the involvement of his wife and son. The government’s evidence shows that illegal bookmakers in the Taunton area were forced to make payments to the New England LCN beginning at least as early as the 1970's. One of the bookmakers involved would have testified that he met with St. Laurent, Sr. sometime in the early 1970's and was informed that he would have to pay $150 week to continue to take bets. St. Laurent, Sr. threatened the bookmaker, threatening that if he caught this individual taking bets without paying protection, he would cut his hands off.
Dorothy and Anthony St. Laurent, Jr. are scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2010. Anthony St. Laurent, Sr., is detained awaiting trial on a charge of solicitation to commit murder-for-hire and on this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Ferland is assisting in the prosecution of this case.The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with the assistance of Rhode Island State Police and the Providence Police Department.
Massachusetts – New York, September:
Adam Lee Hall, a ranking member of the Berkshire County chapter of the Hells Angels, fabricated a crime in the Adirondacks region of New York and tried to pin it on David R. Glasser, 43, of Linden Street, according to Massachusetts State Police, who worked with New York authorities to uncover the plot.
Glasser had been charged last month with a single count of carrying a firearm without a license in connection with the New York case. Police were considering possible additional charges against him when further investigation raised questions about the legitimacy of the case that involved a story of kidnapping and attempted murder.
Law enforcement officials confirmed Tuesday that Glasser was not involved in the made up New York incident, and the charges have been dropped.
Police said Hall and his associates concocted the story to raise doubts about the credibility of Glasser, a key government witness slated to testify against Hall in an upcoming Berkshire Superior Court trial. Hall, 33, of Peru, was charged with a dozen felonies ranging from armed robbery to assault, drug and weapons offenses.
According to investigators, Hall was assisted in the attempted frame of Glasser by Scott Langdon, 44, of Pittsfield, and Nicole M. Brooks, 20. A police report details the alleged scheme to plant damning evidence in Glasser's car that would link him to a violent, fictional, crime in upstate New York.
Brooks and Langdon were taken into custody Friday. Hall remains at large.
"He's wanted," Massachusetts State Police Lt. Brian Foley said of Hall, whose whereabouts are unknown.
According to investigators, Langdon offered Glasser $100 to drive him to Wells, N.Y., and Langdon used the long Aug. 14 car trip from Pittsfield to Wells to plant a handgun and Brooks' wallet inside Glasser's car.
Brooks later called New York State Police to report the license plate number of a man who "robbed her at gunpoint," then attempted to kidnap and murder her at a Wells rest area, police said. Brooks told investigators that gunshots were fired during the incident.
Langdon denied charges of conspiracy, witness intimidation and other felony offenses at his arraignment and was held in lieu of $200,000 cash bail at the Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction.Brooks was arrested by New York authorities and it wasn't clear when she might be transferred to Massachusetts to face charges.
Providence,RI, September:
Reputed mafia captain Anthony “The Saint” St. Laurent and federal prosecutors have asked a federal judge for more time to work out a possible plea deal. St. Laurent's attorney and the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney's office asked for an extension to continue plea talks.
"The government and the defendant are engaged in pre-indictment plea negotiations," states the filing. "Which may lead to the prompt resolution of the charges filed by complaint in this matter.”
Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond signed off on the deal, waiving the time required for a grand jury to indict St. Laurent. Both sides have until December 10th to come to an agreement.
New York – New Jersey – Delaware – Maryland – Massachusetts, September:
Federal officials said members of the Pagans motorcycle gang plotted to use grenades in a murderous assault on the rival Hells Angels, in announcing charges against 19 reputed Pagans members and associates in five states. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, assisted by local police, arrested the 19 during early morning raids in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Massachusetts, ATF special agent-in-charge Ronald Turk said.
Seven of the defendants were based on Long Island, where they were held without bail at their arraignments in U.S. District Court. The charges included racketeering, murder conspiracy, assault, extortion, drug distribution, witness tampering and firearms offenses.
According to an indictment, several members of the Long Island chapter of the Pagans Motorcycle Club met with gang members from other chapters last Sunday in New Jersey, where they discussed killing members of the Hells Angels. ATF officials say the conspirators had drawn up a list of possible targets and were instructed to be prepared to die or go to prison in completing their mission.
Turk called the Pagans "a major outlaw motorcycle gang with influence throughout the Northeast and other parts of the country." He said additional arrests were possible.
Among those charged were, John Richard Ebeling, JR known as 'JR"; Jason "Roadblock" Blair, Kenneth 'Hogman" Van Diver, and Robert "Hellboy" Deronde. Investigators said they siezed dozens of guns, thousands in cash, drugs and other evidence in the coordinated raids.
Boston, Mass, October:
In Boston, Judge William Young ordered the Justice Department to pay $5,000 each to the families of Debra Davis and Deborah Hussey, stating that the department’s lawyers had bullied and maligned the families. This is only the latest humiliation from the F.B.I.’s continuous effort to cover up the crimes of two favored informants, James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “the Rifleman” Flemmi.
Under the FBI’s “top echelon” program, the two brutal criminals gave information that helped convict three generations of a New England crime family. In exchange, the bureau allowed Mr. Bulger and Mr. Flemmi to carry on their own lives of extortion, intimidation, racketeering and murder. In 2004, Mr. Flemmi was sentenced to prison, for 10 murders, where he remains as, in the judge’s words, “a supremely evil old man.” Mr. Bulger has been a fugitive since 1995, when F.B.I. agent John J. "Zip" Connolly Jr. warned him that Mr. Flemmi was about to be indicted.
Ms. Davis was Mr. Flemmi’s girlfriend, beginning when she was 17, for almost 10 years. According to testimony, when she wanted to end the relationship in 1981, he brought her to the house of Mr. Bulger’s mother and watched Mr. Bulger crush her windpipe with his forearms. Ms. Hussey was the daughter of another of Mr. Flemmi’s girlfriends. In 1985, again with Mr. Flemmi looking on, Mr. Bulger murdered Ms. Hussey. That happened just months after she told her mother that Mr. Flemmi had abused her sexually as a teenager.
The families sued the government in a civil action arguing that the F.B.I. was responsible for the murders after shielding Mr. Bulger and Mr. Flemmi for so many years. Judge Young awarded $1.35 million to Ms. Davis’s family and $219,795 to Ms. Hussey’s for pain and suffering, loss of consortium, funeral expenses and other costs.
In a coda to the lawsuit, the families asked the judge to penalize the government for its outrageous conduct throughout the litigation. In particular, they cited the Justice Department’s claim that the families had breached their own “duty of self-preservation” by “fraternizing with known criminals.”
The department insisted that Ms. Hussey’s mother contributed to her daughter’s death because she didn’t tell police about Mr. Flemmi’s “violent and criminal acts.” The government maintained pretty much the same about Ms. Davis, since she “assumed the risk of her own murder by her relationship” with Mr. Flemmi.
Judge Young rightly found that “a meritless defense” with “the sole purpose of embarrassing the decedents’ families.” He ordered the $5,000 payments to cover the portion of the families’ attorney’s fees required to deal with the made-up claim. Judge Young’s message in the main lawsuit was that the government contributed to the families’ suffering and, under the law, they deserved compensation. His message in the coda is just as important and beyond a doubt: bullying by government lawyers is appalling and won’t be tolerated.
Boston, Mass, October:
The U.S. Marshals Service has officially joined the manhunt for notorious Boston gangster James J. "Whitey" Bulger. Special Agent Gregory Comcowich, a spokesman for the FBI's Boston office, confirms that the Bulger Fugitive Task Force now has a member from the Marshals Service.
U.S.,October:
Former Rhode Island Attorney General Arlene Violet in collaboration with the late John Partington has written The Mob and Me: Wiseguys and the Witness Protection Program. The book recounts the experiences of Partington who was the first U.S. Marshal to lead the federal witness protection program. This fall Simon & Schuster published their book, six years after they began recording Partington’s memories of guarding mobsters.
“Wyatt Earp was our first U.S. marshal, and John was our Wyatt Earp,” says Violet.
Violet calls Partington one of her heroes, someone she got to know better when she was Rhode Island’s attorney general in the 1980s. After Partington retired, he served as police chief in Cumberland and later as Providence’s last public safety director. Their collaboration began in 2004, after Partington retired from Providence. Violet says they met 60 to 70 times, for hours on end. After his death at the age of 77 in 2006, Violet continued to research the book by going through boxes of his old case files and interviewing old colleagues.
“I want people to know John’s story,” said Violet, in a recent interview. “In his story, some of the bad guys are good, and some of the good guys are bad.”
Massachusetts, October:
Massachusetts state police last night arrested reputed New England Mafia soldier Darin Bufalino on an extortion charge. Allegedly Bufalino once worked as an enforcer for reputed Patriarca family boss Frank "Cadillac Frank" Salemme. Bufalino was out on bail while awaiting trial on a separate charge for allegedly robbing a landscaper of $11,000 at gunpoint in January 2009.
Law enforcement officials said that Bufalino's arrest last night was pursuant to a larger investigation into organized crime and drug trafficking which earlier this year resulted in the arrests of reputed capo Mark Rossetti and reputed soldier Michael Prochilo. The state police last night also arrested Joseph Giallanella and Wendell Bradford on extortion and other charges. The latest arrests will be prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s office, which is planning a press conference Thursday.
Massachusetts, October:
An alleged capo of the New England mob, Mark Rossetti, was charged by the Massachusetts Attorney General with running a crew which included thirty members involved in extortion, loansharking, gambling, marijuana smuggling, and violent home invasions. Rossetti, of East Boston, was arrested last May on drug charges and was already in custody. He faces allegations that he led the ring and its 30 members, all of whom were charged today for allegedly committing crimes throughout Eastern Massachusetts, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley and Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.
Darin Bufalino, arrested on an extortion charge, and Michael Prochilo Jr., arrested last June on drug trafficking charges, are accused of being soldiers in Rossetti's suspected crew. Defense attorney Timothy Flaherty said of Bufalino; "He does nothing more than go to work every day and his whereabouts are known at all times,'' Outside the court, Flaherty dismissed the claims that his client was a Mafia solider. "I think it's a myth,'' he said.
The investigation, conducted by troopers assigned to the Massachusetts State Police Special Services Section, involved the execution of 30 search warrants, the seizure of $1.3 million in cash from extortion cases, $120,000 in alleged drug money, more than a kilo of heroin, a heroin press, 200 pounds of marijuana, a pipe bomb, two bulletproof vests, a rifle, a loaded handgun, a fake Uzi machine gun and five motor vehicles.
Source:Boston Globe
The AG's office released this flow chart of what it alleges is the Rossetti Criminal Organization.
Click the Graphic to Enlarge use Mouse Wheel to Zoom
Rhode Island, October:
NBC 10 in R.I. releases state of the New England Mafia video.
Rhode Island, November:
Tim White of WPRI 12 revisits the 1980's Bonded Vault robbery, the largest heist in the State of Rhode Island.
And newly released video of Bonded Vault gunman Robert Dussault who was brought to Providence R.I. to speak to a group of police recruits to give an insiders view on organized crime in the state. Dussault discusses when he first arrived in Rhode Island and when he and a group of associates were contacted to assassinate someone who had drawn the ire of the mob. The hit was ultimately unsuccessful.
Rhode Island, December:
Son of reputed Mafia captain Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent has told a federal judge he has been “fighting to avoid” his father's influence, and St. Laurent Jr.’s involvement in an extortion scheme allegedly masterminded by his father, was “limited.” In February, St. Laurent Jr., 44; his mother, Dorothy St. Laurent, 71; and “The Saint," 69, were caught up in federal investigation accusing the trio of shaking down bookmakers in Taunton, Mass., for more than two decades.
St. Laurent Jr.'s attorney, Victor Beretta, said his client is “fortunate to have a loving wife and four wonderful children.” “Over the past eight years it has been his wife and two older sons who keep this defendant fighting to avoid the forces of his father’s control,” Beretta wrote in the filing. “His wife and sons have been supportive but also know that Anthony made the wrong choice when he got re-involved in this at the behest of his mother. It was wrong.” In the filing, Beretta said his client was “asked to participate in this activity on limited occasions.”
“He further asserts that there was no physical injury to any bookmaker/victim who has given evidence to the government,” Beretta added, but prosecutors allege St. Laurent Jr. did use violence on at least one occasion. In August, St. Laurent Jr. and his mother pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to affect commerce by extortion.” The plea agreement states St. Laurent Jr. will not have to testify against his father in exchange for his guilty plea and the U.S. Attorney’s office will recommend Dorothy St. Laurent not receive jail time and instead be sentenced only to probation. A judge ultimately has to sign off on the deal and can impose any sentence.
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