Jailed mobster Anthony "The Saint"

St. Laurent Sr., 19 others charged

in sports-betting ring

This story is from The Journal archives

Operation was run from federal prison in Kentucky, police say

By W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal Staff Writers
Wednesday, 12/22/1999

Mobster Anthony M. "The Saint" St. Laurent Sr. lives for the action, even if that action is more than 800 miles away.

Despite his deteriorating health and his recent transfer to a federal prison in Kentucky, the organized crime figure has been overseeing a lucrative sports-betting ring in Rhode Island, the state police allege.

The state police, FBI and Providence police announced yesterday that they had arrested St. Laurent, 58, of Johnston, and 19 others for allegedly participating in the large-scale gambling operation that took in more than $600,000 in illegal bets between Nov. 4 and Dec. 3.

The authorities contend that St. Laurent ran the ring from prison with the help of two cohorts on the outside Rudolph "The Captain" Sciarra, 75, of Johnston, and Michael Budz, 29, of West Warwick.

Sciarra, who has a criminal record dating back more than 50 years, is a long-time soldier in the Patriarca crime family. In 1982, he was convicted of being an accessory before the fact in the gangland murder of Raymond "Baby" Curcio. He spent more than a decade in the Adult Correctional Institutions on that charge.

Also charged in the ring was Vito DeLuca, of Seekonk, a felon and made member of the Patriarca crime family, who has managed professional boxers.

"It shows how much money there still is in criminalized gambling," Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse said at a news conference at state police headquarters. "This is a serious operation."

Whitehouse said that three court-ordered wiretaps - including two placed on cell phones were the "major investigative tool" in the three-month investigation.

In September, St. Laurent was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for running an extortion and loan-sharking racket from his home at 2 Rotary Drive, in Johnston.

Before the sentence was imposed, St. Laurent's lawyer, John F. Cicilline, of Providence, argued that his client deserved a break because he suffers from a host of medical maladies. Among them were a condition that forces him to take 40 enemas a day, an addiction to pain medication and heart disease.

U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres was not swayed by the argument. He pointed out that St. Laurent assaulted a gambler who owed him money with a hammer and threatened physical harm on others.

On Oct. 18, St. Laurent arrived at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky. The authorities allege that he quickly reverted to his old ways.

According to an affidavit by state police Detective Les Dunbar, investigators got a court-authorized wiretap on a telephone listed to St. Laurent but used by Budz to run the gambling ring.

During the next month, the state police, the FBI and the Providence police intercepted 2,235 "incriminating conversations" between Budz and other "named and unnamed coconspirators" in the investigation.

"To run an illegal gambling operation, you have to use [telephones]," said state police Detective Capt. Brendan P. Doherty. "That is one of the downfalls of their business."

The affidavit says that Budz accepted $601,845 in gambling action in that 30-day period, and had daily conversations with St. Laurent and his wife, Dorothy St. Laurent.

She also was charged with racketeering and other gambling-related charges yesterday.

Budz, who regularly attended St. Laurent's appearances in federal court, received an eight-year suspended sentence for his role in a New England-wide robbery and burglary ring that was smashed by the state police in 1996.

The attorney general's office moved yesterday to have him found in violation of that suspended sentence meaning he could be ordered to serve the entire eight years.

The authorities say Budz ran the operation from St. Laurent's house, and Sciarra allegedly helped by serving as a consultant and mediating problems.

Investigators said that, in addition to the wiretaps, they conducted surveillance of Budz and witnessed him making and accepting payments from bookmakers implicated in the ring.

Another suspect arrested in the ring is Timothy Moretti, 30, a former guard at the Adult Correctional Institutions. His lawyer, John M. Cicilline, of Providence, told a District Court judge yesterday that his client was a victim not a player in the operation.

"He is a gambler," Cicilline said. "He has a problem."

Moretti, who also is serving a seven-year suspended sentence on gambling charges, faces the possibility of a stiff prison sentence for violating the terms of that sentence.

The police also obtained a wiretap for a cell phone number listed to Jeffrey Florio, of 11 Bicentennial Way, North Providence, also charged in the sweep.

Asst. Atty. Gen. William Ferland said that St. Laurent will be returned to Rhode Island once a grand jury indicts him on the new felony charges. Until then, he will remain in the federal prison in Kentucky.

* * *

* Charged with racketeering, bookmaking, organized criminal gambling and conspiracy:

Joseph Agugiaro, 38, of 53 Ortoleva Drive, Providence.

Michael Budz, 29, of 1567 Main St., Apt. 1B, West Warwick.

Brian Cipolla, 32, of 2 Kristen Court, Warwick.

Vito DeLuca, 55, of Smith Street, Seekonk, Mass.

Jeffrey Florio, 35, of 11 Bicentennial Way, North Providence.

Daryl Hawkins, 29, of 700 Greenville Ave., Johnston.

Michael Megrdichian, 36, of 24 Adlerbrook Drive, Cranston.

John Mooney, 45, of 2 Apple Valley Parkway, Smithfield.

Timothy Moretti, 30, of 212 Eldridge St., Cranston.

John Murray, 29, of 17 Elmhurst Drive, Smithfield.

Silvio Patriarca, 28, of 133 Greenville Ave., Johnston.

Anthony Pezza, 59, of 47 Morgan Ave., Johnston.

John Procacini, 53, of 19 Sutton St., Floor 2, Providence.

Anthony St. Laurent Sr., 58, Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky.

Dorothy St. Laurent, 60, of 2 Rotary Drive, Johnston.

Rocco Santropietro, 41, of 9 Paula Lane, Johnston.

Rudolph Sciarra, 75, of 44 Olney St., Johnston.

Joanne Silva, 38, of 53 Hedley St., Johnston.

Davey Stavro, 53, of 203 A Winthrop St., Taunton, Mass.

Paul Zorabedian, 41, of 1560 Douglas Ave, Building F Apt. 71, N. Providence.