St. Laurent

PROVIDENCE –– Veteran mobster Anthony M. “The Saint” St. Laurent Sr. rocked slightly in a wheelchair on a courtroom video screen Monday as he entered pleas from a federal prison in Massachusetts to charges that he plotted the murder of a Patriarca crime family rival.

“Not guilty, your honor,” court-appointed lawyer Olin W. Thompson said to Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond in U.S. District Court here.

But prominent lawyer John F. Cicilline, who has represented St. Laurent and other mob figures before, is expected to take over St. Laurent’s defense at the end of the month, Thompson said at the arraignment.

That prompted Almond to tell St. Laurent that he reserves the right to charge him for the cost to taxpayers that is being incurred by Thompson’s representation if it’s found St. Laurent had money to hire a private lawyer. But outside the courthouse Monday afternoon, Thompson told reporters that St. Laurent “has absolutely no resources whatsoever.” Asked if Cicilline is representing St. Laurent for free, Thompson said he had no idea.

A federal grand jury this month indicted St. Laurent on charges of solicitation to commit a crime of violence and of murder for hire against Robert P. “Bobby” DeLuca Sr., described by authorities as a capo regime in the Patriarca crime family.

St. Laurent is serving five years at Fort Devens federal prison, in Massachusetts, for extortion.

Cicilline, who is in Florida, could not be reached for comment. The father of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, he has represented such defendants as mobster Matthew L. Guglielmetti Jr., Patriarca crime family capo regime Edward C. Lato and, in other cases, St. Laurent. He has also represented DeLuca in the past.

During the arraignment, Almond read aloud the indictment to St. Laurent, asked if he understood it and asked for a plea.

The alleged scheme goes back to 2006, when St. Laurent was running an extortion ring from his Johnston house. Since the mid-1990s, DeLuca has accused St. Laurent of being an informant for the Rhode Island State Police and the FBI, which St. Laurent has denied.

Thompson told reporters that St. Laurent’s health is not good, including “extraordinary trouble breathing.”

Trial is scheduled for July 21 before Judge William E. Smith, allowing a 60-day period for dealing with pretrial motions. A pretrial conference is set for July 13.

mmckinne@projo.com