Defendants in alleged mob gambling ring arraigned

David Rising

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 3:37 a.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Ten people were arraigned Wednesday on charges they helped run a lucrative gambling ring under the supervision of mobster Anthony M. "The Saint" St. Laurent from his Kentucky prison cell.

Michael Budz, 30, of West Warwick, is accused of talking on the phone with St. Laurent, 59, several times a day to discuss collection methods and accounting for the gambling operation that police said netted $600,000 in one month.

Police recorded the calls during a three-month investigation.

Budz ran the operation out of St. Laurent's Johnston home while Rudolph "The Captain" Sciarra, a longtime soldier in the Patriarca crime family, mediated problems, police said.

Budz and St. Laurent are both serving sentences for other crimes and will be arraigned at a later date.

Sciarra, 76, pleaded innocent to charges of racketeering, organized criminal gambling and bookmaking. He refused comment leaving the courtroom after being released on $500 bail. His attorney, John M. Cicilline, said his client was looking forward to seeing the state's evidence.

"We don't even know what they say he did," Cicilline said. "They say he's somehow linked into the gambling operation but we need to see the evidence the state has before we can proceed."

Assistant Attorney General Paul Daly would not comment on the state's case.

A grand jury indicted fifteen people on Oct. 31 on charges they were a part of the gambling operation, which police said accepted bets primarily on college and professional football games.

In addition to St. Laurent, Sciarra and Budz, they included Vito Deluca, 56, convicted extortionist and reputed soldier for New England's organized-crime boss Raymond "Junior" Patriarca, and Silvio L. Patriarca, 29, a distant cousin of the crime family.

Deluca pleaded innocent to four counts of aiding and abetting and was released on $25,000 surety bail, while Patriarca pleaded innocent to charges of racketeering, organized criminal gambling and bookmaking and was released on $5,000 personal recognizance.

Patriarca's attorney, Joseph Voccola, said his client has also been waiting to see the state's evidence.

"It's tapping the phones, tapes, conversations that were supposedly overheard - we need to get all