Ailing bookie avoids jail time

[clevfan]

Ailing bookie avoids jail time

Wednesday, October 15, 2008
By STEPHANIE BARRY
repub.com


SPRINGFIELD - An ailing bookie avoided jail time by agreeing to pay $50,000 in restitution to state police to cover the costs of an investigation into a sports-betting ring.

Arthur D. "Artie" Abrams, 65, whose lawyer said he is beset by illness, agreed to pay the money under an agreement with prosecutors that allowed him to avert a five-to 15-year state prison sentence for illegal gaming offenses.

Abrams, of Springfield, and Richard Mezzetti, 67, of South Hadley, were the last two holdouts in a case that netted six defendants. They pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court after four others admitted various gambling offenses and were sentenced to probation.

Abrams and Mezzetti also received sentences of two years' probation.

Mezzetti agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution, according to Abrams's defense lawyer, Philip H. Lauro.

"Because he was allegedly on the top rung of the ladder," Lauro said outside the courtroom on Tuesday, "my client paid a larger amount, and in return received a very lenient and fair sentence."

In addition to pleading guilty to possessing sport-betting apparatus, Abrams and Mezzetti each pleaded guilty to managing a sports-betting ring of more than four people. That charge and a previous conviction could have exposed Abrams to prosecution as a "second offender" and mandatory prison time of five to 15 years, said Lauro.

State police raided Abrams's homes and those of six others on the eve of the 2007 Super Bowl game.

Abrams pleaded guilty to gaming charges in 2004, and was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. Police said that last year, they seized computer hardware from Abrams that still bore police evidence stickers from the previous investigation.

Lauro said Abrams has diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and other problems that made the prospect of even a short jail sentence problematic.

Abrams and Mezzetti face pending federal forfeiture attempts. The Internal Revenue Service has moved to seize their homes and various other assets.

Lauro denied that any of the assets were purchased with illegal profits.

State Police Lt. Thomas J. Murphy said a related investigation into Abrams's potential ties to organized crime figures is ongoing.

"We know he was paying tribute," Murphy said. "We have the 'who' and the 'where' and the 'how much' on the wiretaps ... but Mr. Abrams was unwilling to help us with that."

Murphy declined to name who the alleged recipient of the payoffs was. "Tribute" refers to what investigators describe as courtesy payments to organized crime figures.

Lauro said that Abrams was an "independent bookmaker," and declined to discuss to whom Murphy may be referring.

"I have no comment on that; Please quote me on that," Lauro said.