I was the childhood friend of a mafioso!
I was the childhood friend of this person who grew up to be a Rhode Island mobster! For a time we used to play together, when we were about nine or ten years old. He lived a block from me, and his mom and my mom were friends. We often visited each other's houses. I do remember that he had a mean streak in him, and I also remember that he was the first person to describe to me the basic facts about sex, which he got all garbled: "The girl takes her clothes off and the man pees on her" was a phrase I distinctly remember him saying. No wonder it was all confusing to me. Anyway, here he is in the news, pleading guilty to an extortion charge, one of the latest in a lifelong string of convictions and prison sentences. Read about this guy!
Anthony 'The Saint' St. Laurent to plead guilty to extortion
The Johnston man may receive a one-year sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to trying to extort $200,000 from two Massachusetts men.
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 8, 2006
BY STEVE PEOPLES
Projo.com Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent Sr., a longtime fixture on the New England organized-crime scene, has agreed to plead guilty to trying to extort $200,000 from two Massachusetts men.
While St. Laurent faces up to 20 years in federal prison for his alleged crimes, the U.S. Attorney's Office will recommend a one-year sentence in exchange for the guilty plea, according to documents filed in federal court late last month.
The court has scheduled a change-of-plea hearing for next week, when St. Laurent is expected to announce his guilty plea. His ultimate sentence will be determined by Judge William E. Smith, who is under no obligation to agree to the prosecution's recommendation.
At a previous court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney James H. Leavey told the court that St. Laurent had been recorded on tape giving orders to extort $100,000 from each of the two Massachusetts men and, then, to begin collecting $2,000 a week from each of them.
St. Laurent, 64, of 2 Rotary Drive, Johnston, is no stranger to mob crime and court appearances. He spent years in federal and state prisons, in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Kentucky and Massachusetts. In 1999, he was sent to prison on extortion charges, after he threatened to "throw acid" in the eyes, and "cut the heart out," of a gambler who owed him $63,000.
Just three months after he was sent to prison, St. Laurent was arrested in his cell at a federal prison in Kentucky, and charged with overseeing a sports-betting ring in Rhode Island. The ring took in more than $600,000 in illegal bets during a two-month period, the police said.
For decades, St. Laurent has been a key cog in the gambling and extortion rackets of the Patriarca crime family.
St. Laurent also became well-known for his poor health. In the 1990s, his lawyer told a judge that he took 40 enemas a day to deal with an intestinal condition.
Prosecutors acknowledged St. Laurent's ailments in the plea agreement.
"The government agrees that [the] defendant has serious health issues, but does not agree that this necessarily warrants a downward departure from sentencing guidelines," the plea said.
Next week's court hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
(From The Providence Journal)
Anthony 'The Saint' St. Laurent to plead guilty to extortion
The Johnston man may receive a one-year sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to trying to extort $200,000 from two Massachusetts men.
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 8, 2006
BY STEVE PEOPLES
Projo.com Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent Sr., a longtime fixture on the New England organized-crime scene, has agreed to plead guilty to trying to extort $200,000 from two Massachusetts men.
While St. Laurent faces up to 20 years in federal prison for his alleged crimes, the U.S. Attorney's Office will recommend a one-year sentence in exchange for the guilty plea, according to documents filed in federal court late last month.
The court has scheduled a change-of-plea hearing for next week, when St. Laurent is expected to announce his guilty plea. His ultimate sentence will be determined by Judge William E. Smith, who is under no obligation to agree to the prosecution's recommendation.
At a previous court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney James H. Leavey told the court that St. Laurent had been recorded on tape giving orders to extort $100,000 from each of the two Massachusetts men and, then, to begin collecting $2,000 a week from each of them.
St. Laurent, 64, of 2 Rotary Drive, Johnston, is no stranger to mob crime and court appearances. He spent years in federal and state prisons, in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Kentucky and Massachusetts. In 1999, he was sent to prison on extortion charges, after he threatened to "throw acid" in the eyes, and "cut the heart out," of a gambler who owed him $63,000.
Just three months after he was sent to prison, St. Laurent was arrested in his cell at a federal prison in Kentucky, and charged with overseeing a sports-betting ring in Rhode Island. The ring took in more than $600,000 in illegal bets during a two-month period, the police said.
For decades, St. Laurent has been a key cog in the gambling and extortion rackets of the Patriarca crime family.
St. Laurent also became well-known for his poor health. In the 1990s, his lawyer told a judge that he took 40 enemas a day to deal with an intestinal condition.
Prosecutors acknowledged St. Laurent's ailments in the plea agreement.
"The government agrees that [the] defendant has serious health issues, but does not agree that this necessarily warrants a downward departure from sentencing guidelines," the plea said.
Next week's court hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
(From The Providence Journal)