Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe Questions Unanswered

Judge orders Milford man to pay $300K

By Brian Benson, Daily News staff
Milford Daily News


MILFORD — A federal judge this month ordered a Milford man to forfeit $300,000 that he earned illegally through gambling activities.

Worcester Judge F. Dennis Saylor also sentenced John Pizzillo, 73, of 32 Claflin St., to two years of probation, the first year of which will be served in home confinement under electronic monitoring, according to court documents.

Investigators seized almost $1.1 million from Pizzillo, but determined that only the $300,000 was earned illegally, according to court documents.

"I think it was the right decision," said Peter Ettenberg, a Worcester attorney who represented Pizzillo. "I think his age and the fact that he's never been in trouble before (played a role in the sentencing). I think he was, to some respect, taken advantage of by friends."

Ettenberg said he thinks people who asked to borrow money from his client may have misled him by not saying it would be used to run gambling operations. Pizzillo could have received five years in jail on each count of three counts and a $250,000 fine.

Pizzillo plans to remain retired and spend time with his grandchildren, Ettenberg said.

He pleaded guilty in April through a plea agreement to three counts of financing illegal gambling businesses. He was sentenced Aug. 3.

Pizzillo was involved in three gambling businesses between 2005 and September 2009, including ones operated by Dennisport resident Adam Hart and Marlborough resident Robert Duplessis, according to a federal grand jury indictment issued in September 2010.

Duplessis has pleaded guilty to allegations that he operated an illegal sports gambling business. Christine DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, said he was sentenced last month to three years of probation and a $3,000 fine.

Hart, of Dennisport, along with two other Cape Cod men - William Neofgistos of Dennisport and Timothy Reardon of Barnstable - were charged in April with running an illegal gambling business and agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney's office.

The three men allegedly ran the operation from about 2000 through 2009. Hart and one man allegedly conspired in late December 2006 through May 2007 to obstruct a state police investigation into their criminal activities and were also charged with that offense, the release said.

Hart is due to be sentenced Sept. 22, DiIorio-Sterling said.

A federal grand jury, while investigating Hart, obtained information from a wire tap of one of Hart's relatives that raised the possibility that Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe may have protected gamblers in the past.

O'Keefe has denied any wrongdoing by himself and his office and Pizzillo's indictment did not mention O'Keefe.