Ocean House owner, 2 others receive probation for gambling ring
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Timeline of gambling probe
April 26, 2011: Federal charges are filed against Adam Hart, William Neofotistos and Timothy Reardon in U.S. District Court in Boston.
June 3, 2011: All three men plead guilty to running an illegal $2,000-per-day gambling business and other charges
Aug. 1, 2011: John Pizzillo, of Milford, who pleaded guilty to funding the Dennisport gambling ring, is ordered to forfeit $300,000.
Sept. 22, 2011: Original sentencing date; continued to Dec. 22 and then canceled.
June 12, 2012: First of three motions to continue are filed.
June 2012: Robert George, attorney for two of the men, is found guilty by a federal jury of money laundering; he also withdraws from the gambling case. That same month, attorney J.W. Carney Jr. announces that an investigation into Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe's connection to the three gamblers had ended. O'Keefe's name had been linked to the case since a 2010 federal grand jury probe into the gamblers' organization.
Oct. 31, 2012: George is sentenced to 3½ years in prison.
April 24: Defendant Adam Hart files another motion to continue that is denied.
Sources: Online U.S. District Court filings, Times archives
After nearly two years with little movement in their case, three men who pleaded guilty in 2011 to running a profitable illegal gambling ring were sentenced to probation Tuesday.
Adam Hart, 86, and William Neofotistos, 62, were sentenced to two years of probation, the first six months of which are to be under house arrest, said Liz McCarthy, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz's office.
They also will be required to pay $40,000 and $10,000 in fines, respectively, she said.
Timothy Reardon, 34, was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $3,000.
With their plea, they also agreed to forfeit nearly $800,000.
The sentences were more in line with family members' and friends' pleas for leniency, outlined in letters to Judge Mark Wolf, than maximum sentences, which could have been up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge.
"He has shown contrition and remorse for his actions and wishes this to be behind him, like the rest of the family," Hart's granddaughter and Reardon's wife, Kari Reardon, wrote of Hart.
The three men pleaded guilty in June 2011 to one count of running an illegal gambling business and aiding and abetting. Hart and Neofotistos also were charged with obstruction of state or local law enforcement.
They operated the business from 2000 to 2009, making more than $2,000 per day, according to court records.
Hart is the owner of The Ocean House restaurant and Three Seasons Motor Lodge in Dennisport.
The case has remained nearly stagnant since the men's pleas, mainly because the agreement required them to cooperate with the continuing federal investigation.
As a result of their cooperation, two other men — John Pizzillo, who funded the Dennisport gambling ring, and Joseph Colucci, who took secondary bets — were prosecuted, according to a document filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Wyshak.
During the investigation, there was speculation into a possible connection between Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe and the gambling ring.
At the June 2011 sentencing, Wyshak said the government was looking into the possible involvement of an elected official in the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office. O'Keefe is the only elected official there.
O'Keefe consistently denied the allegations that he had tipped off the men to a federal investigation. In June of last year his attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., announced the inquiry had been closed and no charges would be filed against his client.
Ortiz's office had no comment on whether the three men's sentencing meant inquiries into others involved were over, McCarthy said.
As part of their 2011 plea agreement, the three men also were ordered to forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten profit.
Hart filed a motion April 22 to continue sentencing, stating that in the nearly two years since his plea he hadn't been able to secure a loan to pay the money. Not paying by the sentencing date would have violated terms of the plea.
"The major issue is due to Adam being a convicted felon," his attorney, Douglas Crabtree, wrote in an email about the case.
But on April 22 he was notified that a $1.2 million loan using the mortgages of his restaurant and motor lodge as collateral would go through by May 24, according to court filings.
Though Wolf denied the motion to continue the sentencing, Hart was given until June 24 to pay the money.
Neofotistos was ordered to forfeit $17,000 seized from his home in Coconut Creek, Fla., and Reardon must forfeit $1,580 seized from his Barnstable home, court filings state.
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