Lynn man among 14 charged with loan sharking

LYNN – The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday a Lynn man was among 14 men charged in connection with two, well-organized, multi-state gambling rings.
Robert F. Cash, 68, of Lynn, is charged with conspiracy to organize and promote gambling, conspiracy to keep a gaming house, using a telephone for gambling and conspiracy to use a telephone for gambling.
In a press release, Cash was described as one of nine bookmakers in the Contrada gambling ring, which identifies Steven Contrada, 54, of Wilmington, as the ring leader.
The Contrada ring and Limone gambling ring, which was allegedly led by Peter Limone, 74, of Malden, were targeted by state law enforcement through a series of wiretapping, video surveillance, telephone and business record analysis and eventually search warrants.
Authorities say the Limone ring was brazen enough to continue its gambling activities even after State Police on March 28, 2008 searched 30 Almont St. in Medford, a residence owned by Limone.
In the Contrada organization for which Cash was allegedly involved, authorities say Cash and the nine bookies under the leadership of Contrada and John Miccichi, 55, of Malden, would coordinate betting for customers across the greater Boston area.
Each day before sporting events began, the agents or their customers would call their bet by phone into a central booking office run by Miccichi under Contrada’s supervision, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. These individuals allegedly acted in close contact with one another on a nearly daily basis.
According to authorities, customers often used code names on the phone to conceal their identities. Authorities said in a press release wire surveillance revealed that the Contrada organization took “many hundreds of thousands of dollars” worth of bets over the phone on a wide range of sporting events.
On Oct. 19, 2007, State Police executed a series of search warrants of locations used by Contrada in the Boston area. Police said numerous gaming papers and cuff sheets were found. Investigators also said illegal guns and $12,000 cash were found at Miccichi’s Malden home.
The Limone organization was described by the district attorney’s office as “highly structured.”
In the press release, authorities said the ring leader, Limone, “rarely ever used the telephone, controlling the operation through a series of subordinates who, when they spoke of him, used nicknames including ‘the Camera Guy’ and ‘Chief Crazy Horse.'”
Anthony Squillante, 73, of Boston, allegedly served as the intermediary between Limone and many agents in the organization, conducting face-to-face meetings and exchanging thousands of dollars in cash between Limone and others.
Joseph DiPrizio, 50, of Florida state, whose principle place of business was run out of Florida, allegedly served as the “office manager” of the central “booking office.” Each day before the sporting events began, the agents or their customers would call in their bets to DiPrizio. DiPrizio was responsible for keeping the organization’s written records of bets won and lost, and money owed by various parties. Agents and customers used code names, including combinations of letters and numbers, in order to conceal their identities. It is alleged that DiPrizio took hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bets on a wide range of sporting events, including football, baseball, basketball and horse racing.
Thomas Palladino, 75, of Malden, was the organization’s primary “runner” for Limone and Squillante, handling its payments and collections of debts owed. Palladino was observed and monitored on numerous occasions meeting with various agents in public parking lots around Middlesex County, delivering or receiving tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gaming monies, and discussing outstanding “figures” or gambling debts.
The Limone organization is accused of generating proceeds through three schemes ? gambling revenue, loansharking, and extortion. The gam