Brooklyn federal prosecutors eyeing defendants for plea deals in card-fixing scheme

More than half the defendants in a scheme to fix high-stakes card games that includes among the accused an NBA Hall of Famer and reputed mobsters, could be offered plea deals, federal prosecutors disclosed in court filings.

Out of the 31 defendants charged, so far prosecutors expect to offer plea deals to 12 in the coming days, according to papers filed in Brooklyn federal court late Tuesday.

"In addition, prosecutors noted in their filing, "the government has had productive conversations with counsel for at least nine other defendants, and the government is reasonably optimistic that those conversations will lead to pretrial resolutions as to those defendants."

If all of those cases result in guilty pleas, cases against 21 defendants, or nearly 70% of all those charged, could lead to a disposition.

During a brief hearing Wednesday in the large case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Irisa Chen reiterated to Brooklyn Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. that productive plea negotiations were underway but did not say how cases were involved.

The defendants were all indicted last October on charges they participated in the rigging of card games, which prosecutors said bilked innocent victims out of millions of dollars. The games took place in New York City and East Hampton, officials said.

Portland Trailblazers Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, 49, the team's coach at the time of his arrest by the FBI last October, as well as Ernest Aiello, 46, of Wantagh, said by the FBI to be a high-ranked member of the Bonanno crime family, and Angelo Ruggiero Jr., 53, of Howard Beach, a reputed member of the Gambino crime family, are among the indicted. Ruggiero is the son of the late Angelo Ruggiero, a close associate of the late Gambino boss John Gotti.

Billups, who has denied the charges, was placed on administrative leave by the team.

The government alleges the defendants used card-counting machines and electronically rigged tables to carry out their alleged cheating scheme.

Virtually all of the defendants are free on various bail packages, except for Ruggiero and Thomas Gelardo, 42, of Scarsdale, said by the FBI to be an organized crime associate. Ruggiero and Gelardo appeared in court in tan jail clothing.

Reyes said he wanted to bring the case to trial by Nov. 2, a change from a previous date in early September. Reyes indicated logistics for any trial would depend on how many defendants remained in the case.

Defense attorneys privately said that courts generally hold trials with more than 10 defendants at one time in disfavor.

Outside the courtroom, one defense attorney said that the massive amounts of discovery turned over by the government — some 4.5 terabytes and tens of thousands of documents — might make it impossible to have a November trial.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.