Lawyer Asks That Petti Also Be Freed on Bail

An attorney for reputed mobster Chris Petti, arraigned last week on money-laundering charges, told a federal judge Tuesday that Petti should be freed on bail as were prominent businessman Richard T. Silberman and two other alleged co-conspirators indicted in the case.

At a hearing before U. S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving, defense lawyer Oscar Goodman attacked prosecutors’ claims that Petti is a danger to society and offered conditions that he said would eliminate any supposed hazards posed by his client’s release.

Goodman said Petti, 62, would agree to have no telephone in his home and to avoid contact with “anyone in the world the prosecution says is off limits.”

Petti was arraigned Friday on charges stemming from his alleged role in a scheme to launder $300,000 that an undercover FBI agent described as proceeds from Colombian cocaine trafficking. An FBI affidavit says Petti acted as the middleman in the alleged plot, linking Silberman with the undercover agent and offering to bring in “muscle” when one laundering deal went astray.

A U. S. magistrate ordered Petti held without bail after prosecutors presented testimony calculated to show that he was plotting the armed robbery of a Las Vegas bookmaker known only as “Marty the Jew” when he was arrested on the current charges. Prosecutors also say wiretapped conversations show that Petti threatened four men who reportedly owed debts to the late Anthony (Tony the Ant) Spilotro.

But Tuesday, Goodman presented letters to the court from three of those “victims” endorsing Petti’s release and denying that he tried to extort money from them. The fourth man died several years ago.

Irving made no comment and asked few questions from the bench. He said he will issue a written ruling today.

Meanwhile, U. S. District Judge Leland C. Nielsen postponed until Monday a hearing on the prosecution’s claim that Petti has violated his probation for a 1984 bookmaking conviction. The government argues that Petti has committed many acts for which Nielsen should revoke his probation, which is set to expire May 2.