Mob murder-for-hire case moving forward

Saying lawyers for Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent made "inaccurate" statements and embellished on the content of a 2006 plea agreement, federal prosecutors are asking a judge to toss St. Laurent's motion to dismiss a murder-for-hire charge.

Writing for the Providence U.S. Attorney's office, federal prosecutor Scott Lawson said St. Laurent attorney Victor Beretta’s claim that his client's plea agreement with the feds on a separate extortion charge cleared him of the attempted murder plot, is a "broad interpretation" of the facts.

"[T]he failure to mention a much more significant inducement, one essentially amounting to federal immunity for the recruiting the murder of an LCN (La Cosa Nostra) rival, suggests whatever the nature of their preliminary discussions, the parties ultimately did not agree such a provision was part of their bargain, and its omission from the final agreement was intentional," Lawson wrote in response.

Maybe more damaging to St. Laurent's argument is his third attempt to hire a hit-man to blow away a rival mobster came while he was already serving time for the 2006 plea agreement.

Federal investigators say the target of St. Laurent’s homicide attempts was Robert “Bobby” DeLuca, a reputed capo regime in the Patriarca crime family.

Court documents state St. Laurent is also a capo regime or "captain" in the crime family.

According to court documents obtained by Target 12, FBI Special agent Joseph Degnan used three separate sources on three different occasions to secure a murder-for-hire charge against St., Laurent.

The first attempt came on April 8th, 2006 inside St. Laurent’s Johnston home. Documents show An FBI source wearing a wire was offered $20,000 to gun-down Deluca. Also in the room was Ricky Silva, a longtime mob associate now serving time for the same extortion attempt St. Laurent plead guilty to.

Silva was not cooperating with law enforcement.

Documents show a different FBI source informed Special Agent Degnan that St. Laurent drove him to DeLuca's workplace “Sidebar and Grill” in downtown Providence. The purpose of the field trip, according to the source, was to show the prospective hit-man where to find Deluca for the gangland slaying.

St. Laurent was then arrested on the separate extortion charges. He's now three years deep into a five year sentence at Fort Devens in Massachusetts.

The court documents, which were filed on August 27th, reveal new details on the alleged third attempt.

According to a narrative written by Special Agent Degnan and made public as part of the recent filings, another source serving time with St. Laurent at Fort Devens set-up a prison meeting with a prospective hit-man. The prospect was actually an undercover Massachusetts State Trooper working with the Feds.

Documents show St. Laurent was again being secretly recorded when he tried to solicit the homicide a third time.

"[T]hough his reasons for wanting DeLuca killed are 'none of his [the undercover vistor's (sic)] business,' his motives are that he 'hates' him and has other 'reasons with him,'" Degnan wrote.

DeLuca attorney Artin Coloian said the source of the hatred is clear. He said his client has maintained St. Laurent has been a source for law enforcement for years. A claim that Coloian said has enraged St. Laurent.

During the prison taping, the source asked how St. Laurent would like DeLuca murdered. St. Laurent said "shoot him in the [expletive] head... say 'this is from The Saint.'"

According to the documents, St. Laurent told the FBI source inside prison that the two of them needed to “stay away” from each other after the hit goes down.

The transcript of the wiretaps reads:

Source: "I don't know who they’ll' have, you know, as a suspect. He probably has a lot of enemies."

St. Laurent: "Yeah he does. He's got lots of them. I'll be a suspect."

Source: "What?"

St. Laurent: "I'll be a suspect."

Source: "Why would you be a suspect?"

St. Laurent: "Ah, because they know I tried to kill him already."

As Target 12 first broke, the FBI charged St. Laurent with murder-for-hire in January 2009, he was indicted by a grand jury in April. The 68-year-old mobster has pleaded not guilty.

Tom Connell, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Providence had no comment on the recent filings.

A call to St. Laurent defense attorney Victor Beretta has not been returned.

Recent hearings in federal court reveal St. Laurent is in failing health ; spending his time between Fort Devens Federal Prison and an undisclosed Massachusetts hospital.