Family of 'The Saint' to plead guilty

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The wife and son of a reputed mafia captain have struck a deal with prosecutors in a federal extortion case.

Dorothy St. Laurent and her son Anthony Jr. have agreed to plead guilty to shaking down Massachusetts bookmakers for protection money for more than two decades. The U.S. Attorney's office filed the agreements in federal court on Wednesday.

• Read Dorothy St. Laurent's plea agreement
• Read Anthony St. Laurent Jr.'s plea agreement

In exchange for the guilty plea, St. Laurent Jr. will not have to testify against his father, who is also facing extortion charges. The plea also states the U.S. Attorney's office will recommend Dorothy St. Laurent escape jail time and be sentenced only to probation.

A judge ultimately has to sign off on the deal and can impose any sentence.

A hearing has been set for Aug. 11 before Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond. There, the pair will be arraigned and a hearing will be set for the courts to decide on the plea agreement.

Revealed in Wednesday's plea agreement, prosecutors say both defendants collected between $800,000 and $1.5 million in protection money from Taunton, Mass., bookies between 1988 and 2009.

Federal investigators say the elder St. Laurent has been shaking down bookmakers in the area since the 1970s. He is not part of this plea deal.

Prosecutors accuse the matriarch of being the "primary collection agent" for the family and collected about $4,100 every two weeks.

St. Laurent Sr., who investigators have identified as a Capo Regime in the Patriarca crime family, is also facing additional federal charges in a separate murder-for-hire case.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha declined to comment on the deal. Calls to the defense attorneys have not yet been returned.

twhite@wpri.com