Undercover: Maj. O'Donnell's life as a bookie

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Steve Foley didn't think he’d get caught up in the action. He was a disciplined, level-headed guy who, after all, wasn’t even playing with his own money. But as a bookie working along side career criminals and mobsters, he took his win/loss percentage, seriously.

Steve Foley was actually Steven O’Donnell, a detective in the Rhode Island State Police; working undercover to bring down members of the Patriarca crime family. And he was gambling on the state’s dime to do it.

Illegal bookmaking is a big piece of the income for the New England Mob.

O’Donnell will tell you “if there’s money being made criminally, wiseguys most likely have their hand in it.”

When you read about today’s gangster being arrested, the charges most commonly revolve around illegal sports betting.

For nearly six years starting in 1990, O’Donnell went undercover to gain the trust and build relationships with some of the state’s most notorious mobsters. An Irish kid who grew up in the Mount Pleasant section of Providence (he jokes only ‘cops or crooks’ came out of there), he drew on his experience working as a prison guard to fit-in with the mobsters.

“I understood what bookies do and how they do it, how they balanced books,” O’Donnell said. “By being around them you just learn. It’s like anything else. Asking, studying, become a student of the game. Want to be a good basketball player? You’d practice.”

Practice also meant gambling himself. O’Donnell (now a Major) said as a bookie, he needed to keep the image of a bookmaker.

“Most bookies are degenerate gamblers,” he said. “Like drug dealers. Most street level drug dealers are users; they sell the product and get it for little or no fee.”

Playing with state money did have its perks: he was never in over his head to the point where he was out of control. There was a budget he had to stick to, and supervisors he had to answer to.

But, it also had its drawbacks. O’Donnell said he took it hard when he lost.

“You get really animated about it. Wins and losses mean something to you," he said. "It was addicting.”

Deputy Attorney General Jerry Coyne, a longtime mob prosecutor for Rhode Island said, with illegal sports betting, it turns average sports fans into fanatics

"You come home late at night and you turn on the basketball and you see Hawaii playing Washington," Coyne said. "Unless you have money bet on the game you, really wouldn't stay up to watch it."

All respect to genuine Husky fans and Hawaii alum, of course.

Coyne said the big-time gamblers his office has dealt with perceive themselves to be sporting experts.

"They get into this because they think they can out-think the bookies." he said. "They view it as a way to use their background of being a sports fan and that's how they can win."

But O’Donnell will tell you from experience, no matter how much you know, digging yourself a hole is most likely going to be the outcome. And around here, owing a bookie money most likely means you are in debt with someone from the Patriarca crime family.

O’Donnell said he was purposefully late on his debts from time to time.

When asked if was ever threatned, he said, “All the time. Every Tuesday is ‘square-up’ day for football. Somewhere along the line you have to be like everyone else,” he said. “You have to be late on purpose and then frustrate the person collecting.”

But, did he ever get tough with someone who owed a debt?

“That’s where it becomes dicey; you can’t go commit a crime [as a trooper]. But, you’re not a successful collector if they don’t fear you,” he said.

Most of the time, for the people who owed O’Donnell (aka Steve Foley) money, there was a presence of fear that a mobster higher than him was not going to be happy.

"In many cases the threats don't have to be carried out," Coyne said. "The fear that is inspired just by the threat itself normally makes the people take whatever steps they can to pay."

Often those steps lead to crimes themselves. Both men say they have arrested or prosecuted people who eventually own-up to committing the crime to pay off a wiseguy.

"If people really could see the downside to gambling, from the people who foreclose on their homes, commit other crimes," O'Donnell said. “They are people who wouldn't usually do that. It's an addicting kind of activity."

This would seem to be the motivation behind his risky undercover work.  Though much has been publicized about gambling addiction, it’s betting with a bookie that comes with an added level of danger.

"It’s betting on credit," O'Donnell said. "Betting with people who don't have good reputations. You rest assured when you owe, you pay."

O’Donnell’s years as a bookie hasn’t soured his love for sports; he still watches, mainly football and basketball. Luckily, lacrosse, his true love, wasn’t a popular bet: he’s a coach at LaSalle Academy, President of RI Lacrosse and a member of the New England Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Now, O’Donnell is way beyond the ability to go undercover; he is one of the highest profile figures on the force, handling almost every single media interview. Of course, illegal gambling, extortion and bookmaking are still a big part of organized crime, and he knows all the players.

Just look at some recent arrests:

• A 2005 gambling bust took down longtime mob soldier Joe Achille and his son.
• Last year, mob associates Raymond “Scarface” Jenkins and Richard Angell were scooped up along with 21 others in a sting by the state police.
• This past December, reputed underboss Carmen “The Big Cheese” DiNunzio of Boston was indicted on extortion and illegal gambling.

Both Coyne and O’Donnell urge victims to come forward so law enforcement can help, before they turn to crime to pay off their debts.

“It's very, very difficult because people tend to be very embarrassed,” Coyne said. “They've gone down a road that they know is very wrong. They bet with a bookie, in many cases they do it behind family's back. We don't often hear in the first instance from bettor, we very often hear form the bettor’s family.”

The most pressing question for many readers may be selfish by motivation. How much state money did O’Donnell lose as a bookie?

He figures, we broke even.

“Some cases I would win, some I would lose,” he said. “In their world, it was probably a ‘push.’”