Sicilian mobster set to plead guilty in Miami Beach case

Sicilian mobster set to plead guilty in Miami Beach case

  May 09, 2017    Dapper_Don

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A reputed Sicilian Mafioso is set to plead guilty to a single criminal charge in a case built around Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein's work as a government informant.

Roberto Settineri's plea, scheduled for Aug. 25, will make him the third person convicted in an investigation resulting from Rothstein's cooperation with federal authorities. Rothstein began working as an informant in November after his $1.4 billion investment fraud came to light.

Rothstein convinced Settineri that he needed help laundering money and destroying potentially damaging evidence, according to federal court documents. Rothstein recorded at least 18 conversations he had with Settineri and the two other men arrested in the case.

Settineri, of Miami Beach, had been on federal investigators' radar long before Rothstein agreed to go undercover. Authorities both in the United States and Italy have alleged Settineri, 42, was a key intermediary between a crime family in Sicily and the Gambino crime family in New York City.

Settineri's attorney, Jeffrey Weiner, said Monday he's not aware of his client facing any charges in Italy. He said there's been no paperwork filed indicating that Italy is going to seek extradition.

Next week in Fort Lauderdale federal court Settineri will plead guilty to a charge less serious than the nine brought against him in March by a grand jury, Weiner said. He declined to discuss the specific charge.

Weiner said Settineri's sentence "will be more in line to what my client agreed to do, as opposed to what the government was looking to sting him for."

Settineri's two co-defendants - the co-owners of a Pembroke Pines private security firm - have already taken plea deals and are set to be sentenced next week. Enrique Ros, 34, and Daniel Dromerhauser, 39, each pleaded guilty to a single count of obstruction of justice, which could carry about a year in prison under the recommended federal sentencing guidelines.

Rothstein, 48, spent a month working undercover until his Dec. 1 arrest for his Ponzi scheme, the largest financial fraud in South Florida history. He pleaded guilty to five felony charges and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Federal authorities have refused to divulge his current whereabouts.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime--law/reputed-mafioso-miami-beach-set-plead-sting-built-around-ponzi-schemer/igrYInTEbPWOMx6iJjF7IJ/