Money that was once part of Stephen Saccoccia's multimillion-dollar international money-laundering network will soon be buying police cruisers, laptop computers, mobile command stations and other equipment for several Rhode Island police departments. U.S. Marshal John J. Leyden and U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse yesterday divvied up more than $3.6 million in forfeited assets and gave the money to the Rhode Island State Police and the Cranston, Warwick and Providence police departments. Authorities are still in search of more of the $136 million that Saccoccia was convicted of laundering.

BARBARA POLICHETTI Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer

March 11, 1998

PROVIDENCE Money that was once part of Stephen Saccoccia's multimillion-dollar international money-laundering network will soon be buying police cruisers, laptop computers, mobile command stations and other equipment for several Rhode Island police departments. U.S. Marshal John J. Leyden and U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse yesterday divvied up more than $3.6 million in forfeited assets and gave the money to the Rhode Island State Police and the Cranston, Warwick and Providence police departments. Authorities are still in search of more of the $136 million that Saccoccia was convicted of laundering.

The money is slowly trickling down to the state and local police departments as Whitehouse's office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies continue the long, painstaking process of following paper and electronic trails that lead to caches of money that were part of Saccoccia's operation.

The task involves federal and international laws and dealings with England, Switzerland and Austria, according to Whitehouse's office.

Thomas Connell, spokesman for the U.S. attorney, said yesterday that right now it is not possible to add up how much has been seized in cash and assets.

"It's very difficult to calculate," he said. "Some of it is assets that have to be liquidated, while other

'assets' are the subject of complex negotiations between England, Switzerland, Austria and the United States."

In 1993, Saccoccia was sentenced to 660 years in federal prison for laundering more than $136 million for Colombian drug traffickers. Saccoccia, who operated out of a coin shop on Park Avenue in Cranston, was also fined $15.8 million and ordered to forfeit the $136.3 million he was accused of laundering.

Connell said that Saccoccia has not paid anything toward the fine so far and that Whitehouse's office is continuing to work with other federal agencies to try to find as much of the $136 million as possible.

Whitehouse yesterday visited State Police headquarters and the Cranston police station to hand out checks.

The departments that received money played a role in the investigation that led to Saccoccia's arrest, he said.

State Police received approximately $2.5 million, Cranston received about $609,000, Providence got $463,000 and Warwick was given approximately $58,000.

State Police Supt. Edmond S. Culhane Jr. said that it is satisfying to see money that was in the hands of drug lords and money launderers end up buying police equipment. "By coming back to us, it brings things full circle," Culhane said. "It is not only killing the poison ivy, it is pulling it up by the roots. My only regret is that Colonel Stone is not alive to see this." Culhane was referring to the legendary Col. Walter Stone, head of the state police for about three decades, who died in December.

Yesterday, Whitehouse said that some of the money that was distributed to police departments came from a Swiss bank account controlled by Guillermo Gaitan-Ortiz, a suspected Colombian cocaine dealer.

There are no charges against Gaitan-Ortiz at this time, he said.

Whitehouse credited Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Iannotti with tracking hundreds of computerized bank records to find the link between Saccoccia and Gaitan-Ortiz.

At the Cranston police station, Whitehouse followed up the distribution of checks with the promise that federal officials will keep tracing every dollar they can and that local police departments can expect more money in the future.

Whitehouse said court proceedings are under way to have forfeited to the government the 82 bars of gold and seven bags of gold pellets, worth about $2.1 million, that investigators found buried last year in the Cranston backyard of Saccoccia's mother's house.

Culhane said that he will use some of the money his department received yesterday to buy laptop computers for troopers, plus improved cars for the canine unit and troopers who transport prisoners. For years, he said, the department has only had one or two vehicles that can travel into the woods for searches and rescues so he wants to buy more of those as well.

Also, Culhane said that the Saccoccia money may allow him to buy digital cameras that would make it easier for police photographs to be stored in computer databases.

In Cranston, the money will be used for cruisers, unmarked cars, a mobile command vehicle and other equipment, according to Chief Vincent McAteer.

Warwick Police Chief William DeFeo said he plans to buy laptop computers for patrol officers and also to put some of the money toward a digitized phone system.

Federal regulations stipulate that the forfeiture money must be used to augment local law-enforcement budgets, and not be substituted for local funds.

The police chiefs said that the work being done by Whitehouse's office is unglamorous paper-chasing, but the payoff is tremendous.

"All too often the credit goes to some guy who kicks in a door," said Culhane.

Said McAteer as he shook Whitehouse's hand, "We appreciate all your work, all your effort - and the money."