SCITUATE, R.I. (AP) – Authorities on Wednesday arrested 17 alleged bookies accused of collecting more than $3 million a month in illegal sports wagers for an illegal gambling ring purportedly connected to the Patriarca crime family.

Seven other men were charged with drug offenses and other crimes during the course of the investigation, authorities said.

Raymond “Scarface” Jenkins and Richard Angell, both 41, ran the operation out of three Providence bars, police said.

Col. Steven Pare, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, said the ring’s leaders were believed to have paid tribute to the Providence-based Patriarca crime family, which controls organized crime in much of New England.

“They have to (pay) or they wouldn’t be allowed to operate on this large of a scale,” he said.

Law enforcement officials said sports gambling tends to peak during basketball and football seasons. While this ring appeared profitable, its exact size or duration may never be known.

Joseph Petit, 33, of Lincoln, was accused of accepting at least $2.3 million in bets, according to police.

In another case, police listening to a wiretap calculated that Michael Bignotte, 29, of Providence, took in almost $500,000 in bets in little more than a month. When police arrested him Wednesday, they realized Bignotte had five more phone lines, State Police Major Steven O’Donnell said.

“What you see there is just the tip of the iceberg,” said O’Donnell, who gestured at a poster-sized organizational chart during a news conference.

A State Police intelligence unit was tipped off to the ring in September, and O’Donnell said it worked with the FBI and local police to build a case by listening to four court-approved wiretaps for 70 days.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch called the alleged sports betting ring the largest uncovered in state history. He said much of the state’s evidence will come from tape-recorded statements made by the defendants.

“There’s voluminous evidence over a long time,” he said.

In some cases, the bookies allowed customers to bet on credit, then charged exorbitant interest rates on any debts, police said.

“If you don’t pay, something’s going to happen to you. You’re going to get physically hurt,” O’Donnell said. “That’s the aura around these people.”

Jenkins, Angell, Petit and Bignotte were all charged with racketeering, organized criminal gambling and bookmaking. Except for Bignotte, three of the men were convicted once before in a similar gambling case revolving around the Foxy Lady strip club in Providence.

AP-ES-01-05-06 1756EST

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