The Nation - News from Oct. 26, 1987

Eight men accused of running a crime syndicate in western Massachusetts, northern Connecticut and Upstate New York face trial beginning today on federal racketeering charges. The case has taken two years to reach trial partly because the defense lawyers needed to listen to 300 hours of conversations secretly bugged by the FBI as part of a seven-year investigation. All eight defendants have been charged with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy in western Massachusetts and violating federal law by hiding the true ownership of a gambling junket operation that took people to Las Vegas. Six of the eight face charges of running unlawful bookmaking and sports betting operations in the three states. The defendants include Francesco J. Scibelli, 73, identified by the government as head of organized crime in western Massachusettes and as having ties to the Genovese crime family in New York.