PETE RUGGIERI thought he had it all, the inside track to winning the majority of bets he would place on the NBA. The method was simple: bet games that Tim Donaghy officiated.
Ruggieri, a noted professional gambler, told federal investigators 2 weeks ago that he picked up a trend over the last several years from betting acquaintances who were winning at a 60 to 70 percent rate on games officiated by the disgraced NBA referee, his lawyer told the Daily News yesterday.
The alarming rate caused Ruggieri to take a closer look.
Lawyer Christopher Warren said Ruggieri, of Glen Mills, would "piggyback'' bets made by another pro gambler known as "Jack," whom he met in 2004, and also by James "Baa Baa" Battista, of Phoenixville. Warren said Ruggieri would look for changes in the betting line and the over/under.
Battista is one of two bookmakers with whom Donaghy allegedly did business. Battista is expected to be indicted although the charges have not been specified, said his lawyer, Jack McMahon Jr.
Bettors were tipped off about which games Donaghy was working, but it is not known what information Donaghy shared, if any, or whether he impacted games in which he officiated.
"This 'Jack' asked Pete where he could place bets," Warren said from his Center City law office. "Pete referred to a few offshore betting operations. It wasn't long before Pete noticed 'Jack' and Battista were winning at a 60 to 70 percent clip. They were games being refereed by Tim Donaghy. Pete started watching games that Donaghy refereed and put the two together."
The picture Warren paints is of his client on the periphery of the Donaghy situation, although Warren acknowledged Ruggieri knew Donaghy. It also has stirred a firestorm of media attention that Ruggieri said he does not want. Yesterday on the phone with Warren, who was in the presence of a Daily News reporter, Ruggieri was rambling nervously and obviously agitated.
"I just want to be left alone," said Ruggieri, who has not spoken publicly about the case previously. "I've been vilified and made to look bad in the press. I really didn't do anything wrong. I don't want [reporters] in the front of my house anymore, or near my home down the shore. I just want to be left alone."
Ruggieri was not the only one to pick up on the trend, Warren said. He said Las Vegas lines would change in games that Donaghy officiated.
