Odds And Trends

There is a connection between Ruggieri, 39, and Battista, 42. They were in a group of six who were prosecuted by the Delaware County District Attorney's office in 1998 for criminal conspiracy and bookmaking, along with Anthony Rufo, 40, of Broomall; Jeffrey Rossin, 44, of Richboro; Steven McLaughlin, 38, of Las Vegas; and Patrick Smyth, 36, of Havertown. McLaughlin is originally from Delaware County. All received community service and were admitted into the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for nonviolent offenders.

There does not appear to be a direct link between the current investigation and that case, according to lawyers involved in the '98 case and Delco law-enforcement sources. That case, an offshoot of a larger investigation that originated in New York, turned out to be a much smaller bookmaking operation than authorities first believed, sources said.

"They had a nice thing going, those guys just got greedy," said a source, who asked not to be identified and who was once familiar with the gambling scene in Delaware County. "We stopped taking their action. But their whole clique, they were a crew who saw the movie 'Goodfellas' one too many times. They were wannabe gangsters, from these nice families in the nice suburbs. They used to deal with bets in the hundreds, sometimes the thousands. Then they all got older, made more money and were able to bet more money.

"But I don't think any of them were mobbed-up then. I doubt it now. They were mostly bettors who were too smart for their own good. They thought they knew more than they did."

Ruggieri, a two-time all-Catholic League nose guard and 1986 Monsignor Bonner graduate, played golf with Donaghy, according to a friend, and Donaghy frequently ate at Marina's restaurant in Havertown, when Battista was a co-owner in the 1990s, said a number of sources who knew both Donaghy and Battista. Battista graduated from O'Hara in 1983; Donaghy is an '85 graduate.

Ruggieri's legal troubles did not end in Delaware County.

In 2002, Ruggieri pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in unlawful transactions for his role in a Las Vegas betting operation linked to a bookie named "Skate" in New Jersey and New York City, according to court documents. Ruggieri was a co-defendant with McLaughlin, Rufo and Alan Denkenson, of Las Vegas. The four pleaded guilty in Clark County court in 2002 and were fined $2,000 each, records show.

Ruggieri was charged with depositing money from the operation into sports betting accounts at the Horseshoe and Mirage casinos in Las Vegas. The accounts were maintained by McLaughlin and Rufo, and Rufo paid the long-distance phone bills to a Fort Washington phone company, authorities alleged.

John Momot Jr., who represented the four men in the Vegas case, said Donaghy was not involved.

"Was this ref's name ever mentioned? No, not to my knowledge," Momot said yesterday. "Fugetaboutit."

As for Ruggieri, he just wants to fade into the background, Warren said.

"He's not the key," Warren said. "He's not even in the castle. He's the guy that gives you directions to the castle." *

Daily News sports writer Phil Jasner contributed to this story.