Priest charged in slots probe

HARRISBURG - A Catholic priest and longtime confidant of casino owner Louis A. DeNaples was charged yesterday with perjury, accused of lying to a grand jury about his relationship with a mob boss.

The charge against the Rev. Joseph F. Sica of Scranton was the first returned by a grand jury investigating whether DeNaples misled Pennsylvania regulators in his bid for a coveted slots license for the Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos.

Sica, 52, hurried past a crowd of reporters at the Dauphin County Courthouse yesterday without saying a word about the charge or his relationship with gangster Russell Bufalino, who died in 1994.

At Sica's arraignment, fresh details emerged about the longtime priest and DeNaples adviser.

While state police drove Sica from his home to Harrisburg, he placed a cell-phone call to DeNaples, who spoke loudly enough over the phone for troopers in the front seat to hear, said Francis Chardo, first assistant Dauphin County district attorney.

"Don't say anything," DeNaples advised Sica, Chardo told Dauphin County Court Judge Todd A. Hoover. "We'll take care of this."

Sica owns a handgun, registered legally within the last year, and suffered through bankruptcy in the late 1990s but now owns a 2007 Jeep outright, Chardo said. Sica had $1,000 in cash when state police arrested him.

A priest with a gun, Chardo told the court, "struck me as odd." Sica was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.

The perjury charge stems from Sica's testimony to the grand jury Aug. 29. He told the panel, according to court papers, that he had not had a personal relationship with Bufalino outside a chance meeting more than two decades earlier.

The grand jury, however, was presented with photographs and letters that appeared to contradict that.

A photo taken decades ago at a party celebrating Sica's ordination as a priest shows him with Bufalino and Bufalino's wife, according to the grand jury.

A note with the keepsake picture reads: "Dear Russ & Carrie - Words cannot express my thankfulness to both of you! You have done a lot for me and you mean a lot to me. Rest assured of my continued love and prayers. Love Joe."

The grand jury report also said Sica had written a letter in 1982 to Ginny Thornburgh, wife of then-Gov. Richard Thornburgh, seeking her help in getting Bufalino out of jail.

In the letter, Sica called Bufalino his friend and said the federal government had set up Bufalino for a crime he did not commit, and that Bufalino had been wrongly labeled a Mafia figure in the media.

Another photo shows Sica arm in arm with Bufalino at a table with William D'Elia, another reputed mob leader from Northeastern Pennsylvania. No date was provided.

Sica, by all accounts, is not the main focus of the grand jury. The panel for months has been focusing on DeNaples, who in October opened the state's first standalone slot-machine casino.

The grand jury is examining whether DeNaples misled state regulators when he told them that he had no connection with organized-crime figures.

The wealthy Scranton businessman is known for his generous charitable giving, including to the Catholic Church.

Sica often accompanied DeNaples at public appearances leading up to the awarding of the license and afterward.

"Life is not about always taking. It's about giving back, and that's what Louis and his entire family have done their entire lives," Sica told dignitaries at the casino's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Chardo, the prosecutor, told reporters yesterday that he believed Sica had lied to the grand jury to protect his close friend DeNaples. Chardo would not comment on whether other charges were imminent, saying only that the grand jury investigation was continuing.

Asked about possible criticism for charging a priest, Chardo said: "As a Catholic, I can tell you it is not something I did lightly. . . . But no man is above the law."

Kevin Feeley, DeNaples' spokesman, said the casino owner was concerned to hear about Sica's arrest.

"But that does not change the fact that Louis DeNaples does not have any connection to organized crime," he added, repeating DeNaples' mantra from the outset.

Chardo said that when taken into custody, Sica had threatened a trooper. Chardo said the threat had not been physical, but he would not elaborate.

A posting on the Scranton Diocese's Web site last night said Sica had been granted a leave of absence from his post as chaplain of Mercy Hospital in Scranton, "and he will not celebrate Mass publicly while he attends to his legal issues."

Robert Daniels, a Harrisburg lawyer who represented Sica at the hearing yesterday, told Hoover that his client was not a flight risk.

"I'm sure it is humiliating enough to be dragged in front of a court in handcuffs," Daniels said of his client, who wore his clerical collar in court. "He's not going to go anywhere."

In October, the state Supreme Court froze the grand jury while considering a request by DeNaples' lawyers to end the inquiry. Defense attorneys argued, among other things, that Edward Marsico, the Dauphin County district attorney, did not have jurisdiction to handle the case through the grand jury process.

The high court ruled otherwise last month, and the grand jury last week picked up its inquiry where it had left off.

The perjury count against Sica carries a prison term of up to seven years and a fine of as much as $15,000. He is due back in court Jan. 25 for a preliminary hearing.