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Saturday, September 06, 2003     Page: 2A

SCRANTON – An area businessman and one-time gambling ring figure was
sentenced Thursday to 46 months in federal prison in connection with a scheme
that bilked multiple businesses out of more than $100,000.
   
Samuel J. Marranca, 52, of James Street, Pittston, was ordered to report
within three weeks to begin serving the sentence for his guilty plea to one
count of money laundering.
    In addition to the prison sentence, Marranca was ordered to pay $57,047 in
restitution and to serve three years supervised release after completion of
his jail time.
   
Marranca and a co-defendant, Henry Ptashkin of Drexel Hill, were indicted
by a grand jury in October. Prosecutors said the men devised a scheme in which
Marranca ordered merchandise from wholesalers, then sold it to retailers
without paying the wholesalers. When a wholesaler cut off the supply, he would
order merchandise under another company name.
   
Marranca pleaded guilty to the money laundering charge in April.
Prosecutors dropped multiple counts of mail fraud in exchange for the plea.
Ptashkin pleaded guilty in February to money laundering and was sentenced in
July to 90 days in prison and was also ordered to pay $57,047 in restitution.
   
Marranca previously pleaded guilty in 1995 to money laundering in
connection with a large-scale gambling ring that operated in Luzerne County.
He was sentenced to one year probation for that offense.