PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The elderly father of a man described as the mastermind of a multimillion dollar kickback scheme with Navy contractors was sentenced to two years of home confinement on Friday morning in federal court.
Chief U. S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi, acting on recommendations from the government and defense, spared Ralph Mariano Jr., 82, of North Providence, a prison sentence.
The federal sentencing guidelines called for a penalty of 24 to 30 months behind bars.
"You brought it on because of foolishness and greed," Lisi said. "This is a sad day for all involved."
In May, Mariano pleaded guilty to four counts of tax evasion for failing to pay $480,000 in federal taxes on $1.4 million he received in the kickback scheme that began in 1994 and ran through 2009.
Prosecutors have said that his son, Ralph M. Mariano, a former engineer and program manager at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, sent his father checks ranging from $3,000 to $8,000 several times a week from 2006 through 2009.
Lisi, who normally sends tax cheats to prison, was clearly aggravated with Mariano's decision to cheat the government of taxes.
"I have a question for you,'' she asked. ``Why?''
``At the time, (the money) came along,'' Mariano said.
``Free money?'' Lisi said.
``Yeah,'' said Mariano.
He told the judge that he blew most of the money through gambling and has been left with nothing.
Lisi said that review from the probation department discovered that Mariano had lied about his assets. She said that the government learned that the defendant had about $12,000 in jewelry and precious metals.
As part of the sentence, Lisi ordered Mariano to repay the government $6,000 for his court-appointed lawyer. She also sentenced him to an additional two years of probation after he completes his sentence on home confinement.
Mariano's son is scheduled to be sentenced on other federal criminal charges next month.
-- An earlier version of this report, advancing the sentencing hearing, was published at 8:28 a.m.