NEW YORK -- The Mafia bribed an FBI agent with cash, stolen jewelry, hotel rooms, liquor and prostitutes for tips about wiretaps and other help, prosecutors said in a letter unsealed Monday. In the letter to a Brooklyn state Supreme Court judge, prosecutors leveled fresh accusations that ex-agent L. Lindley DeVecchio provided security for a crew of bandits during a bank burglary and alerted mobsters that their social club was under surveillance. DeVecchio, 66, was charged last year with taking the bribes from Colombo crime family captain Gregory Scarpa Sr. in exchange for classified information during a bloody civil war within the family during the 1980s and '90s. The tips helped Scarpa knock off rivals and others, including a man found shot five times in the head in 1990, prosecutors said. In the letter, prosecutors allege DeVecchio accepted jewelry that "the defendant knew that members of Scarpa Sr.'s crew had taken during a burglary of bank safety deposit boxes." Also, two times during the 1980s the mobster directed his son to "arrange at Scarpa Sr.'s expense for a hotel room, champagne and the services of a prostitute for the defendant," prosecutors wrote. DeVecchio, who is free on $1 million bail, has denied the allegations. At a brief hearing Monday, DeVecchio waived his right to a jury trial and decided to let Justice Gustin Riechbach hear and decide the case. Opening statements were set for Oct. 15 in a trial expected to last several weeks. If convicted, Devecchio could face up to 25 years to life in prison. Scarpa was convicted of murder and racketeering and died in prison.
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