Somerset Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Illegal Bank Loan

SPRINGFIELD — A Somerset man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield to illegally participating in a loan with a financial institution.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling's Office says 60-year-old Anthony Riccitelli pleaded guilty to one count of participation in loan with financial institution. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for December 11. In July, Riccitelli was charged by information.

Riccitelli admitted Wednesday that he loaned $80,000 to Diecast Connections Company, Inc., based in Chicopee, at the same time that he served as a bank officer for Blue Hills Bank. Riccitelli proposed that Blue Hills Bank enter into a $4.2 million loan package with Diecast without disclosing to Blue Hills Bank the $80,000 in private loans he had made to Diecast. Shortly after the closing on the loan, Riccitelli received $80,000 of the loan proceeds, unbeknownst to Blue Hills Bank.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.