BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Reputed mobster Frank Piccolo Friday pleaded innocent to charges he conspired to extort money from entertainers Wayne Newton and Lola Falana and a Las Vegas lawyer.
Piccolo entered the plea before U.S. District Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly.
The second man charged in the alleged extortion plot, Guido Penosi, 51, of Beverly Hills, Calif., was scheduled to appear before Daly June 26.
The FBI has identified Piccolo as an associate of New York's Carlo Gambino organized crime family.
Authorities said it was expected Penosi would waive extradition proceedings from California to Connecticut during a hearing June 24 before U.S. Magistrate Ralph Geffen in Los Angeles.
An indictment returned June 11 by a federal grand jury in New Haven alleged Piccolo and Penosi were involved with several New York men between May 19, 1980, and Sept. 27, 1980, in a conspiracy to obtain money and other valuables from Newton, Miss Falana and Mark Moreno.
Moreno, a Las Vegas lawyer, is Miss Falana's business manager and is said to be a longtime friend of Newton.
After Piccolo entered his plea Friday, Daly set July 6 as the deadline for all defense motions and July 10 for government responses. The judge said any hearings on the motions would take place in July or early August.
Jury selection was scheduled for Sept. 8.
Piccolo was arrested last week and freed after posting 10 percent of his $50,000 bond. Penosi was also released after posting bond.
Also pending against Piccolo in a separate indictment is a charge that he and two other men conspired to obstruct justice during a grand jury investigation of two dice games being run in Bridgeport.
