Original article posted Jan. 14, 2011

Local non-profits trusted him to help raise money, and now he's facing multiple criminal charges.

Abe Spicola has been charged with ten counts: Three felonies for receiving bribes, one misdemeanor for falsifying documents, and six counts of failure to file a monthly report and pay the non-profits for which he was operating the gaming permits.

If you are not familiar with his name, you might know his business, Lucky Times Pull Tab, which put on Alaska's first half a million dollar drawing.

"He used to be an investigator for the Department of Revenue Gaming Division," says Alaska Assistant Attorney General John Skidmore, who heads up special prosecutions, "So in that sense, he used to be charged with enforcing the very laws he is now accused of violating."

Lucky Times has been open since May 2007 selling pull-tabs and running raffles for multiple non-profits.

According to charging documents, Spicola asked two local non-profits, The Anchorage Community Theatre and A.B.A.T.E, to pay him $9,000 to $10,000 for new gaming equipment. Meanwhile, any payments he gave the non-profits, which were required by state law, were consistently late if they came at all.

In addition to filing false reports with the state, Spicola is accused of demanding the two non-profits invest their money back into Lucky Times by buying his pull-tabs.

Then when the non-profits raised concerns, the charging documents say Spicola asked them not to turn him in.

According to the affidavit from Department of Revenue Investigator James Kurth, in 2009, Spicola had been told there were complaints against him requiring any non-profit that wanted him to see pull tabs on its behalf, to pay him $10,000.  Spicola told Kurth it was true, but he considered it an investment in his business.  Spicola said he and his wife Heidi worked hard and the money was compensation for their work.

When asked about more possible charges against Abe Spicola, Skidmore said, "I can tell you that during the time of his operation, I am only aware of two, maybe three other permittees, and all I can tell you is at this point, there haven't been any charges filed for any of his conduct for those permittees,"

Abe Spicola's lawyer says his client plans to plead not guilty to all charges.

According to a statement from Spicola's attorney Terry Aglietti, "Mr. Spicola and I look forward to working with representatives with the Department of Revenue as well as the District Attorney's office to resolve what we believe to be an accounting dispute."

But if the case goes to court, and Spicola is found guilty, the state is likely to push for the maximum sentence: 16 years behind bars and thousands of dollars in fines.

"That has certainly been an argument that the State of Alaska has made- that when someone is responsible for enforcing the law or placed into a position of trust, the penalty for that individual should be harsher," explains Skidmore, "However, that decision is up to each judge in each individual case."

If Abe Spicola is found guilty of any of the 10 charges, he would lose his gaming license for at least ten years.