Officials: LI man ran house-raffle scam

A Manorville huckster masterminded a $100,000 scam peddling raffle tickets to thousands of people who hoped to win a waterfront mini-mansion, but his house of cards fell apart, prosecutors said Thursday.

Scott Cicerone, 32, whose MySpace page lists his occupation as "CEO/Boss/Hustler" and his heroes as John Gotti and Hugh Hefner, allegedly spent his ill-gotten gains on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and nearly $10,000 in payments on his Mercedes-Benz, officials said.

Promoting the prize of a 4,100-square-foot luxury home in Massapequa, Cicerone sold $50 raffle tickets in 2009 to about 2,000 people, prosecutors said. In fact, the bank already had begun home foreclosure proceedings against Cicerone.

Even with the $100,000 from the fraudulent tickets, prosecutors say, Cicerone didn't use it to pay his lapsed mortgage.

Cicerone turned himself in to district attorney investigators Thursday morning and was charged with first-degree scheme to defraud and 21 misdemeanor counts of petty larceny.

He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead and posted $5,000 cash bail later in the day, prosecutors said. He faces up to 4 years in prison if convicted.

"At a time when people are struggling just to make ends meet, he took an age-old scheme and put a new spin on it," Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said, adding she will seek restitution for every victim.

Cicerone's lawyer, Scott Limmer, of Mineola, said his client did nothing wrong. Limmer said Cicerone will pay the money back "if that's what needs to be done."

"Once all the facts are out, my client will be vindicated," Limmer said outside court.

Cynthia King, 49, of Freeport, said she was one of Cicerone's victims. King said she and others bought raffle tickets as a gesture of hope even when they didn't have money to spare.

"It's sad because people need housing," she said. "This is about dreams and pulling the rug out from under people."

Rice said Cicerone and a business partner, John Luongo, purchased the Lincoln Place home for $566,500 in 2006. She said there is no evidence that Luongo played a part in the scheme.

Luongo could not be reached Thursday.

The two made extensive renovations and refinanced the house, Rice said, taking out a loan of $1 million with the intent of reselling the property.

They put the house on the market for $1.6 million but could not sell it, Rice said. The lender began foreclosure proceedings in June 2008, she said.

In August 2009, Cicerone and his partner decided to auction off the home and a Mercedes-Benz, offering 30,000 tickets at $50 each.

About 2,000 tickets were purchased right away, mostly from a website, Rice said. But the raffle was delayed and finally canceled. Cicerone promised to refund people's money but he never did, Rice said.

Soon after that, the DA's office began to hear from his victims, Rice said, eventually getting 105 complaints.

With Yamiche Alcindor

and Denise Bonilla