Lawyer Richard A. Sprague of Philadelphia gave a glimpse of DeNaples' possible courtroom defense in a meeting with the Inquirer editorial board.

Dauphin County prosecutors in Harrisburg accused DeNaples in January of lying to the state Gaming Control Board, which granted him a slots license for the resort.

Sprague said the mob boss, William "Big Billy" D'Elia, who is awaiting trial on federal charges including trying to have a witness murdered, was lying when he told a grand jury that the two were so tight that DeNaples gave him his late father's green rosary beads.

Also according to Sprague, D'Elia told the grand jury that he saw another mobster, the late Russell Bufalino, head of the Bufalino crime family, give DeNaples a ring off his hand after DeNaples admired it at a local boxing match.

Those things never happened, Sprague said at The Inquirer. Sprague asked for the meeting to complain about what he viewed as mischaracterizations of DeNaples in the newspaper's editorials.

DeNaples' father had black, not green, rosary beads and was buried with them, Sprague said. He added that he had even suggested to authorities that they should consider exhuming the body to check. Furthermore, Sprague contended, though DeNaples has amassed great wealth, he has never worn jewelry. Nor has he ever gone to a boxing match, Sprague said.

"He's wealthier by far than all of us in this room combined," Sprague told the editorial board. "With all his wealth, he wears a $10 watch on his hand."

DeNaples told gaming investigators in 2006 that he had no personal relationship or business dealings with the two Northeastern Pennsylvania mobsters and two other men who were later swept up in the City Hall corruption probe.

Prosecutors have not alleged any mob-related crimes by DeNaples. They believe he lied because he feared gambling regulators would not award him a coveted slots license if they knew of his connections.

After he was charged, the gaming board suspended his license and appointed a trustee to oversee the operations of the Poconos casino, which opened in October.

Sprague spent more than an hour yesterday portraying DeNaples as a man who rose from poor roots to the head of a Scranton business empire that includes extensive real estate holdings, landfills, and auto parts warehouses, among other ventures. He has also, Sprague said, given generously to charities, including hospitals and universities.

Fran Chardo, the Dauphin County first deputy district attorney who is prosecuting the case, would not comment on Sprague's remarks other than to say, "What I put in the presentment speaks for itself. The grand jury obviously found it to be credible."