Louis “The Coin” Colavecchio, of Cranston, was arrested in December 2018, when a six-month U.S. Secret Service undercover investigation concluded with agents executing federally authorized search warrants and seizing from Colavecchio’s then Coventry residence $29,000 in counterfeit $100 bills, a mechanical printing press, images of $100 bills, a computer, and other counterfeiting materials. Colavecchio pled guilty on March 19, 2019, to intent to defraud and possess counterfeit obligations. According to court documents, prior to his arrest on December 7, 2018, Colavecchio boasted to others that he was already working on a defense should he be arrested again for counterfeiting.
If caught, Colavecchio told others he would claim that he was working as a counterfeit deterrence specialist. In addition to being convicted in 1997 and sentenced to 27-months in federal prison for counterfeiting casino tokens in a massive operation that targeted all of the Atlantic City casinos in New Jersey and the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, Colavecchio has since been convicted of larceny; of obtaining money under false pretenses, after he was caught stealing $100,000 from his 92-year-old aunt; resisting arrest; and for cultivating kilograms of marijuana.
According to court documents, in 2015, Colavecchio published an autobiography detailing his life of crime, including his self-described interaction and activities with the Patriarca Crime Family. Colavecchio’s sentence, imposed by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., is announced by United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Stephen Marks. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerard B. Sullivan.
United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman and Special Agent in Charge Stephen Marks thank the Coventry and Pawtucket Police Departments for their assistance executing court-authorized search warrants in this matter.
-- District of Rhode Island