Karate School Owner Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud

A former corrections officer with the Massachusetts MCI-Bridgewater facility who was indicted on charges of workers' compensation fraud and larceny by false pretense last month, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court. Ricci DeGaetano, 35, of Fall River MA is accused of collecting more than $82,500 in workers' compensation benefits while simultaneously running a karate school in Swansea.DeGaetano, according to the indictment, alleged a slip and fall injury on the job in January 1997, and consequently remained off work until June 1998 while collecting over $7,300 in i...