Mass. trooper denied bail on extortion charge

BOSTON -- A 20-year veteran Massachusetts state trooper has been ordered held until his trial on charges that he threatened to kill a bookmaker he was working with in a gambling ring.

Forty-eight-year-old John Analetto has been in detention and suspended from the state police since his arrest last month on an extortion charge.

The Boston Globe reports Judge Marianne Bowler ruled Friday that Analetto is a danger to the community.

Prosecutors say Analetto was secretly videotaped threatening the bookie, a cooperating witness for the FBI. Analetto allegedly felt the man wasn't trying hard enough to collect money bettors owed to them. Prosecutors said Analetto also made a threatening call to one of the bettors.

Analetto's lawyer has argued his client's threatening language was just tough-guy talk after heavy drinking.

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