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John Spano, Disgraced Ex-Islanders Buyer, Faces Another Fraud Case

CLEVELAND (CBSNewYork/AP) — The man who once tried buy an NHL franchise with loads of chutzpah and not much else could face a return to the judicial penalty box if convicted of what authorities say is yet another scam.

John Spano Jr., whose audacious effort to buy the New York Islanders in 1996 landed him in federal prison, is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday for an alleged scheme to defraud a company that provides laundry services to health care facilities.

But the allegations that Spano, 50, collected nearly $70,000 in sales commissions on fake contracts can’t compare to the millions of dollars involved in his Islanders bid or a later scam totaling nearly $300,000 that earned him a second trip to federal prison.