Alleged gangsters plead guilty to gambling, loan-sharking

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Two alleged gangsters have pleaded guilty to running a gambling and loan-sharking ring out of two Massachusetts bars.

The Republican reports 66-year-old Rex Cunningham and 60-year-old Brian Hoyle pleaded guilty to illegal gambling, money-laundering and loan-sharking Wednesday.

The state attorney general’s office charged the two men in 2016 for running a ring out of New O’Brien’s Corner and the Blarney Stone in Springfield. The men were also charged with witness intimidation, but those charges were later dismissed.

The attorney general is recommending the men serve a 2.5 year jail sentence with 1.5 years suspended.

Both men served more than 10 years in prison for racketeering and conspiracy charges from the 1990s.

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Information from: The Springfield (Mass.) Republican, http://www.masslive.com/news/