http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/view.bg?articleid=108666

Blount brushes off allegations: Called out in NYC court
By Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - Updated: 07:20 AM EST

A former coach of Mark Blount stated in a Manhattan federal courtroom that he arranged to have someone take Blount's SAT and that he had injected the Celtics center with steroids when he needed to put some bulk on his skinny frame.

Maurizio Sanginiti, 40, was named Blount's legal guardian in the mid-1990s and accompanied him on college recruiting trips, according to a story in Sunday's New York Daily News.

According to the paper, ``Sanginiti is the government's lead witness in a racketeering conspiracy case involving an Albanian-led gang accused of wresting control of Bronx and Queens social clubs from Italian crime families. As a cooperator he's been forced to reveal all other crimes he's committed, including those involving Blount.''

The Daily News called Sanginiti ``a pug-nosed convicted kidnapper, extortionist and mob enforcer who coached (Blount) when he was one of the New York area's top high school stars.''

Recalling issues with Blount, Sanginiti told the prosecutor, ``He couldn't get the score on his SAT, which I believe had to be an 800 or better, so we decided, me and him, to get somebody else to take the test for him.''

Sanginiti sued Blount in 2001, seeking $250,000 he says he gave to him over the years.

Blount rolled his eyes when told of Sanginiti's courtroom statements.

``People are people,'' Blount said. ``Whatever. I really don't care. It is what it is, that's all.

``He can say what he wants to say, you know what I mean? I've been there and done that already with him, and I'm not doing it again.''