DETECTIVE GUILTY IN A BRIBERY CASE

A suspended police detective pleaded guilty yesterday short ly before his scheduled trial on bribery charges resulting from a Federal investigation of cor ruption in the city's criminal justice system.

The 39‐year‐old detective Nicholas J. Lamattina of 49 Is may Street, Staten Island, pleaded guilty in Federal Court here to taking part in a bribery plot to obtain confidential rec ords from the office of United States Attorney Whitney North Seymour Jr.

After Lamattina's guilty plea, a jury of seven men and five women was selected for the trial of his two co‐defendants, who are Edmund A. Rosner, a lawyer with offices at 401 Broadway, and Nicholas DeSte fano, a bail‐bond investigator at 81‐A Baxter Street.

$2,850 Payment Alleged

Their indictment, which is the first one in the corruption investigation to go to trial, al leged that the defendants paid $2,850 in bribes to Detective Robert Leucci, an undercover agent, to obtain grand jury tes timony and other secret infor mation about Federal criminal cases.

Lamattina, who pleaded to two counts in the eight‐count indictment, could face up to 20 years in prison and $30,000 in fines when he is sentenced by Judge Arnold Bauman after the trial of his two co‐defendants.

Robert G. Morvillo, the pros ecutor, told Judge Bauman dur ing the pleading that “Detective Lamattina is the subject of in vestigation in approximately three or four other cases” that had not yet resulted in indict ments.

Agreement Reached

Mr. Morvillo said that the Government had promised La mattina that it would not seek indictments against him in the other cases if he pleaded guilty and cooperated with the prose cution.

“In exchange for that,” Mr. Morvillo said, “Detective La mattina has agreed to cooperate with the Government in this case and the other cases.”

Lawrence Hochheiser, a law yer for Lamattina, then asked Judge Bauman to seal the rec ord and order the press not to report the guilty‐plea proceed ing because of the “sensitive situation” of the suspended de tective, who remained free on bail of $15,000.

Judge Bauman replied that he would seal the record, as re quested, but would place no re straints on newsmen, although he said he would “entreat them to do what they can” in the Lamattina case.

“I am totally without power to order them to withhold the printing of information,” the judge added.

After Lamattina pleaded guilty to one count of conspir acy and one count of bribery, he walked to the rear of the courtroom and briefly brushed a few tears from his eyes.

Judge Bauman scheduled the opening statements in the trial of Mr. DeStefano and Mr. Ros ner to begin today at 10 A.M.

Albert Krieger, the lawyer for Mr. Rosner, made a motion to obtain the Police Department records of Detective Leuci, who is expected to testify for the first time as the key witness for the prosecution.

“We have established that Leuci has committed criminal acts while a police officer,” Mr. Krieger said as the judge agreed to consider whether the defense was entitled to see the record of the undercover de tective for use in cross‐exam ining him during the trial.

The defendants were accused of paying detective Leuci to obtain the draft copy of an indictment against Dominick J. Marcone, a Manhattan bail bondsman charged with arrang ing the dismissal of a narcotics case by fixing a police labora tory test on a pound of confis cated cocaine.