New Rochelle Thanksgiving Parade Sponsor Turned Informant Did Controlled Drug Buy to Slash Felony Charges

ARMONK, N.Y. (Dec. 2, 2025) — Robert P. Rubicco, the name sponsor of the 2025 New Rochelle Thanksgiving Parade, cooperated with North Castle police in 2001 to reduce his sentence by participating in a controlled drug buy hours after his own arrest for possessing 30 Ecstasy tablets, newly released police records show.

On July 21, 2001, while in custody following his July 20 arrest for felony possession of 1.71 grams of MDMA, Rubicco, also known as “Bobby Beeks,” was directed by Det. Sgt. James Varco to monitor incoming calls on his Nextel phone from a drug contact known as “Bill,” according to a sworn deposition by Officer Kenneth Maurer.

At 11:25 p.m., Rubicco received a direct-connect call on speakerphone from an individual he identified as “Bill” by voice and his Nextel ID. The caller told Rubicco, “I got 5 or 6 I can get more if needed.” When Rubicco asked the price, the caller replied “$460.00” and said he was “on his way over,” the deposition states.

Twenty-five minutes later, at approximately 11:50 p.m., “Bill” called again and stated, “I got everything,” Officer Maurer wrote.

Det. Sgt. Varco was immediately advised of both conversations, according to the deposition filed in the case.

Rubicco, then 18, had been arrested the previous night after police found 30 Ecstasy tablets in the trunk of a 1997 red BMW during a stop at 28 Wampus Lake Drive. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge and received a three-month jail sentence.

This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.