SPANO SPENT ANOTHER $100,000 RIGHT BEFORE THE STORM

          Former Islanders Owner John Spano, charged last month
     with fraudulently spending $220,000 of the Islanders' money
     during his three-month tenure as owner, spent an additional
     $100,000 of the team's money, and the bills "have arrived
     for the team to pay," according to Fessenden, Valenti &
     Riley of NEWSDAY.  Sources indicate that included in the
     bills were $31,000 in charter-jet fees; $26,000 for an "open
     letter from John Spano" to fans advertisement in Newsday;
     $35,000 for the Garden City Hotel, where he stayed on Long
     Island; and $6,000 in limousine bills.  A "source close to
     the federal investigation said prosecutors were preparing to
     offer Spano a plea bargain involving 47 to 56 months in a
     minimum-security federal penitentiary if he would forego
     trial on wire and mail-fraud charges."  Spano faces a
     maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted (NEWSDAY, 8/13).