by The Greek » Tue May 03, 2022 8:43 pm
You don’t age out of being a made man, a new indictment filed in Brooklyn Federal Court shows.
A white-haired wiseguy was busted Tuesday for punching a Manhattan restaurant owner in the face over a gambling debt.
Anthony “Rom” Romanello, 84, was indicted with alleged fellow Genovese mobster Joseph Celso, 49, for the 2017 assault over the restaurateur’s debt to Albanian actor and part-time bookie Luan Bexheti, the sources said.
Romanello, Celso and Bexheti were charged with extortion and obstruction of justice in the indictment handed up Tuesday, and were released on bond after their arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Unable to collect the debt from the Manhattan business owner, Bexheti, who prosecutors say is “closely associated” with the Genovese family, reached out to Romanello and Celso for help, sources told the Daily News.
The two mobsters traveled to the restaurant on Bexheti’s behalf and Romanello punched the man in the face, the source said. It was not immediately clear if the debt was paid after the visit.
On top of the extortion charge, Celso was also hit with an obstruction of justice charge for allegedly tampering with a grand jury proceeding related to the investigation into the scheme, according to the indictment.At the arraignment, Assistant U.S. Attorney James McDonald said that Celso tried to “influence witness testimony,” spurring the obstruction of justice charge.
Celso — who was released on a $1 million bond — was acquitted in 1993 of a murder charge for allegedly being part of a white mob that chased a Latino teen 17 blocks and beat him to death with a baseball bat and fire extinguisher after the teen scrawled graffiti in a park.
Romanello, a capo in the Genovese family, got a deal from the feds in a 2012 firearm case when a cooperating witness set to testify against him suffered a heart attack shortly before trial. He ended up getting a no-jail sentence after prosecutors dropped the gun charge.
He was released Tuesday on a $500,000 bond.
Bexheti was prosecuted for illegal gambling in Queens in a separate case, a source said. He was released on $100,000 bond.
All three men declined to comment outside court.
You don’t age out of being a made man, a new indictment filed in Brooklyn Federal Court shows.
A white-haired wiseguy was busted Tuesday for punching a Manhattan restaurant owner in the face over a gambling debt.
Anthony “Rom” Romanello, 84, was indicted with alleged fellow Genovese mobster Joseph Celso, 49, for the 2017 assault over the restaurateur’s debt to Albanian actor and part-time bookie Luan Bexheti, the sources said.
Romanello, Celso and Bexheti were charged with extortion and obstruction of justice in the indictment handed up Tuesday, and were released on bond after their arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Unable to collect the debt from the Manhattan business owner, Bexheti, who prosecutors say is “closely associated” with the Genovese family, reached out to Romanello and Celso for help, sources told the Daily News.
The two mobsters traveled to the restaurant on Bexheti’s behalf and Romanello punched the man in the face, the source said. It was not immediately clear if the debt was paid after the visit.
On top of the extortion charge, Celso was also hit with an obstruction of justice charge for allegedly tampering with a grand jury proceeding related to the investigation into the scheme, according to the indictment.At the arraignment, Assistant U.S. Attorney James McDonald said that Celso tried to “influence witness testimony,” spurring the obstruction of justice charge.
Celso — who was released on a $1 million bond — was acquitted in 1993 of a murder charge for allegedly being part of a white mob that chased a Latino teen 17 blocks and beat him to death with a baseball bat and fire extinguisher after the teen scrawled graffiti in a park.
Romanello, a capo in the Genovese family, got a deal from the feds in a 2012 firearm case when a cooperating witness set to testify against him suffered a heart attack shortly before trial. He ended up getting a no-jail sentence after prosecutors dropped the gun charge.
He was released Tuesday on a $500,000 bond.
Bexheti was prosecuted for illegal gambling in Queens in a separate case, a source said. He was released on $100,000 bond.
All three men declined to comment outside court.