Bonanno member Pete Lovaglio is a rat

[tmarotta]

Thursday, March 16, 2017
Judge hands Bonnano mobster eight year sentence for vicious assault
A reputed wiseguy from Tottenville's cooperation with authorities on other matters didn't help him one bit at his sentencing Thursday in an unrelated assault case.

First, Justice William E. Garnett shot down Peter Lovaglio's request to take back his plea stemming from a savage attack in a Richmond Valley sushi lounge 16 months ago, despite statements by Lovaglio's lawyer that he recently learned the defendant was being "handled" by an Organized Crime Bureau detective who advised Lovaglio, without the attorney's knowledge, to reject prosecutors' original plea offer.

Then, Garnett sentenced Lovaglio to eight years in prison, the maximum under a plea agreement the defendant subsequently accepted from prosecutors in January, for smashing the victim with a glass, blinding the man in one eye.

"This was a vicious physical attack," said Garnett. "No one has license under any circumstance to strike such a violent blow."

The assault occurred about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2015, inside the upscale Takayama Sushi Lounge on Page Avenue.

Lovaglio, 55, who was garbed in a gray fleece pullover and blue jeans, apologized to the victim, Bonafede Forte, before sentence was imposed.

"It was a terrible assault," he said. "There's no excuse for that."

But, he added, he did not know Forte owned the restaurant, and believed someone had threatened him and his family at the time of the episode.

Lovaglio, an alleged Bonnano crime family member, has previously served time in federal prison for securities fraud, in which he was also on the hook for restitution of more than $700,000, and for collecting credit by extortion in another case.

Thursday's proceeding took a turn at the outset when defense lawyer Patrick V. Parrotta asked that Lovaglio be given back his plea.

Parrotta told the court he learned, just weeks ago, Lovaglio was cooperating with federal authorities and being "handled" by an NYPD Organized Crime Bureau detective, who arranged for the defendant to turn himself in about 10 days after the attack.

Parrotta said he was blind-sided by the development, and contended the detective had counseled Lovaglio to decline prosecutors' original plea offer in March of last year.

Parrotta said the offer was to plead guilty to attempted first-degree assault in exchange for a five-year prison sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Natalie Barros and Adam Silberlight confirmed the five-year offer, but said Lovaglio would have been required to plead guilty to the top charge of first-degree assault.

Lovaglio later pleaded guilty two months ago in state Supreme Court, St. George, to first-degree assault in exchange for a sentence of no less than five years and no more than eight years, to be decided by the judge.
Parrotta contended Lovaglio's constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel was violated by the detective's advice to the defendant.

Silberlight, however, told the court he spoke to the detective, who denied giving Lovaglio any legal advice or telling the defendant not to take the original plea.

With respect to the sentence itself, Parrotta recommended five years.

He said Lovaglio's cooperation with federal authorities in the past year has taken guns off the street and "made the community of Staten Island safer." He had no further details on the cooperation arrangement.
Prosecutors said they could not corroborate Parrotta's statement about the alleged gun busts with the Justice Department.

Barros sought an eight-year sentence, calling the attack "completely unprovoked (and) vicious."

She said Lovaglio's friend had gotten into a fight with another person in the lounge, but Forte, the owner, had broken it up. He even gave the defendant a drink on the house afterward.

The defendant later got a glass of water, called Forte over and "smashed him in the face" with the glass, she said.

Barros said prosecutors had extended the original plea offer last year not knowing the extent of Forte's injuries or if he'd be able to testify at trial.

Forte, 53, told the court he lost sight in his left eye and has no feeling on the left side of his face.

He said his injuries have forced him to sell the business, one he built from the ground up and relished running.

"Before this injury, I was an individual who was healthy and enjoyed life," he told Garnett. "This has been difficult not only for myself, but for my family."

"Please," he implored Garnett, "do not allow this man to walk the street to have the opportunity to do this to anyone else."

In imposing sentence, Garnett said Lovaglio's plea agreement was "eminently fair" and a five-year sentence "is not justified" given the facts of the case.

The judge noted Lovaglio potentially faced a sentence of up to 25 years had he been convicted of first-degree assault at trial.

Besides prison time, Lovaglio is subject to five years' post-release supervision.

Outside court, Parrotta said Lovaglio would appeal.

http://www.silive.com/southshore/index. ... epute.html

[Pogo The Clown]

Great development. Hopefully we get some Bonanno indictments from this with maybe some more defections.


Pogo

[Hailbritain]

Hopefully he can provide so great info on the hierarchy of the bonnanos and the great unanswered question , is mancuso boss or not

[Pogo The Clown]

That question has already been answered.


Pogo

[Hailbritain]

That question has already been answered.


Pogo

Who by ?? Just coz the Feds and capeci say so doesn't make it true , a lot of knowledgeable people don't believe mancuso is boss , it would be great if an actual member stated weather he is or isnt

[Pogo The Clown]

"Knowledgable people"= A few goofs on the internet who like to pretend that they have actual inside knowledge into the highest levels of the NY families.


On the other hand we have several federal documents and statements by LE going back years saying that Mancuso is the Boss.


Pogo

[Hailbritain]

I'm not disputing it 100% but it's all guess work , lovaglio actually stating it would be closure on the subject , he's an insider and would defanitly be able to clear it up . It would also be great to hear about all the making ceremonies and promotions and demotions , he could be a wealth of inside info

[Pogo The Clown]

But it's not guess work. Lovaglio himself has been cooperating for year according to the article. You can bet he is not the only member or associate to be doing so. Not to mention any ongoing investigations or wires picking up info.


Pogo

[Hailbritain]

Sounds like the Feds have hung Lovaglio out to dry

[Wiseguy]

"Knowledgable people"= A few goofs on the internet who like to pretend that they have actual inside knowledge into the highest levels of the NY families.


On the other hand we have several federal documents and statements by LE going back years saying that Mancuso is the Boss.


Pogo

And why those internet goofs, who almost always end up being proven wrongoing or at least exaggerating their actual level of keeping knowledge, are afforded equal or greater weight than the FBI or Capeci I'll never understand.

[Cheech]

who said Mancuso wasn't boss?

[Eld]

Parrotta told the court he learned, just weeks ago, Lovaglio was cooperating with federal authorities and being "handled" by an NYPD Organized Crime Bureau detective, who arranged for the defendant to turn himself in about 10 days after the attack.

If he was cooperating with the NYPD already back in 2015 he was probably tipping off the NYPD Organized Crime Bureau to a few of those Bonanno meetings in the Giallanzo detention memo.

[Hailbritain]

"Knowledgable people"= A few goofs on the internet who like to pretend that they have actual inside knowledge into the highest levels of the NY families.


On the other hand we have several federal documents and statements by LE going back years saying that Mancuso is the Boss.


Pogo

And why those internet goofs, who almost always end up being proven wrongoing or at least exaggerating their actual level of keeping knowledge, are afforded equal or greater weight than the FBI or Capeci I'll never understand.

I'm not saying he isn't boss , the Feds and capeci are rarely wrong , but some respected posters over the years have made valid points why they think he isn't boss

[SonnyBlackstein]

Wow. Fuck.

The Bonannos are a joke.

Though he was shelved and made as a rat by the family a while back. Wonder when they switched him off and who and how much he can give up.

Guessing fuck all if the Feds are walking away from him.

[UTC]

I'd be more pleased if Lovaglio was shanked his first day in jail.