An elderly alleged New York mobster who was caught on camera sucker-punching a Manhattan restaurant owner has been convicted of extortion.
Anthony “Rom” Romanello, 86, was found guilty of extortionate collection of credit and conspiracy to commit the same in connection with a gambling debt on Tuesday.
Romanello, who now faces up to 40 years behind bars, is being held in custody to await sentencing, despite his lawyer’s arguments that he was too old to be jailed.
He was convicted alongside his associate Joseph Celso, who was also tried on conspiracy to commit extortionate collection of credit.
During a week-long trial, the court heard that from March 2017 to June 2017, Romanello, Celso and co-defendant Luan Bexheti conspired to use extortionate means to collect an unpaid gambling debt owed by a man, known as John Doe #2 and a family member.
According to the New York Post, the pair had been seeking an $86,000 gambling debt.
Romanello and Celso used threats and violence in repeated attempts to collect the debt from John Doe #1, a relative of John Doe #2, according to the US attorney’s office.
Romanello confronted John Doe #1 three separate times to demand money in satisfaction of the debt. On the third time, Romanello and Celso went to John Doe #1’s restaurant in Manhattan to again demand the money.
After John Doe #1 stated that he would only pay a portion of the amount Romanello was demanding, Romanello punched John Doe #1 in the face. John Doe #1 reported the assault to the New York City Police Department.
The incident was captured on CCTV footage, with Romanello catching the man off guard with a punch to the face and Celso grabbing him and pushing him.
The next day, Celso warned John Doe #2, John Doe #1’s brother, that if John Doe #1 did not drop the criminal charge against Romanello, the situation would escalate and “things would get ugly,” the US attorney’s office said.
After John Doe #2 told John Doe #1 about the warning, John Doe #1 withdrew his complaint with the New York Police Department.
Following his conviction, Romanello’s lawyer Jerry McMahon argued that his client had “exceptional circumstances” to avoid being held ahead of sentencing. Such circumstances are necessary in Romanello’s case because extortion is classified as a violent crime.
“His life expectancy is in the single digits,” Mr McMahon said, according to the New York Post.
But Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Eric Komitee noted that Romanello had seemed to be in “good health for his age” during the weeklong trial.
“Today’s verdict upholds the rule of law and demonstrates the defendants’ violent and brazen conduct will not be tolerated,” stated United States Attorney Peace on Tuesday. “I commend the jury for holding the defendants accountable for their crimes.”
Romanello will reportedly face sentencing in March.
