Grandson of Luchese crime capo - Joseph Cutaia - faces rap in robbery try
A Mafia scion has been charged in the violent attempted robbery of a Brooklyn businessman and is a suspect in five other armed heists, officials said Wednesday.
Joseph Cutaia - grandson of Luchese crime capo Domenico Cutaia and son of reputed soldier Salvatore Cutaia - was remanded after a bail hearing in Brooklyn Federal Court yesterday.
"Every victim we have interviewed has expressed extreme fear of Mr. Cutaia. They're petrified," Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Nash said.
Cutaia, 30, was charged with taking part in a botched Nov. 11 stickup of a man who owns an appliance store on Nostrand Ave.
An accomplice, Nicholas Bernardo, is accused of taking several shots at the victim and his wife, who was standing at the front door of their Bensonhurst home, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said Cutaia is a suspect in other robberies in the city and Putnam County, including one in which the victim was tied up for 40 hours.
Cutaia, who was married last month, faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. He mouthed, "Love you" to his wife, Alicia, who wept on a courthouse bench after the hearing.
He showed no ill effects from being shot in the leg Dec. 1 in Staten Island under mysterious circumstances. Defense lawyer Seth Ginsberg declined comment on the shooting.
But in court papers, he said the bullet is still lodged in Cutaia's leg and he is looking for a surgeon to remove it.
Magistrate Robert Levy rejected a proposal to release Cutaia on a $1 million bond secured by the Staten Island home of his grandmother and his mother-in-law's home in New Jersey.
He concluded Cutaia is a danger to the community - even though Ginsberg argued the government's case is built on the word of an informer who admitted renting a van used in the robbery.
Meanwhile, Cutaia's grandfather Domenico Cutaia is scheduled to surrender next month to begin serving three years for bank fraud.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/12/24/2009-12-24_3rdgeneration_wiseguy_faces_rap_in_robbery_try.html
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