Jailed Colombo mobster Tommy Shots might get released due to the coronavirus
A federal judge said Monday that he would decide shortly whether to release Thomas Gioeli, one-time head of the Colombo organized-crime family, from federal prison to home confinement because of the convicted mobster’s fear of contracting the coronavirus.
Gioeli, 67, of Farmingdale, who was known as “Tommy Shots,” is serving 18 years for his role in the murderous infighting for control within the family in the 1990s.
He was convicted in 2012 by a federal jury in Brooklyn of a conspiracy involving three murder plots, two of which involved the deaths of mob associates during the so-called “Colombo Wars," between factions of the family headed by Carmine Persico and Victor Orena.
Gioeli had won a $250,000 judgment from the government after slipping on a puddle of water from a leaky shower sink in 2013, and fracturing his right knee.
The incident came up Monday because his attorney, Jennifer Louis-Jeune had argued during a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, that Gioeli should be released to home confinement because of extremely poor health that could lead to his death if contracted the virus.
The defense attorney citied a lengthy list of Gioeli’s medical problems including diabetes, a stroke, prostate cancer, numerous arterial problems, and that he is now facing a gall bladder operation
Before saying he would reserve decision, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan asked about the fracturing of the knee, which, Gioeli had said in a deposition, he had done while playing Ping-Pong.
In the deposition, according to court records, Gioeli testified that while he was playing Ping-Pong, “ the ball went off the table and I missed the shot….I went to retrieve the ball. I stepped in the puddle and I slipped.”
Louis-Jeune, said Gioeli had initially tested positive for the coronavirus at the federal prison in Danbury, Conn. and was transferred to a section with detainees who had the virus. He remained there though later tests showed the first result was a false-positive and another test showed he had an immune response, indicating he had been exposed to the virus, she said.
Now, Louis-Jeune said her client is in a cell by himself, but shares a common bathroom with others on the unit, and still is in danger of getting the virus, perhaps fatally because of his poor health.
Louis-Jeune said her client was not a danger to the community, and referring to his history, added that Gioeli is “a weakened fraction of that man.”
But Eastern District Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said that the government strongly opposes Gioeli’s release.
Geddes said Gioeli had no problems in the past orchestrating violent crimes despite a history of medical problems even before he was imprisoned.
The prosecutor said that Gioeli has not yet exhausted the administrative procedures for release within the federal Bureau of Prisons, that the prison system has the capability of handling his medical programs, that there is no proof that he has been rehabilitated, and the “seriousness of his crimes cannot be overstated.”
https://www.newsday.com/amp/news/health/coronavirus/gioeli-mobster-coronavirus-bail-1.44749613
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