Federal judge denies latest compassionate release request for cancer stricken former Colombo street boss Tommy Shots
A one-time Colombo crime family street boss’ violent life of crime could end with his death behind bars.
A Brooklyn federal judge rejected the latest appeal from cancer-stricken mobster Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli for a compassionate release from prison, declaring the inmate’s murderous Mafia career outweighed any arguments for his freedom.
“The unfortunate fact in this case is that the defendant’s crimes were so heinous and the nature of his leadership role so dangerous that release would not be appropriate,” wrote Judge Brian M. Cogan in the Wednesday decision. “The motion is therefore denied.”
Cogan previously shot down a May 2020 appeal for Gioeli’s freedom based on the ailing gangster’s fears of contracting COVID-19. The judge, in his latest ruling, acknowledged Gioeli’s health woes but declined to set him free.
“I find the defendant’s medical status has deteriorated to the point where he has satisfied his burden of showing extraordinary and compelling reasons (for release) under the statute,” he wrote in the seven-page decision.
“However, the assessment of the sentencing factors has not changed and that assessment precludes release.”
Gioeli, 70, was convicted at a 2012 federal racketeering trial for conspiring to killer supporters of then-family boss “Little Vic” Orena during a lethal war for control of the Colombo family. He was sentenced to 18½ years behind bars.
The family capo, heading a faction loyal to imprisoned head Carmine “Junior” Persico, was bumped up to street boss during the bloody battle where 13 victims were killed — including a teen bagel shop worker gunned down in a case of mistaken identity.
Cogan, in his decision, noted Gioeli and his crew “committed multiple murders that I know of from the evidence at trial ... The evidence of these murders was again detailed, grisly and left me with no doubt as to the defendant’s involvement.”
According to court papers, Gioeli was diagnosed last year with a recurrence of bladder cancer followed by surgery and now receives weekly injections of hormones to battle the illness. The cancer’s return followed an 18-month stretch where Gioeli received no follow-up medical treatment behind bars, court papers said.
“We will never know if his bladder cancer could have been caught earlier, and perhaps treated more effectively,” wrote Cogan.
Gioeli famously collected a $250,000 settlement after an August 2013 slip and fall during a prison ping-pong game left him with a fractured kneecap. The mobster needed surgery and spent a month in the hospital after the accident.
But Cogan, in a November 2019, ruled the financial windfall should go for restitution to a fur store and a bank robbed by the gangster and his crew back in the ‘90s.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-tommy-shots-colombo-mobster-compassionate-release-20220324-f6vkcmqpjrgpfihqm2jjnxs2aq-story.html
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