Genovese Associate Gets 30 Years For Role In Slaying Of Jeweler
A Bay Terrace mobster who served as a lookout during a fatal botched jewelry heist in West Brighton two years ago was sentenced this morning to 30 years in prison. In April, a Brooklyn federal court jury convicted Anthony Pica, 31, of robbery conspiracy and weapons charges, as well as causing death through firearm use stemming from the slaying of jeweler Louis Antonelli, 43, of Grasmere.
According to Brooklyn federal prosecutors, Pica, a Genovese crime family associate, and Christopher Prince, 27, of Ocean Breeze, kept a watch on a restaurant on Broadway where Antonelli was eating. The two men sat in Prince's luxury Range Rover.
Once Antonelli emerged from El Sabor Tropical restaurant and approached his black 1995 GMC Yukon sport utility vehicle, he was ambushed by Charles Santiago and Joseph Gencarelli.
Santiago twice shot Antonelli in the chest before he and Gencarelli fled empty-handed. Antonelli was carrying jewelry valued at $250,000, according to court testimony.
Antonelli was rushed to nearby Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, but died of his wounds May 12.
Santiago, 27, of Grant City, pleaded guilty in October to robbery conspiracy and weapons counts and will spend 30 years to life in prison as part of his deal.
Gencarelli, 28, a former city Department of Environmental Protection sewage-treatment worker from Grant City, claimed he only went along for the robbery and had no idea plans included shooting Antonelli.
He and Prince, an alleged Genovese associate, have also cut plea deals. All three defendants await sentencing as does Salvatore (Sally Fish) Maniscalco of Brooklyn, who prosecutors said recruited the stickup gang.
A sixth man, New Dorp resident John (Wizzie) DeLutro another lookout, was in "near-constant" telephone contact with Pica, said the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York.
DeLutro, 33, and Maniscalco, 36, have both been linked to the Genovese family.
DeLutro was sentenced in May to 20 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to robbery conspiracy.
Investigators also suspect Jason Aiello, Antonelli's companion on the day he was shot, of setting up the jeweler for a cut of the illicit proceeds. Aiello died in a shootout with police in July 2008 in Rosebank.
Also charged in the case was Genovese capo Anthony (Big Nose) Antico.
Prosecutors allege the longtime mob bigwig ordered the robbery on Antonelli; however, a Brooklyn federal court jury acquitted him of that charge last month.
But jurors convicted Antico, 74, of running an illegal gambling parlor on Sand Lane, South Beach, from 2004 to 2006. He was also found guilty of conspiring to rob the winner of a $1 million Pick Six horse-racing bet in 2008.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/bay_terrace_mobster_sentenced.html
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