Mobster's lawyer pleads for sympathy after feds traumatize client's Maltese puppy during raid
Frank Pontillo was arrested after the FBI raided his Staten Island home.
Pontillo's dog Logan was reportedly traumatized by a flash bang grenade.
A lawyer for a reputed mob associate is asking a judge to go easy on his client - because his tiny Maltese puppy was traumatized during an FBI raid, the Daily News has learned.
A heavily armed FBI special operations team charged through the door of Frank "Frankie Steel" Pontillo's Staten Island home, tossing concussion grenades inside.
"The resulting blast propelled a 4-pound puppy across the room into a wall," defense lawyer George Farkas states in court papers filed last week in Brooklyn Federal Court. "The little dog has not been the same since."
Pontillo, 40, was part of the much-hyped roundup of more than 100 mobsters for a slew of crimes last January.
But while some of the wiseguys were wanted for murder and extortion, Pontillo was indicted for buying less than $10,000 worth of stolen TVs and other electronic items from a mob snitch in a sting operation.
Farkas is asking Federal Judge Leo Glasser to consider the overkill surrounding Pontillo's arrest - and the effect on furball Logan - when he's sentenced in September.
The lawyer may be guilty of overkill himself - he likens the bust to "an operation worthy of an honorable mention next to the recent raid and well-publicized Navy SEAL commando raid in Pakistan."
Pontillo's neighbor confirmed the morning of Jan. 20 was like something out of an action flick with quiet Gower St. blocked off as the SWAT team burst into the house.
"It was horrendous," said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. "I looked out my door and and two guys were pointing Uzis at me."
The neighbor said Logan has acted "terrified" around strangers since that morning, although the dog seemed playful with a photographer from The News.
It is unclear if a "Beware of Dog" sign on Pontillo's gate refers to Logan or his bulldog Spanky.
FBI spokesman James Margolin said the tactics used were necessary and appropriate based on Pontillo's size - he's 370 pounds - and his violent criminal history.
Pontillo was charged in 1991 with conspiring with others to dress up like Hasidic Jews as part of a plot to murder their rivals during the Colombo civil war.
But he says in court papers that he was in no condition to put up a fight - he ruptured two spinal discs in 2008 "playing an interactive video game."
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