Colombo family street boss extorted Joe Pesci's cousin over restaurant money
We weren’t looking to break no legs, just debating Joe Pesci’s performance in “Home Alone.”
Mobster Andrew “Mush’’ Russo’s lawyer yesterday tried to sell a judge that incredible interpretation of a secretly recorded conversation that Brooklyn federal prosecutors say proves his client green-lighted an extortion attempt against Pesci’s restaurateur cousin, Gino Pesci.
The lawyer, George Galgano, was attempting to get Russo, a Colombo family street boss, sprung from jail on bail until his racketeering trial begins.
It didn’t work.
“The evidence in this case is strong,” Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said before rejecting the wiseguy’s bail request.
The transcript, released by the feds, features Russo and a Colombo captain discussing Gino’s alleged debt to an actor friend of “Mush.’’
“Joe Pesci’s cousin. He [cheated] some kid . . . took $70,000. When they went, when they went to grab him, [he said] ‘I blew it, I don’t have it,’ ” Russo says.
“This kid, you know the kid, Federico Castelluccio?. . .The kid who played Furio on the Sopranos.”
Assistant US Attorney Liz Geddes says Russo directed the captain to collect the money Castelluccio had invested in Gino Pesci’s New Jersey Italian bistro.
It doesn’t spell out the means the mob would employ to accomplish that, but the feds described it as “extortion.’’
“I’ll get you all the information,” Russo said, according to the transcript.
Galgano argued in court papers that Mush was never involved in an effort to shake down Joe Pesci’s cousin.
“This never happened,” he wrote.
What really took place, he insisted, was nothing more than a lively discussion among movie fans about the John Hughes film, “Home Alone.”
As the mobsters recalled Joe Pesci’s memorable performance in the holiday-season favorite, Russo interjected that Gino Pesci took money from a friend of Russo’s for a movie script, Gargano claimed, although no script was mentioned in the transcript.
He then asked if anyone at the table knew anyone in Jersey who might know the restaurateur, Gargano wrote.
In his papers, the lawyer apparently indicates his client had been misinformed.
“As it turns out, there was no script, no disagreement, and [no] money owed to Mr. Castelluccio,” Galgano said.
Both Castellucci and Gino Pesci have told The Post that they know of no extortion plot over the restaurant money.
Russo is charged with shaking down Gino Pesci.
He’s also accused of extorting money from the Gambino crime family to cover medical expenses for a Colombo mobster allegedly stabbed by a wiseguy from the rival family.
Mobster Andrew “Mush’’ Russo’s lawyer yesterday tried to sell a judge that incredible interpretation of a secretly recorded conversation that Brooklyn federal prosecutors say proves his client green-lighted an extortion attempt against Pesci’s restaurateur cousin, Gino Pesci.
The lawyer, George Galgano, was attempting to get Russo, a Colombo family street boss, sprung from jail on bail until his racketeering trial begins.
It didn’t work.
“The evidence in this case is strong,” Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said before rejecting the wiseguy’s bail request.
MUSCLED: Federal prosectors say an alleged mobster tried to put the squeeze on the cousin of “Home Alone” actor Joe Pesci (above) over a restaurant loan.
“Joe Pesci’s cousin. He [cheated] some kid . . . took $70,000. When they went, when they went to grab him, [he said] ‘I blew it, I don’t have it,’ ” Russo says.
“This kid, you know the kid, Federico Castelluccio?. . .The kid who played Furio on the Sopranos.”
Assistant US Attorney Liz Geddes says Russo directed the captain to collect the money Castelluccio had invested in Gino Pesci’s New Jersey Italian bistro.
It doesn’t spell out the means the mob would employ to accomplish that, but the feds described it as “extortion.’’
“I’ll get you all the information,” Russo said, according to the transcript.
Galgano argued in court papers that Mush was never involved in an effort to shake down Joe Pesci’s cousin.
“This never happened,” he wrote.
What really took place, he insisted, was nothing more than a lively discussion among movie fans about the John Hughes film, “Home Alone.”
As the mobsters recalled Joe Pesci’s memorable performance in the holiday-season favorite, Russo interjected that Gino Pesci took money from a friend of Russo’s for a movie script, Gargano claimed, although no script was mentioned in the transcript.
He then asked if anyone at the table knew anyone in Jersey who might know the restaurateur, Gargano wrote.
In his papers, the lawyer apparently indicates his client had been misinformed.
“As it turns out, there was no script, no disagreement, and [no] money owed to Mr. Castelluccio,” Galgano said.
Both Castellucci and Gino Pesci have told The Post that they know of no extortion plot over the restaurant money.
Russo is charged with shaking down Gino Pesci.
He’s also accused of extorting money from the Gambino crime family to cover medical expenses for a Colombo mobster allegedly stabbed by a wiseguy from the rival family.
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