Colombo soldier claims he is too sick to stand trial
And then there was one.
With guilty pleas locked in from 38 Colombo mobsters arrested last year in a historic Mafia takedown, reputed soldier Ralph Scopo Jr., is the last wiseguy standing.
But just barely.
Scopo, 63, claims he is suffering from liver failure and thus is too sick to stand trial on extortion charges relating to the Cement and Concrete Workers Union Local 6A, according to court papers.
He was scheduled for trial in January but Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto adjourned the trial date Friday until April due to his claims of deteriorating health.
Defense lawyer Kevin Keating revealed that Scopo is not eligible for a liver transplant, is morbidly obese and suffers from pulmonary disease, diabetes, irregular heartbeat, asthma and high blood pressure.
“It is clear to me that Scopo will continue to be unable to assist in his defense in any fashion,” Keating wrote to the judge.
Scopo previously pleaded guilty to extortion charges in Manhattan Federal Court and sought a merciful sentence then, too, citing liver disease.
That was in 2006 and Scopo claimed at the time in sentencing papers that he had less than two years to live. He paid a $40,000 fine and was sentenced to time served.
Federal prosecutors racked up the final five guilty pleas in the Colombo case on Friday stemming from the January 2011 arrests of more than 100 mobsters in the United States and Italy.
“These ensuing prosecutions have decimated the Colombo family infrastructure as we have removed both the old guard and the new blood,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.
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