Wiseguy agrees to pay his brother $105K to settle lawsuit
He's facing a federal extortion trial in a week, but a reputed mobster from Todt Hill has settled one account in the interim:
Scott Fappiano has agreed to fork over $105,000 to resolve a civil lawsuit his brother filed against him earlier this year.
Mark Fappiano of West Brighton alleged his sibling welched on repaying a $138,000 debt even though he had some cash: Scott Fappiano received a $1.8 million settlement from the state several years ago for false imprisonment, court papers say.
Scott Fappiano was incarcerated for 21 years for the 1983 rape of a police officer's wife in Brooklyn, which he didn't commit. DNA evidence exonerated him more than seven years ago.
More recently, in January of last year, the reputed Gambino crime family associate was among 32 people charged in connection with an alleged mob plot to control the garbage-hauling industry in New York and New Jersey through extortion and other crimes.
Scott Fappiano was accused of racketeering conspiracy and extortion conspiracy and has denied the allegations. The trial is slated to start Jan. 21 in Manhattan federal court, and he's currently free on $150,000 bond, online records show.
The civil suit, filed in April of last year in state Supreme Court, St. George, had sought $138,800.
According to court papers, Scott Fappiano, 52, first touched his brother for cash in October 2006 -- the same month he was released from prison. Mark Fappiano, 53, loaned his sibling $19,000 for the lease and insurance on his Lexus auto.
Scott Fappiano promised to pay back the loan with cash from his false-imprisonment settlement -- which he received from the state three years later, said court papers.
Scott Fappiano, however, didn't make good on his pledge and instead went to the well again in January 2011, court documents allege. He asked his brother to pay his criminal lawyers $75,000 on a case in which he was among nearly 125 suspects arrested in a mob takedown.
Scott Fappiano later pleaded guilty to extortion and was sentenced in January 2012 to time served, three years' supervised release, a $40,000 fine, $2,000 in forfeitures and 180 hours of community service, according to court papers and online Brooklyn federal court records.
In March 2011, Scott Fappiano tapped his brother again -- this time for a $6,000 loan, while promising to pay an additional $20,000 in interest within two years, said court documents.
Once again, he allegedly used his settlement as collateral, but didn't repay his debt, allege court papers.
Besides the $120,000 in loans and interest, Mark Fappiano wanted his brother to shell out a final $18,800. That figure represented half the cost of their mother's home-health aide and establishing a trust for her, said court filings.
According to settlement papers, two judgments will be entered against Scott Fappiano's Copper Leaf Terrace home. One, for $100,000, is in favor of his brother, while the other, for $5,000, is in favor of Mark Fappiano's lawyer, Ronald J. Mazzucco.
Both judgments are payable by October 2015, along with interest, said court documents.
Mazzucco's secretary said he'd have no comment on the settlement, as did an associate of Scott Fappiano's lawyer, Steven E. Ginsberg of Brooklyn.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/01/post_680.html
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