Supporters sing praises of Bronx based Genovese family captain
A Bronx mobster accused of ordering his goons to attack a panhandler isn't a bad guy — because he once sheltered a “desperate pregnant cat,” a supporter said.
Genovese capo Pasquale Parrello, 73, pleaded guilty in May to three counts of conspiracy to commit extortion.
Under a plea deal, he’s expected to serve from 5 1/4 to 6 1/2 years behind bars.
The hulking septuagenarian — who's behind famed Arthur Ave. Italian restaurant Pasquale's Rigoletto — was one of 46 East Coast gangsters hit with rackets charges in August 2016.
Prosecutors say that in June 2011, Parrello ordered two subordinates to break a panhandler's knees for bothering several female customers outside Pasquale's Rigoletto.
He's also accused of instructing his soldiers to collect a man's gambling debt with an iron fist, telling them, "'choke him, actually choke the motherf---er ... and tell him, 'Listen to me ... next time I'm not gonna stop choking ... I'm gonna kill you.'"
Parrello's family, friends and supporters have nevertheless written more than 40 "character letters" to Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard Sullivan, as part of his bid for a lenient sentence, court filings show.
Sullivan is set to sentence Parrello on Sept. 7.
Paula De Marta Mastroianni, who co-wrote the book "Little Italy of the Bronx," was among those who penned notes.
The self-described "lifelong friend" of Parrello said she considers him to be "one of the most honest, generous, and thoughtful people in my life."
Mastroianni, 70, said her feelings stem from many events - including a time in the late 1990s when "a desperate pregnant cat made her way into the basement of the restaurant, Pasquale's Rigoletto, in order to deliver her kittens."
Parrello reached out to Mastroianni and asked her what to do.
"My first response was 'please don't put her out' to which he replied 'I would never do that,'" she said in her letter filed Monday.
The feline also had been "viciously attacked" by a stray pitbull and needed a "major operation to repair egregious injuries."
Mastroianni didn't have money for surgery. But Parrello said he'd cover the cat's medical costs and came through — "saving her life."
"You could say 'it was only a cat,' but we all know the link between people of good hearts and animals, and Mr. Parrello's heart was too soft and too loving to turn his back on a needy animal," she wrote.
Mastroianni couldn't be reached by phone for additional comment.
Parrello's lawyer didn't respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/supporters-defend-bronx-mobster-guilty-extortion-conspiracy-article-1.3457829
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