Bonanno associate pleads guilty to selling cocaine out of gelato shop
Would you like some coke with your gelato?
A reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family copped a plea Thursday in a narcotics-trafficking scheme that involved the sale of $40,000 worth of cocaine in a Manhattan gelato shop.
Salvatore Russo, 46, faces a maximum 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to distributing more than 500 grams of the drug.
Under terms of a deal with Brooklyn federal prosecutors, Russo agreed to serve the mandatory minimum sentence of five years, but can appeal if he gets slapped with any more time.
The beefy wiseguy, a naturalized US citizen who spoke with a heavy Sicilian accent in court, also faces a fine of up to $5 million.
“He’s accepted his responsibility and hopes for the best,” defense lawyer Joseph Conway said outside court.
Russo, who remains free on $500,000 bond pending his unscheduled sentencing, was busted last year in what authorities said was a coordinated, cross-border crackdown on mobsters operating in both the US and Canada.
He was indicted as a co-defendant and accomplice of reputed acting Bonanno captain Damiano Zummo, who was allegedly caught on a secret recording while taking part in a Mafia induction ceremony in the Great White North during 2015.
“You only answer to the Bonanno family,” Zummo told the newly “made” mobster, according to prosecution court papers.
Zummo and Russo conspired to sell more than five kilograms of cocaine between July and October 2017, according to their indictment.
More than one kilo was sold inside an unidentified Manhattan store that sold gelato, or Italian-style ice cream, on Sept. 14, 2017, according to the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office.
Zummo also pleaded guilty to a drug charge in December and is awaiting sentencing.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/05/reputed-mobster-pleads-guilty-to-selling-40k-of-cocaine-in-gelato-shop/
A reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family copped a plea Thursday in a narcotics-trafficking scheme that involved the sale of $40,000 worth of cocaine in a Manhattan gelato shop.
Salvatore Russo, 46, faces a maximum 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to distributing more than 500 grams of the drug.
Under terms of a deal with Brooklyn federal prosecutors, Russo agreed to serve the mandatory minimum sentence of five years, but can appeal if he gets slapped with any more time.
The beefy wiseguy, a naturalized US citizen who spoke with a heavy Sicilian accent in court, also faces a fine of up to $5 million.
“He’s accepted his responsibility and hopes for the best,” defense lawyer Joseph Conway said outside court.
Russo, who remains free on $500,000 bond pending his unscheduled sentencing, was busted last year in what authorities said was a coordinated, cross-border crackdown on mobsters operating in both the US and Canada.
He was indicted as a co-defendant and accomplice of reputed acting Bonanno captain Damiano Zummo, who was allegedly caught on a secret recording while taking part in a Mafia induction ceremony in the Great White North during 2015.
“You only answer to the Bonanno family,” Zummo told the newly “made” mobster, according to prosecution court papers.
Zummo and Russo conspired to sell more than five kilograms of cocaine between July and October 2017, according to their indictment.
More than one kilo was sold inside an unidentified Manhattan store that sold gelato, or Italian-style ice cream, on Sept. 14, 2017, according to the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office.
Zummo also pleaded guilty to a drug charge in December and is awaiting sentencing.
https://nypost.com/2019/09/05/reputed-mobster-pleads-guilty-to-selling-40k-of-cocaine-in-gelato-shop/
Thank god you're ok. After 34 weeks of no articles. we were all beginning to worry
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