Aged ‘Genovese Capo’ Convicted of Extorting Restaurateur Over Gambling Debt

An octogenarian alleged New York mobster has been convicted of extortion after quivering mastered a Manhattan restaurateur for a gaming debt.

Anthony “Rom” Romanello, 86, a reputed Genovese capo, was found shamed of extortionate collection of deferred payment and confederacy to send the same past a Brooklyn federal jury on Tuesday.

Prosecutors claimed Romanello was hired, on with co-defendant Chief Joseph Celso, reputedly a Genovese soldier, to position the frighteners on Shuqeri “Bruno” Selimaj, owner of the now-defunct President Abraham Lincoln Square Steak eatery on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

‘Threats and Violence’

Selimaj’s nephew and his nephew’s brother-in-law owed an $86K gaming debt to alleged Mob link and aspiring Albanian cinema asterisk Luan Bexheti. Romanello and Celso wanted Selimaj to spend a penny salutary on the debt.

The geminate “used threats and violence” against Selimaj in “repeated attempts” attempts to gather up the debt, according to prosecutors. On their tertiary visit to the restaurant, Romanello was caught on camera punching Selimaj inward the face.

Romanelli’s lawyer, Jerry McMahon, attempted to convince jurors that Selimaj and his client were old acquaintances who had simply got into a drunken disagreement.

He didn’t plug Saint Bruno to collect a gambling debt,” McMahon argued. “Bruno told him that he was a washed-up Italian, that he had no balls, that he was nothing. He punched him, that 86-year-old guy cable posing there. He punched him because Saint Bruno insulted him to his face.”

Selimaj spoke to police after the assault but retracted his statement the next twenty-four hour period and paid sour his relatives’ debts. He testified inwards lawcourt that he did this come out of fear.

“I was afraid this Maffia cat was sledding to suffer me, my nephew,” Selimaj said. “I was afraid because nobody jokes with the Maffia … It was no more joke.”

Albanian Gangster

Bexheti pleaded guilty to the same charges inwards Oct 2023 and awaits sentencing. Highlights of his performing vocation to escort include providing the sound of “Albanian gangster” inward the picture gamy Grand Theft Auto IV before landing place a small-scale role inward the 2018 low-budget indie riff “Albanian Gangster.” He also once bombed performing stand-up at the New House of York Comedy Club.

Celso was convicted Tues on a confederacy extortion heraldic bearing and faces upward to 20 years inward prison. In 1993, he was charged with the slaying of Manuel Mayi, a Queens College pupil from the friar preacher Republic. He was acquitted after the prosecution’s star find left wing the country.

When sentenced in March, Romanello faces a maximum of 40 years inwards prison.

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