Gambino mobster convicted of murder in slaying of custodian in Queens
Victim was trying to protect his dad, a pizzeria owner coming home with cash

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BY THOMAS ZAMBITO / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, April 2, 2012, 1:59 PM



CHRISTIE M FARRIELLA FOR NEW YOR

A Gambino crime family associate was found guilty Monday of masterminding the 2009 slaying of a Queens custodian killed defending his father from a gang of thieves.

Francis LaCorte, 29, betrayed little emotion as the Queens Supreme Court jury of eight women and four men convicted him of second-degree murder after barely three hours of deliberations over two days. A LaCorte relative left the courtroom sobbing.

Gerardo (Jerry) Antoniello, 29, was shot in the back of the head by an unknown assailant dispatched by LaCorte during the botched robbery on Sept. 9, 2009.

The victim’s father, Bartolomeo, was pistol-whipped for the cash he'd just brought home from his Ozone Park pizzeria, Romeo's.

"He's going to be put away for a very long time so he won't be able to kill anybody's sons, brothers or uncles," said Antoniello's brother Carmine, an NYPD sergeant. "My brother's teeth were scattered on the front steps of my parents’ home. The beating he endured at the hands of savages. For nothing."

LaCorte faces a term of life in prison when he's sentenced before Justice Richard Buchter on April 16.

He was also found guilty of orchestrating two other home invasions during the summer and fall of 2009 in Ozone Park, where he owned two cell phone stores.

Jurors said text messages shared between LaCorte and a team of ex-cons recruited for the job were damning evidence of his guilt.

Several added that they were not aware LaCorte was selling drugs stolen by his recruits until his lawyer brought it out during testimony.

"We didn't know he was a drug dealer," said one female juror, who declined to give her name. "That was a big mistake."

LaCorte's lawyer, Christopher Renfroe, made a strategic decision to bring out his client's alleged drug dealing in an effort to show that was the subject of the text messages — not Antoniello's killing.

Three members of the robbery team testified for the prosecution in exchange for a promise of getting years shaved off their prison terms



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ga...2#ixzz1quc7FpLh

seems like home invasion robberies and burgaliries seem to be a sort of starting activity for young associates. There are some bonanno associates on trial for the same thing aswell.


How many associates actually start out with a racket that brings in alot money early on in their criminal careers and how many are just muscle and enforcers who commit more street level crimes?

Home invasions are among the most despicable crimes there are. I hope this scumbag gets life. And at only 29 years old, I hope he lives another 50 or 60 years. In a steel and concrete box.

Where's the so called "honor" in ripping off a working man such as this poor pizzeria owner? Or in killing a son for defending his father?

Don't get me wrong, guys like Costello, Luciano and Gambino were crooks in their own right. But I have to believe they're spinning in their graves at the thought of something like this.

Men of Honor my dimpled ass.

I see what your getting at but men like luciano, costello, gambino must of done things of similar nature when they were young up and comers but were able to progress into leadership roles which meant they didnt need to do things like that anymore themselves. for every guy like gambino theres probably another 10 like this guy. Its all good to have or claim to have principals when your in a leadership position but the guys working the trenches arent gonna be obliged to.

These guys don't seem to think that their own family members, i.e, nieces, sisters, cousins, fathers/mothers, etc., could be targets of this type of crime as well. And I'm sure they wouldn't like it if a member of their blood family was hurt or killed in a home invasion. But it doesn't stop them from perpetrating these crimes on other people. That's sad and disgusting.

All the more reason to have a firearm in your house and the willingness to use it!

In his book, Joe Dogs Iannuzzi talked about doing home invasion robberies back in the 1970's. So this stuff isn't exactly new. But, as someone pointed out on the RD, it's one thing to go outside your own neighborhood and hit a wealthy target, and it's another thing to hit some poor working guy down the street. Practically speaking, that is, not morally speaking. Angelo Prisco's crew was doing it but they were going after rich targets like Tuttle from the Choppers tv show.

but i think in this case he did it on his own, probably the gambino's didn't even know he planned it, some associates sometimes are out of control

I'm sure the majority of mobsters are sociopaths, so if you are looking for honor or sympathy you won't find it among wiseguys. And it's always been that way. You could go back to the Moustache Pete's and they would do horrible stuff like this to.

Romeo's Pizzeria is filled with great people and great food. I eat there everyday as it downstairs from my office. Absolutely tragedy that the man was murdered.

yeah but i doubt they would lose any sleep even if they did know.Take the shamrock bar slaying for example or onofio modeico and the drive by he took part in on his motorcycle that left an innocent dead, also the colombo war civilian casualties and the ex nun that was killed during the peraino hit. I think that even spilotro was involved in violent push in robberies too. Alot of the guys involved in these things still got made and some even reach high positions.