The son of a reputed Genovese crime family gangster, and owner of a well-known Italian restaurant in Queens, has pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge.
Anthony Federici Jr., 25, copped to misdemeanor possession of cocaine before Magistrate Judge Robert Levy last week in Brooklyn Federal Court, according to court records.
Federici Jr., the son of reputed Mafia capo Anthony (Tough Tony) Federici, who owns the Parkside Restaurant on Corona Ave. in Corona, holds no position in organized crime himself, according to a law enforcement official.
Federici Jr., a former Boston University student and aspiring lawyer, was indicted by the feds last year along with 25 others charged in a major cocaine conspiracy and distribution ring.
Two sources familiar with the case said Federici became snared in the investigation through his friendship with two of the co-defendants.
"He was not part of a conspiracy, and he was never a seller or a buyer of cocaine," one source said.
"The plea speaks for itself," said Federici Jr.'s defense lawyer Gerald Shargel, declining to comment further.
Federici Jr. was stabbed and nearly died during a brawl in August 2000 in the parking lot of the now-shuttered Metropolis nightclub in College Point, Queens.
He testified in Queens Supreme Court against his assailant, Nicholas Gambino.
"Everything went in slow motion," Federici Jr. testified at the time.
"My intestines were exposed. I was holding them in my hand," he said.
Gambino claimed he was acting in self-defense and a jury found him not guilty of the attack.
But Gambino pleaded guilty to stabbing two others, James Mastronardi and Salvatore Loria, during the wild melee.
