reputed Gambino crime family associate from the Oakwood section of Staten Island helped peddle more than a ton of pot, raking in millions of dollars for an organization known as "Cartoon Network."
But the prison sentence a federal judge hit Frank Paul Adamita with today was no joke.
Senior District Judge Leonard D. Wexler sentenced Adamita to 65 months or five years and five months, behind bars. The proceeding was held on Long Island in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Adamita's lawyer, Charles F. Carnesi, could not immediately be reached today for comment; however, he previously denied any link between his client and organized crime.
Federal prosecutors said Adamita, 34, was a wholesale distributor for the organization, and helped grow some of the pot in a Brooklyn apartment, while peddling it mainly on Long Island. He even considered setting up a "grow house" in Graniteville in 2006 with an associate to hydroponically cultivate the illegal cash crop.
The defendant pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to distribute and possess marijuana. He remains free on $1 million bond and is to surrender May 30 to begin his sentence.
Prosecutors allege that Adamita's father, Emanuele Adamita, also was a member of the Gambinos and supervised the importation and distribution of multiple kilos of heroin in the "Pizza Connection" case of two decades ago. The crooks allegedly laundered the proceeds through pizza parlors used as fronts. The elder Adamita was deported to Sicily after completing a 10-year federal sentence in 1998.
Cartoon Network moved more than 1,000 kilograms -- more than 2,200 pounds -- of marijuana while in business between January 2000 and October 2006, according to the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The organization is not affiliated with the TV network of the same name.
