Two
Staten Island reputed mobsters were recently released from prison amid
concerns of catching the coronavirus while behind bars, federal court
papers show.
Both Eugene "Boobsie" Castelle, a Staten Island man and reputed soldier in the Lucchese organized crime family, and Daniel "Shrek" Capaldo, a Staten Islander and alleged Colombo crime family associate, asked to be released from prison on March 31.
Federal
Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered the release of Castelle “in light of
defendant’s ailing health and concomitant risk to defendant from the
COVID-19 pandemic” shortly after, court papers show.
Hellerstein
granted Castelle release on bail while he is waiting for the outcome of
his appeal on his 2019 conviction for his connection with an illegal
gambling operation.
The
60-year-old reputed Lucchese soldier had detailed to his lawyer Richard
Levitt an episode in which he fell ill while at the federal
correctional institution in Danbury, Conn. -- where he recently returned
after falling ill with pneumonia.
“I
[started] to feel sick all over again with shortness of breath,
back-ache, coughing again, but as [per] usual our concerns fall on deaf
ears,” Castelle wrote. “The last time it took an act of God for the
lieutenant to call 911 at 4 a.m. because three guys saw that I couldn’t
breathe and I was coughing and choking my brain out.”
Castelle
was released on April 3 to an undisclosed location on the condition
that he “shall remain self-quarantined for 14 days after his release,
subject to location monitoring,” court papers show.
On
April 16, Hellerstein granted 14 additional quarantine days to Castelle
as “he had been seriously ill during the first many days of his
quarantine with symptoms suggesting COVID-19, but is presently
improving,” his lawyer stated in a letter asking for the extension.
Capaldo, 55, was also released from prison, court papers show.
Capaldo, who was indicted among 20 suspects
on wide-ranging charges of racketeering, extortion, loansharking and
stalking, as well as attempting to fix an NCAA college basketball game,
is also seeking release, court papers indicate.
Peter
Guadagnino, Capaldo’s attorney, filed an emergency bail application on
Sunday which indicates that Dr. Mazan Rabadi — who observed Capaldo’s
medical records — believes Capaldo’s chance for survival if “infected
with COVID-19 is poor.”
“I
find that Mr. Capaldo suffers from underlying lung disease and he has
used a bronchodilator for most of his life,” Dr. Rabadi wrote in a
health assessment supporting Capaldo’s request. “If he contracts
COVID-19, this will lead to him having severe bronchospasm which will
lead to his respiratory failure, leading to intubation and being put on a
respirator.”
Capaldo
is was released to home incarceration and “restricted to home at all
times, except for attorney visits, court appearances and medical
treatment,” court records show.
JUDGE DENIES RELEASE OF THIRD MOBSTER
Federal
Judge Jesse Furman denied John Matera’s application to be released from
prison after his lawyer said he was battling coronavirus.
Matera,
49, a reputed Gambino associate, pleaded guilty in September 2004 to
racketeering conspiracy in connection with the murder of Frank Hydell,
then 31, who was killed in front of the former Scarlett’s strip club in
South Beach in 1998, Advance records show.
“Hey
buddy and not to be crazy but I’m sick as a dog I have every symptom,”
Matera wrote in an email to his lawyer, Seth Ginsberg, on April 1,
before he tested positive for the coronavirus, court filings indicate.
“No one is doing anything here can’t even see no one. Doctors are gone,
they have social workers acting like doctors and there [sic] treating us
like we did some thing wrong.”
Ginsberg
stated in a letter filed on April 6 requesting his client’s release
that Matera had tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed in the
Special Housing Unit (SHU) at the correctional institution, which is
“typically utilized for punitive reasons.”
“Indeed,
the psychological effects of isolation are well documented under normal
circumstances. In the present circumstances, where Matera is battling a
life-threatening infection, being deprived of virtually all human
contact, both physical and otherwise, is a terrifying prospect,”
Ginsberg wrote.
Judge
Furman did not agree with Ginsberg and deemed the motion to be released
from prison “premature," he wrote in the letter denying Matera release.
“That
is not to say that the Court is unconcerned about Matera’s condition,''
Furman wrote. "Even if, as the government represents, he has ‘a mild
case of COVID-19’ and his current condition is ‘stable,’ the Court
trusts that the government, including the Bureau of Prisons, will
closely monitor Matera’s health and diligently take all necessary steps —
medical, legal, or otherwise — to ensure that he receives appropriate
care and does not expose other inmates or prison staff to danger.”
https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/two-alleged-si-mobsters-released-from-prison-due-to-the-coronavirus.html
