Jeweler gunned down for dissing high-ranking member of Genovese crime family: feds
A mobbed-up Staten Island jeweler fatally shot in a botched robbery was targeted because he disrespected a high-ranking mobster in the Genovese crime family, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
Louis Antonelli's offense was failing to kick up cash tributes to capo Anthony Antico for the privilege of peddling gems in Antico's social club, Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Nicole Argentieri said in opening arguments of the gangster's racketeering trial.
Antonelli, 43, was gunned down on April 29, 2008, in West Brighton, S.I., as he was approaching his vehicle shortly after retrieving jewelry from a nearby storage facility.
Defense lawyer Gerald McMahon blasted the government witnesses lined up to testify against the 74-year-old Antico, calling mob associate Stefan Cicale "a chain saw murderer" for dismembering a gangland victim and former Gambino capo Michael DiLeonardo "a mass murderer."
Later, Federal Judge Carol Amon got the lawyer to concede that Cicale chopped up the victim's corpse, making him merely a "desecrater of the deceased."
Antico is charged with illegal gambling, giving his approval to a crew of thugs to rob Antonelli in 2008 and the extortions of a bagel shop and a lottery winner.
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