Updated news on the Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese and Colombo Organized Crime Families of New York City.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Son of Lucchese Captain Cops Plea Deal In 1994 SLaying


Joseph Pinzolo, head of the Lucchese crime family.Image via Wikipedia A week before his retrial was set to begin, Anthony DiSimone pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 1994 stabbing death of a the son of a Yonkers city councilman.

DiSimone, 43, of Yonkers, struck a deal with Westchester County prosecutors that will likely mean he will not serve another day in prison beyond the more than seven years he already served for a murder conviction that was vacated in 2007 by a federal court. That decision came after the Westchester District Attorney's Office admitted it withheld evidence from DiSimone's lawyers that pointed to another man as the possible killer of 21-year-old Louis Balancio on Feb. 4, 1994.
DiSimone, the son of a reputed captain the Lucchese Crime Family, admitted in court Monday that he stabbed Balancio repeatedly during the brawl outside the Strike Zone bar. DiSimone's plea deal calls for a sentence of three and a half to 10 and a half years. But, by state law, because he has already served two-thirds of that sentence he is automatically released to parole.
DiSimone, who remains free on $500,000 bail, left court without commenting, his wife, Ann, by his side.
His lawyer, Murray Richman, said the deal was struck because the sentence amounted to time served.
"It serves as closure for both families," he said.
District Attorney Janet DiFiore said she was pleased with the disposition of the case given the circumstances. Those circumstances included the withheld evidence and a change in the law regarding depraved-indifference murder — the charge DiSimone was facing — that made it much more difficult to secure a conviction in a one-on-one killing.
DiSimone is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 13.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100927/NEWS02/9270369/-1/newsfront/DiSimone-cops-plea-in--94-Yonkers-slaying--no-more-prison-time
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