Inside the raid of Mob Wives star and her husband busted on drug charges
Loaded firearms and marijuana were staple ingredients in the kitchen cabinets of former “Mob Wives” star Drita D’Avanzo and her husband, Lee, prosecutors allege.
The
husband and wife stood side by side just like any other couple when
they appeared for their arraignment in Criminal Court in St. George on
Friday afternoon, after the NYPD allegedly found weapons and drugs in their Pleasant Plains home during a raid Thursday night.
Drita rose to national fame when VH1′s launched “Mob Wives” in April of 2011. Her husband’s extensive criminal history and reputed ties to the mob were a central theme of the show.
After
giving a brief nod to a man in the back of the courtroom, Lee D’Avanzo,
50, faced Judge Ann Thompson. His lawyer, James Foccaro Jr., stood on
his left side.
His wife, Drita, 43, stood quietly between him and her lawyer, John J. Rapawy.
When
police entered their home at 226 Woodvale Ave. at around 6 p.m.
Thursday, detectives found two loaded firearms, one inside their bedroom
and one in the kitchen, according to the criminal complaint.
NYPD
detectives found hydrocodone, a pain killer, and alprazolam, an
anti-anxiety medication, in the couple’s bedroom, the complaint states.
Detectives
also found “two scales, ziplock bags used for the purpose of unlawfully
packaging a narcotic drug, a sum of United States currency and multiple
cellular phones” inside the home, the complaint alleges.
Police
recovered “a large quantity of marijuana” in the basement and in a
kitchen cabinet that was accessible to their 12-year-old daughter,
according to the complaint.
The
raid happened after the NYPD received community tips and concerns about
activities at that location, according to a source with knowledge of
the investigation.
Thompson set bail for Lee D’Avanzo, who had a fugitive warrant in New Jersey, at $100,000 and at $15,000 for his wife.
They
are both facing charges of criminal possession of a controlled
substance, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a
firearm, criminal possession of a controlled substance and endangering
the welfare of a child.
The judge also issued a limited order of protection against both of them for an individual that was not named in court.
They will be both back in court on Jan. 31.
PRIOR ARRESTS
The husband has served prison stints on numerous federal and state convictions.
He
was arrested in “Operation Turkeyshoot," when four suspects were
allegedly caught trying to break into the vault of a bank in New
Springville in 2008. The evidence indicated that Lee and other suspects
attempted to gain access by drilling through the walls of a neighboring
building, according to Advance archives and documents previously filed
in court by federal prosecutors.
Lee
was on federal probation at the time for similar crimes and he pleaded
guilty. He was sentenced to 36 months to five years in state prison.
In
2003, Lee was sentenced to 62 months in federal prison on a conviction
of racketeering for multiple robberies, marijuana distribution,
loansharking and money laundering.
In
that case, he was identified by prosecutors in court documents as a
member of the “New Springville Boys, a racketeering enterprise with
connections to the Bonanno organized crime family.”
RISE TO STARDOM
Drita’s
own “Mob Wives” biographical page posted on the VH1 website when she
was starring in the show detailed her husband’s alleged ties to
organized crime.
Her bio described Lee as “the leader of a Bonanno and Colombo crime family farm team."
While her husband is serving time in prison, she is “left alone raising two young girls,” the bio says.
"Drita, who comes from a strict Albanian household, defied her parents and married someone outside the community — an Italian."
Drita,
who lived for a time in the Todt Hill Houses, “was raised in the
projects of Staten Island after her family settled there from Albania,”
according to her bio.
https://www.syracuse.com/state/2020/01/inside-the-raid-on-the-home-of-mob-wives-star-drita-davanzo-her-husband.html
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