Powerful Colombo Captain who claimed he ran Staten Island is sentenced to six years in prison
A reputed Colombo crime family captain who authorities said was a
ruthless force on Staten Island during his reign will be spending more
time behind bars than he hoped after he was dished a nearly-six-year
prison sentence in Brooklyn federal court Thursday.
Joseph Amato Sr., 62, a Colts Neck, N.J., resident who earlier this year
pleaded guilty to shaking down two people and stalking his
then-girlfriend with a GPS tracking device on the borough, was given
minimal sympathy by federal Judge Brian M. Cogan, who called the
defendant’s attributes “almost as bad as they can possibly be.”
Garbed in a blue shirt and green pants, Amato mostly sat quiet in court
as his lawyer, Scott E. Leemon, fervently argued the conditions at the
Brooklyn federal jail where his client has been for the past two years
are “barbaric.”
Those conditions, Leemon contended, should warrant a more lenient
sentence of 63 months — the bottom of the suggested federal guidelines
for the crimes considered in the court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes argued Amato, who previously
served time in prison for his association with organized crime, “doesn’t
hesitate to use violence to get what he wants” and has made a series of
decisions that has warranted his reputation as a “fearsome mobster.”
“In virtually all of those choices, he has put the goals of the Colombo crime family at the top,” said Geddes.
Prosecutors said Amato “is never going to leave the mafia” and pointed
to his willingness to involve his own son, Joseph Amato Jr., in criminal
activities as evidence of his dedication to the criminal organization.
Amato Jr. previously pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to
extort a loan borrower. The two were among 20 suspects, including 17
borough residents, indicted in Brooklyn federal court in October 2019.
While the two parties could not come to an agreement on the proposed
sentencing guidelines for the case (the government believed the
sentencing range should be between 70 and 80 months while Leemon
calculated it to be between 63 and 78 months), Cogan, who has the right
to depart from those suggestions, said the guidelines mattered “very
little” in his decision.
Cogan said he considered parting upward past the range of 70 months,
noting, “I’ve got to say, there’s a lot of reasons to do it.” However,
the conditions at the federal prison ultimately factored into his final
verdict, he said.
And while Leemon mentioned Amato Sr.’s “productive” time in prison,
which included working and feeding other inmates, Cogan said, “those
things pale in comparison to the life he chose for himself.”
Additionally, as prosecutors noted, the stalking charge Amato Sr. pleaded guilty to was not included in the proposed guidelines.
The alleged Colombo captain, who tracked his then-girlfriend in 2015 and
2016 by placing a GPS tracking device in her car, regularly retrieving
and recharging it to reposition it on the vehicle, once emailed the
woman, “This is my Island, not yours,” referencing Staten Island. “I
have eyes all over,” he said.
Excluding that charge from the guidelines, Cogan said, gave Amato Sr. “a
real break.” And while the capo took responsibility for the crimes, the
federal judge said he had no belief the defendant was capable of
believing his crimes were inherently wrong.
“Everything about him suggests incorrigibility,” Cogan said at the sentencing.
NO CONTACT WITH ORGANIZED CRIME
In addition to the five-year-and-10-month sentence, Cogan ordered one
year of supervised release that included no contact with any members of
organized crime groups.
That point drew a line of contention from the defense lawyer, Leemon,
who requested the man’s son be excluded from that restriction.
Prosecutors opposed lifting that rule, citing the pair’s actions
together, while Leemon suggested Amato Jr. “changed” his life around.
Ultimately, Cogan determined the two could only engage in monitored conversations with a third party present.
In addition, Amato Sr. must forfeit just over $60,000, the court said.
While he has a right to appeal, Leemon said his client will “probably not” file that paperwork.
https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2021/10/this-is-my-island-not-yours-alleged-mob-capo-once-threatened-now-hes-off-to-prison-after-rebuke-from-judge.html
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