Up to 40 years
Genovese mobster Anthony Romanello has been found guilty of punching a restaurateur while attempting to collect an $86,000 gambling debt. The 86-year-old was convicted of extortion charges by a Brooklyn federal jury on Monday following hours of testimony.
Romanello, also known as “Rom,” was charged after video footage captured him punching restaurateur Shuqeri “Bruno” Selimaj on the jaw with a right-handed jab at Selimaj’s Lincoln Square Steak eatery in Manhatten on May 11, 2017.
What am I gonna say? Nothing — I really did nothing.”
The punch supposedly stemmed from $86,000 in gambling debts accrued by Selimaj’s nephew, Tony, and another relative. Outside the courtroom on Monday, Romanello said: “What am I gonna say? Nothing — I really did nothing.”
The mobster now faces up to 40 years in prison on extortion charges and will be sentenced at a later date.
Defending his honor
Co-defendant crime soldier Joseph Celso was also involved in the attack and is on trial for extortion charges. During the week-long trial, jurors were shown a 55-second video that captured the two men discussing with Selimaj before Romanello punched him in the jaw.
Following the attack, Selimaj said: “Rom kept saying, “I’d like to punch you” … I said, “You have no guts to punch me. A few seconds later, he punched me.”
However, according to Romanello’s lawyer Jerry McMahon, Romanello only punched Selimaj because he’d offended the crime mobster. McMahon claims that Romanello didn’t punch him because of a gambling debt, but because Selimaj called him “a washed-up Italian, that he had no balls, that he was nothing.”
because an Italian steps in, it’s Mafia”
McMahon downplayed Romanello’s punch during the trial, arguing that he “punches like a girl” and the impact was overstated.” According to Romanello’s lawyer, if his client wasn’t Italian, there wouldn’t be a problem “but because an Italian steps in, it’s Mafia,” he said.
Threatening manner
During the trial, Romanello and Celso are alleged to have visited Selimaj three times. It’s claimed that they threatened him to get him to pay off his relatives’ debts.
According to Selimaj, he said he’d pay off his nephew’s $6,000 debt, but not his nephew’s brother-in-law’s $80,000 debt. When Romanello wasn’t happy with this outcome, he then turned up at the restaurant. Selimaj filed a report with police the next day but later recanted this after his brother relayed an allegedly veiled threatening message from Celso that said it would be a bad idea to go through with the complaint.
Celso’s lawyer Gerrard Marone told the court that his client had nothing to do with the case. Marone said: “He didn’t menace anyone, certainly didn’t punch anyone. My client is not involved in the drama.”
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- Source: https://www.vegasslotsonline.com/news/2023/12/12/genovese-mobster-faces-40-years-in-jail-for-punching-restaurateur-over-gambling-debt/
