John Gotti’s grandson Carmine Agnello was sentenced to 15 months behind bars for a $1.1 million dollar COVID loan fraud, as court filings reveal his mother Victoria Gotti might not need him to donate a kidney to save her life after all.
Victoria Gotti submitted a lengthy letter to U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury, begging that Agnello not be sent to the slammer, because “he is giving me the GIFT OF LIFE” in the form of a kidney transplant before his sentencing.
Last week, though, the 39-year-old “Growing Up Gotti” star’s new defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, apologized for a “voluminous” filing by Agnello’s previous lawyer that cast the kidney transplant as “extraordinary family circumstances” justifying leniency.
“While she suffers from ‘advanced chronic kidney disease,’ her renal function has not yet deteriorated to the point when surgery is required as the procedure has ‘significant risks and is only performed when absolutely indicated,’” Lichtman wrote.
Agnello’s prior lawyer, Steven Metcalf, said in a March 11 filing that Victoria Gotti “faces an imminent terminal condition or permanent debilitation without an urgent kidney transplant.”
Licthman clarified, though, that the transplant wouldn’t actually happen for six to 12 months, and if she didn’t get the kidney when she needed, she’d require three days of dialysis a week.
“We simply ask that the Court recognize the defendant’s offer to aid his mother and donate his kidney as an exceptionally good deed, with serious risks attached,” Licthman said.
On Friday, Agnello’s uncle, John A. (Junior) Gotti weighed in with a character letter about his nephew.
“As Your Honor knows, Carmine’s grandfather, father and myself, as well as many other family members, have gone to prison. You would think he would learn from that but I think instead it j st desensitized him. Sadly, in our family going to prison became almost a rite of passage,” Junior wrote.
“At his core, Carmine is a good young man. I know that because I’ve watched him grow up. Lately, I’ve also seen him start to change. Really change. He’s trying to step out from under the weight of his name and his past, and build something honest for himself.”
Johnny Nunez/WireImage
Victoria Gotti and Carmine Agnello in 2013. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
As part of the sentence handed down in Central Islip, Agnello must also pay more than $1.26 million restitution to the Small Business Administration, serve two years of supervised release, and perform 100 hours of community service. He’s scheduled to surrender July 20.
Federal prosecutors were asking for 33 to 41 months behind bars.
“During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendant shamefully lined his own pockets with government and taxpayers’ dollars which he must repay as part of today’s sentence,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said Monday.
Agnello admitted to fraudulently applying for three COVID relief loans for his business, Crown Auto Parts, which he co-owned with his brothers, lying about the size of his payroll and falsely claiming he had no criminal record. He used $420,000 of the loan money to invest in a cryptocurrency business, according to the feds.