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

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Colombo mobster Scott Fappiano, freed after wrongful rape conviction, admits multi-million extortion scam


Scott Fappiano, a reputed Colombo Crime Family associate, left Brooklyn Federal Court after pleading guilty to extortion and posting bail on Monday.
Scott Fappiano, a reputed Colombo Crime Family associate, left Brooklyn Federal Court after pleading guilty to extortion and posting bail on Monday.


A reputed Colombo crime associate who served 21 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping an NYPD cop's wife in Brooklyn pleaded guilty Monday to extortion.
Scott Fappiano, who was arrested this year in a massive roundup of more than 100 underworld figures, admitted participating in an extortion scheme in which he was secretly recorded saying he'd use his civil suit as cover in case the victim had to get his leg broken.
"I'll make sure I'm in court somewhere or doing a deposition," Fappiano said, according to court papers.
Fappiano pocketed a $2 million settlement from the state for the rape sentence and has another suit pending against the city and NYPD detectives who worked on the case that put him away for two decades.
A motion by the city to toss out the suit is pending in Brooklyn Federal Court. Defense lawyer Harlan Protass declined to comment on the guilty plea.
Fappiano, who is free on $1.5 million bail, recently completed a treatment program for alcohol and drug abuse.
"Mr. Fappiano's need for such treatment arose from the struggles he experienced ... for the severe anxiety he was experiencing following his release from prison after 21 years for a crime that ... he did not commit," Protass stated in court papers.
He faces 27 to 33 months in prison when he's sentenced Jan. 20 by Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto.


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