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Mafia in Brooklyn / The capo of "Genovese" risks 40 years in prison, together with the actor Luan Bexheti, they threatened the Albanian businessman for his nephew's debt

2023-12-15 21:05:35Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Mafia in Brooklyn / The capo of "Genovese" risks 40 years in prison,
Luan Bexheti / Anthony Romanello / Joseph Celso

Anthony "Rome" Romanello, a reputed capo of the "Genovese" mafia family, has been found guilty of extortion and threats by a jury in Brooklyn, USA.

Prosecutors said Romanello was hired, along with defendant Joseph Celso, a Genovese soldier, to threaten the Albanian businessman from Plava and Gucia, Shuqeri "Bruno" Selimaj, owner of the "Lincoln Square Steak" restaurant, now closed, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Selimaj's nephew and his nephew's brother-in-law owed 86,000 dollars due to gambling to suspected mafia collaborator and Albanian actor Luan Bexheti. Romanello and Celso wanted Selimaj to pay off the debt.

The pair "used threats and violence" against Selimaj in "repeated attempts" to collect the debt, prosecutors declared. On their third visit to the restaurant, Romanello was caught on camera punching Selimaj in the face.

Mafia in Brooklyn / The capo of "Genovese" risks 40 years in prison,
Capo of Genovese, Anthony "Rom" Romanello

The 86-year-old Romanelli's attorney, Jerry McMahon, tried to convince jurors that Selimaj and his client were old acquaintances who had simply gotten into a drunken argument.

"He didn't hit Bruno to collect a gambling debt," attorney McMahon argued. "Bruno told him that he was a pure Italian, that he had no courage, that he was nothing. He punched him, that 86-year-old man who was sitting there. He punched him because Bruno insulted him in the face."

Selimaj spoke to the police after the attack, but he retracted his statement the next day and paid his relatives' debts. He testified in court that he did this out of fear.

"I was afraid that this mafia guy would hurt me, my nephew," said Selimaj. "I was afraid because nobody jokes with the mafia... It wasn't a joke."

Mafia in Brooklyn / The capo of "Genovese" risks 40 years in prison,
Actor from Tetova Luan Bexheti

Bexheti pleaded guilty to the same charges in October 2023 and awaits sentencing. Highlights of his acting career so far include voicing the "Albanian gangster" in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV before playing a small role in the low-budget film "Albanian Gangster" of 2018. He also performed stand-up once at the New York Comedy Club.

Celso was convicted on Tuesday of one count of robbery and faces up to 20 years in prison. In 1993, he was charged with the murder of Manuel Mayi, a Queens College student from the Dominican Republic. He was acquitted after the prosecution's main witness fled the country.

When sentenced in March, Romanello faces a maximum of 40 years in prison.

Mafia in Brooklyn / The capo of "Genovese" risks 40 years in prison,
"The Genovese Soldier" Joseph Celso
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