Genovese crime family captain Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello was sentenced to seven years behind bars on Thursday.
The 73-year-old mobster was busted last year alongside dozens of other wiseguys in the fed labeled East Coast LCN Enterprise case. According to the feds, Parrello was a leader in the organized crime enterprise along with fellow Genovese family capo Eugene O’Nofrio and Philadelphia mafia boss Joey Merlino. Parrello was potentially facing up to 40 years behind bars before pleading guilty to various extortion charges earlier this year as part of a plea deal with the feds. Along with his sentence, Parrello was also instructed to pay a $15,000 fine and a $63,800 forfeiture according to reports.
“Pasquale Parrello”
The judge took a hard line with Patsy saying he should have thought beforehand about joining the mafia if he didn’t want to die behind bars. Judge Richard Sullivan went on to say “There’s a long history of capos who have died in prison,” before handing down the sentence. He noted Patsy’s previous stint in prison on racketeering charges saying “You must have understood this, you had 88 months to think about it before.” Dozens of friends and family sent letters to the court in support of Parrello calling him a kind, generous, and charitable man. But the judge noted that the letters were nearly identical to those he’d read in connection with the mobsters the last sentencing and they couldn’t be a get out of jail free card when they had been used before.
Defense attorney Mark DeMarco told the court “To his friends and family he is a kind, generous, and loving man, he sends meals to this WWII veteran, and also organized transportation for him to come to the restaurant,” in regards to Parrello. He also noted that his client counseled young people in the community he felt were moving in an unfavorable direction. DeMarco also mentioned Parrello’s intense Roman Catholicism and faith which was quickly shot down by Sullivan who said: “I don’t think Roman Catholicism takes a favorable view toward extortion.” DeMarco’s attempt to shine a positive light on his mobbed-up client couldn’t overshadow the wiseguys long history in the New York mafia.
Prosecutors had a very different view of the Cosa Nostra capo noting that he instructed mob underlings to shake down debtors involved in his illegal gambling ring that had fallen behind on payments often suggesting the use of violence if needed. According to the feds, he was captured on a secret wiretap talking to a Lucchese family associate about a debtor who owed him thousands of dollars saying I want Buddy to choke him, choke him, actually choke the motherf–-er . . . and tell him, ‘Listen to me . . . Next time I’m not gonna stop choking . . . I’m gonna kill you.’” Prosecutors called Parrello a man of two faces who used multiple personas to remain beloved by some of the community while never taking no for an answer in his quest to collect debts.
Parrello told the court “First of all, I’d like to apologize for everything that transpired. I feel remorse for all the things I’ve done, and I’ve taken responsibility and am just trying to be a better person.”
