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Date: 01-14-2021
Case Style:
Case Number: 18-CR-610
Judge: Steven L. Tiscione
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (King's County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn, New York
Defendant's Attorney:
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Description: Brooklyn, New York extortion charge criminal defense lawyer represented Peter Tuccio charged with using fire to commit the felony crime of extortion.
Tuccio was convicted of an offense arising from his efforts to extort a local businessman by brazenly chasing him through the streets and then setting his car ablaze.
In 2015, a businessman who had been extorted by a captain in the Gambino Organized Crime Family (referred to in court filings as “Co-Conspirator 1”) for many years, began avoiding Co-Conspirator 1 in an effort to stop making the $400 annual payment. On December 3, 2015, Tuccio, co-defendants Jonathan Gurino and Gino Gabrielli, who were charged in a separate indictment, observed the businessman leave a smoke shop in Howard Beach, New York and drive away in his 2014 Mercedes Benz. The three men then followed the businessman at a high rate of speed through the streets of Queens and confronted him outside a pizzeria, where Tuccio mentioned Co-Conspirator 1 and commented on the businessman’s car. Tuccio and his co-defendants schemed to set the businessman’s car on fire, sending a message that he had to continue making the extortion payments to Co-Conspirator 1. Later that night, the businessman heard a loud noise and saw that his car was on fire outside of his residence. The businessman’s security video system recorded Gabrielli pouring a substance on the car, the car erupting in flames, and Gabrielli running away with his pant leg on fire. Shortly thereafter, Gabrielli and Tuccio were caught on surveillance video entering Jamaica Hospital. After the arson, the businessman paid more than $5,000 to Co-Conspirator 1.
In August 2016, Gabrielli pleaded guilty to the arson. In June 2020, Gurino pleaded guilty to extortionate collection of credit and extortion. They are awaiting sentencing.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime & Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Nadia E. Moore and Nicholas Moscow are in charge of the prosecution.
Outcome: Defendant pleaded guilty. When sentenced, Tuccio faces a mandatory sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, as well as forfeiture, restitution and a fine of up to $250,000.
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Defendant's Experts:
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