Steve Lieberman, slieberm@lohud.com
Reputed organized crime capo Daniel Pagano, 62, of Airmont pleads guilty to a racketeering and faces 27-33 months in prison.
A reputed organized crime capo from Airmont pleaded guilty Thursday to a racketeering gambling conspiracy charge in Manhattan federal court and faces nearly three years in federal prison.
Daniel Pagano, 62, son of late Lower Hudson Valley mob boss Joseph Pagano -- and identified by federal prosecutors as a ranking Genovese crime family member himself -- became a target based upon a gambling investigation initiated by the Rockland County District Attorney's Office.
The indictment alleged that from 2009 until February 2012 Pagano and Michael Palazzolo of Suffern committed extortion, loansharking and ran illegal gambling houses as part of a sports gambling ring with other Genovese crime family members and associates.
Pagano's sentencing was set for July 10 in Manhattan. The charges carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail, but defense attorney Murray Richman of The Bronx said Thursday after court that Pagano faces 27 to 33 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
"We will see what happens," Richman said. "Mr. Pagano is not getting any younger and he's had tragedies in his family."
Palazzolo, 49, remains free on bail. He faces the same racketeering count as Pagano, plus a charge of participating in an extortion conspiracy. Those charges could bring a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
"We are working on plea Mr. Palazzolo might take," his lawyer, David Ascher, said Thursday. "We have not come to a resolution, but I am cautiously optimistic."
Document : Daniel Pagano's plea deal
This is not Pagano's first brush with the law. He was sentenced to nearly nine years in federal prison after being convicted in 1998 of leading a tax scam related to bootleg gasoline sales involving Russian mob figures. He also served New York state prison time from 1990 to 1993 for gambling and loan sharking.
Pagano's father-in-law, Vincent DeVito, was shot dead in 2003 in the backyard of his Airmont house. DeVito had been tied to the robbery of $100,000 and jewelry from a millionaire businessman living in Piermont. Ramapo police and the FBI have not made an arrest in DeVito's killing.
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