John Gotti's grandson Carmine Agnello sentenced to 15 months in prison for COVID fraud
John Gotti's grandson Carmine Agnello is headed to prison in connection with a COVID fraud scheme in New York.
Agnello, who appeared in the reality TV show "Growing Up Gotti," pleaded guilty in 2024 to lying on COVID relief loan applications for his Smithtown business, Crown Auto Parts & Recycling.
Prosecutors said he illegally obtained nearly $1 million worth of loans, which he used in part to invest in cryptocurrency.
"His life has been wrecked"
Agnello, 39, was sentenced Monday to 15 months in prison on Long Island. He faced up to 3 years.
Agnello was ordered to pay restitution of $1.268 million. He will serve two years of supervised release and must complete 100 hours of community service.
"He didn't get off. His life has been wrecked, I would say, over the last few years due to his own actions," defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said. "He didn't have a normal childhood, and I think that, you know, he had a warped sense of reality, and that's, you know, what led him to the actions that got him sentenced today."
"I'm heartbroken," John "Junior" Gotti said after the sentencing. "You've got to sit and you have to watch a kid that you basically changed his diaper, you've got to watch him go to prison. So, what could you say at this point? It's a heartbreak."
"You guys all know. We've had 15 members of our family that went to prison. I think it's enough," Gotti added. "I think we did our time."
"Blatant theft of taxpayer dollars"
In announcing his guilty plea, prosecutors said Agnello "engaged in blatant theft of taxpayer dollars intending to assist legitimate businesses and their employees during the COVID-19 pandemic."
Prosecutors said he diverted the loans "for his personal use, including by investing approximately $420,000 in a cryptocurrency business."
In a pre-sentencing memorandum to the judge asking for Agnello not to be sentenced to prison, Agnello's defense attorney argued the funds spent on cryptocurrency "was not theft for personal enrichment but rather a form of gambling driven by an addiction to cryptocurrency trading that he has since been treated."
"This entire event never made much sense to me from the start. My son, Carmine would never do anything he knew was wrong," Agnello's mother Victoria Gotti wrote to the judge. "There was no attempt to defraud anyone or any institution on his part."
