Posted on 12/30/2009 11:28:21 AM PST by Coleus
A federal prosecutor blasted Fairview’s police chief for going to bat for a Cliffside Park man who was sentenced Monday to 51 months in prison for keeping a small arsenal of illegal firearms, including a silencer-equipped 22-caliber pistol, in his home. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Colone told U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway that he should not consider Chief John Pinzone’s letter in support of leniency for Giovanni DeMaio, because the chief neglected to mention he is dating the defendant’s daughter.
While the judge received more than 90 letters similar to Pinzone’s, attesting to DeMaio’s kindness and charitable endeavors in New Jersey and his native Italy, Colone said the writers apparently were unaware of DeMaio “dark side.” During a search of his home in 2008, Bergen County investigators discovered blasting caps, four handguns, a shotgun, two silencers, hollow-point bullets, handcuffs, a wig attached to a hat, and maps of Long Island. The prosecutor called it “absolutely astonishing” and “an insult to the law-abiding people” of Fairview that the chief would write in support of DeMaio. She said he was either extremely biased or uninformed as to weapons he kept in his home.
Later, focusing on the wig and the black .22-caliber Ruger that had been chopped down and machined to accept a screw-on silencer, Colone said: “These are the tools of an assassin.” She quickly added she was not implying the defendant was an assassin, but the defense objected to the characterization, and the judge ordered the remark stricken from the court record. DeMaio pleaded guilty on Aug. 19 to a single count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.
He has two prior federal convictions. The first came in the 1980s when he was convicted of counterfeiting. He was convicted a second time in the early 1990s for conspiring to distribute multi-kilo quantities of cocaine, authorities said. Pinzone, who came to court in a show of support, defended his letter, noting he has known DeMaio, the former owner of the Visuvius Bakery in Fairview, and his family for 25 years. He declined to comment on the prosecutor’s remarks, but said his letter was written as a friend and not on behalf of the department.
Organized crime associate from Bergen County sentenced 51 months for trove of illegal weapons
What caught the attention of federal prosecutors, however, was the name signed at the bottom: John Pinzone, police chief in the Bergen County community of Fairview. Odder still, prosecutors say: Pinzone didn’t mention he was dating DeMaio’s daughter.
Authorities contend DeMaio is an associate of the Licciardi organized crime family, based in Naples, Italy. At the time of his arrest, he allegedly headed up an operation that sold counterfeit electronic goods and clothing on the internet and throughout New Jersey and New York. Those charges are pending. DeMaio, who served time in the early 1990s for his involvement in a mob-connected drug-trafficking ring, apologized today in heavily accented English.
Colone said: “These are the tools of an assassin.”
Riiiight.
You can buy a suppressor at a sporting goods store in Britain, IIRC.
Not bothering your neighbors while target shooting used to be a sign of courtesy.
New Jersey,.......I’m just so surprised.
“...four handguns, a shotgun, two silencers, hollow-point bullets,”
BFD
Sound reasonable to me. What's the big deal here?
Maybe he was transgendered.
OMG, and the Police Chief is dating the daughter of this person.
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