Gotti grandson's kidney donation postponed a second time, due to mother's infection

A plan for the grandson of late mafia boss John Gotti to donate a kidney to his mother has fallen through for a second time, so he’ll likely begin serving a 15-month prison sentence next week for fraudulently taking $1.1 million in COVID-19 small business loans, newly filed court records show.

Carmine G. Agnello, 40, was supposed to donate a kidney to Victoria Gotti on Monday, but his lawyer Robert V. Beltrani said in a letter Tuesday to the court that the transplant couldn’t go forward because the recipient “has a serious infection requiring a battery of antibiotics” prompting a “minor delay in the transplantation.”

Last month, U.S. District Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury had ruled that Agnello could surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Sept.18 and begin his sentence if the transplant took place as scheduled on Aug. 3, but required Agnello’s lawyer to notify the judge the following day of whether the procedure occurred. He must now surrender on Monday unless the judge provides another extension.

It was the second time the surgery had been postponed. Choudhury had initially agreed in March to delay Agnello's sentencing to allow him time for the operation. But the operation was put off.

A spokesman for federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment Tuesday. In court papers last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles P. Kelly, who prosecuted Agnello, said prosecutors were “extremely skeptical” of Agnello’s request for a delay in beginning his prison term.

Beltrani declined to comment Tuesday.

In his letter to the court, Beltrani said “we do have high hopes” that the surgery can take place before Monday, and in that case he asked the judge to consider allowing Agnello to begin his prison sentence on Sept. 18. Otherwise, he said, his client will report to prison Monday. 

“It is nonetheless hoped that she will be cleared for surgery in the coming days and Mr. Agnello stands ready to provide the donation and simply awaits word of a greenlight for surgery,” Beltrani wrote.

The judge has yet to rule on the request. 

Agnello was also sentenced in April to 2 years of post-release supervision, during which he must perform 100 hours of community service. He was also ordered to submit to a mental health evaluation and counseling, including for his gambling addiction.

Agnello had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with three Small Business Administration loans he fraudulently received during the pandemic.

He received at least three loans on behalf of Crown Auto Parts & Recycling LLC, a Queens-based business he operated, prosecutors have said. Agnello submitted documentation as part of the loan application process that falsely said he had no criminal record. He had pleaded guilty in state court in 2018 to a misdemeanor for running an illegal auto recycling yard in Queens, and he was also convicted of disorderly conduct for possessing a gravity knife in 2009, prosecutors have said.

Agnello was arrested in June after an alleged domestic violence incident and pleaded not guilty in First District Court in Hempstead on charges of third-degree assault, criminal obstruction of breathing and criminal mischief for allegedly choking his girlfriend in East Norwich, Newsday has reported.

Agnello, through another attorney, had sought a sentence of probation, citing risk in connection with the kidney donation. Prosecutors had asked for a prison term of 33 to 41 months. 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.