Prosecutors: Man mutilated kittens before throwing them in the garbage

A Mineola man who prosecutors say mutilated four kittens last year before tossing them in the garbage pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an indictment that includes felony animal cruelty charges.

Nassau prosecutors said Justin Visconti, 38, could go to prison for up to two years if found guilty of the top count against him.

They’ve alleged Visconti repeatedly beat the animals before throwing their bodies down a garbage chute in his Lincoln Avenue apartment building. Veterinarians found the kittens died of nonaccidental blunt force trauma, the Nassau district attorney’s office said Tuesday.

A grand jury indicted Visconti last month on four felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and four misdemeanor counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals.

“Not guilty on all counts,” Visconti declared Tuesday during his virtual court arraignment in front of acting state Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim through Skype.

Visconti’s attorney, Anthony La Pinta, told the judge his client “has been under the care of a psychiatrist … now a number of months.”

The defense also hired a psychiatric expert to evaluate Visconti, the Hauppauge lawyer said.

But La Pinta added that the expert couldn’t finish his report on Visconti without records from the mental health treatment the defendant had been undergoing as a condition of his initial release from jail following his 2019 arrest.

The judge agreed the records could be subpoenaed.

Prosecutors said employees of Visconti’s building found three dead and maimed kittens with a pillowcase inside a garbage bag in the trash chute on Nov. 25, 2019.

After law enforcement officials came to the scene, a fourth kitten was found inside a box addressed to Visconti, according to prosecutors.

Police said after Visconti's arrest that the kittens likely had been feral. They said Visconti was on probation and had previous arrests on charges that included grand larceny, stalking, coercion, aggravated harassment and criminal contempt.

Police charged Visconti in November in connection with a total of six kittens and cats, but prosecutors said further investigation showed evidence supported charges related to four kittens.

“Repeatedly beating defenseless animals is shocking to the conscience and my office is committed to holding this defendant accountable for his alleged actions,” Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas said Tuesday in a statement.

Law enforcement officials also said they rearrested Visconti on Aug. 6 on a separate misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt after he allegedly defied a court order related to his November arrest by possessing a cat.

“It would be a grave mistake should he violate that order,” Sturim said Tuesday, while continuing the prohibition on Visconti having any animals as the cruelty case remains pending.

The defendant, who records show initially met his $40,000 bail, is now free on his own recognizance following changes to the law regarding bailable offenses.