Life imitates art as Sopranos actor is sentenced in mob crime

So much for the method-acting defense.

An actor who played mobsters in "The Sopranos" and "Goodfellas" was sentenced in a mob case Wednesday to two years probation with six months of house arrest for conspiracy to commit extortion.

Tony Darrow, 72, whose legal name is Anthony Borgese, was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano in Brooklyn to 250 hours of community service and a $7,500 fine in connection with the beating of a Monticello man involved in a Gambino loan sharking scheme in 2004.

Following his 2009 indictment, Borgese - who played Sonny Bunz in "Goodfellas" and "Larry Boy" Barese in "The Sopranos" - appeared in a public service announcement decrying organized crime and performed other do-gooding acts that "tempers somewhat" his illegal activities, Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan Norris wrote to the court earlier this week, according to the New York Post.

Borgese, a character actor who has made a career of playing wise guys and made men, as well as the occasional cop, faced up to three years in prison. He pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit extortion in February.

Co-conspirator Joseph "Joey Boy" Orlando was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment in 2010. The other man with whom Borgese was indicted, Giovanni Monteleone, pled guilty earlier this year but has yet to be sentenced.