Son of New York pizzeria owner gets 20 years in drug case

[June 23, 2017]    By Brendan Pierson
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - The son of a New York pizzeria owner was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison for his role in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy linked to organized crime.

The Cucino a Modo Mio pizzeria and restaurant is seen in the Queens borough of New York, May 11, 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Angelo Gigliotti, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn federal court, U.S. prosecutors said. His lawyer, Gerald McMahon, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Federal prosecutors accused the Gigliottis of using their family-run restaurant, Cucino Amodo Mio in the New York City borough of Queens and a produce importation company to provide cover for drug trafficking for 'Ndrangheta, a powerful criminal organization in Italy.

Gigliotti was convicted after a two-week trial in July 2016, along with his father, Gregorio Gigliotti, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in April.

The two men were arrested in March 2015, two months before U.S. and Italian authorities said they arrested 13 people on related charges of participating in a drug trafficking ring based in Italy's southern Calabria region.

Angelo Gigliotti's mother, Eleonora Gigliotti, pleaded guilty to taking part in the trafficking scheme and was sentenced to seven years in prison in May.

Calabria is home to 'Ndrangheta, which U.S. authorities have said has conducted drug smuggling and trafficking in New York with members in Calabria and Toronto, Canada.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York)

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