A Howard Beach, New York man associated with the Gambino organized-crime syndicate has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and $75,000 in restitution for his confessed role in an extortion plot involving arson.
Peter Tuccio, described as "a captain in the Gambino crime family" La Cosa Nostra, was sentenced March 2 in U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced at the time. Tuccio had entered a guilty plea in January 2021 to "using fire to commit one or more felonies," the DOJ reports.
“Today, Tuccio pays a steep price for the dangerous actions he took to extort payments to the mob,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in the announcement.
Court filings allege Tuccio, 29, and two associates set fire to a luxury car owned by an individual who had stopped making extortion payments to La Cosa Nostra after years of being financially extorted by the criminal organization. The act of arson was intended to intimate the victim into resuming payments to the Gambino mob, the DOJ states, which the individual then did.
Co-defendants Jonathan Gurino and Gino Gabrielli were charged in a separate indictment and have also entered guilty pleas, according to the DOJ. The case against the three men included video footage from the victim's surveillance camera showing Gabrielli igniting an accelerant poured on the car and accidentally setting himself on fire in the process. Tuccio accompanied Gabrielli to a local hospital for treatment, court filings show.
“No residents or businesses should have to operate under the threat of violence or intimidation from organized crime," Peace said in the announcement. "Let Tuccio serve as an example that this behavior will not be tolerated.”
The New York City Fire Department’s Bureau of Fire Investigation was recognized by the DOJ for its work on the case. The DOJ's Organized Crime and Gangs section is handling the federal government’s case.
