Actor from mob hits, “Goodfellas” and “The Sopranos” has received a reduced sentence for extortion charges in federal court for starring in an anti-Mafia public service announcement.
Anthony Borgese, who played mobster roles in “Goodfellas” and “The Sopranos” has benefited from denouncing the Mafia lifestyle in a public service announcement. The video was recorded last year after Borgese pleaded guilty to setting up a mob beat down on someone in debt. He was arrested in 2009 by FBI agents at LaGuardia Airport, after arriving from a film shoot and later released on $750,000 bond.
Gambino associate, Joseph (Joey Boy) Orlando, was co-charged for extortion with Borgese. According to reports, he was the one who ordered the attack on the extortion victim as a favor for Borgese. He was sentenced to 51 months in prison.
According to the Daily News, the victim of the attack owed $5,000 to a loan shark. However he refused to appear in court or seek restitution for his injuries. The attack left the victim with broken ribs and a broken nose.
In the video he warns young men of the negativity involved with being a mobster.
Judge Eric Vitaliano was so impressed with the messages conveyed in the video that he gave Borgese six months house arrest and 250 hours of community service for a charge that could’ve led to almost four years in federal prison. Vitaliano also mentioned Borgese’s good deeds and charity work years before his arrest. He told the Daily News that he wants to put his celebrity status to better use.
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“I know what I did was wrong, I shouldn’t have done it, and I’ll suffer for it the rest of my life,” he said
The 73-year-old Borgese played Sonny Bunz, the owner of the Bamboo Lounge, in the popular mob-hit, “Goodfellas”. Going by the stage name, Tony Darrow, the Brooklyn-born actor calls himself the “Goodfella of Comedy.”
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