Church Janitor Was Mob Soldier in Colombo War

From NY Daily News:

Church janitor/hit man
A reputed hit man who quit the mob to work as a janitor at a Manhattan church pleaded guilty Monday to lying about his participation in a 1992 shooting during the Colombo family war.

Anthony Colandra will be sentenced to five years in prison under the plea agreement hammered out with the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office.

Colandra, 42, was originally charged with falsely telling the FBI he did not gun down Colombo soldier John Minerva and innocent bystander Michael Imbergamo in Massapequa, L.I.

But the plea deal allowed him to admit to a different count in the indictment charging him with lying to the feds about whether he was present during a failed attempt to shoot Minerva five days earlier.

"I did witness shots being fired" at a car in which Minerva was believed to be inside, Colandra told Judge Brian Cogan.

Colandra is employed at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on E. 93rd St. Though he did a brief stint as a snitch for the Drug Enforcement Administration, he has not been involved in any criminality since the double murders, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes.

The prosecutor said Colandra can still be prosecuted for the killings by the Nassau County district attorney's office, but the statute of limitations for the federal charge of murder in aid of racketeering has expired.

Colandra, who is free on $500,000 bail, declined to comment. He would have faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The prosecutor said it would have been proven at trial that Colandra had participated in the gangland slayings.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/reputed-hit-man-admits-lied-rubout-article-1.1255123#ixzz2K2vmHsut

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