Howard Beach Bonanno Mobster, Newspaper Publisher Sought to Threaten Sex Assault Victim
Robert Pisani, an associate in acting capo Ronald Giallanzo's Bonanno crime family crew, was among a group of 10 reputed Bonanno crime family members accused of participating in various crimes over the past two decades ranging from racketeering to loan sharking and attempted murder.
Pisani's rap sheet stretched back to 1992 and included assault, insurance fraud, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment charges.
Leading the March indictment was Howard Beach’s Giallanzo, 46, who allegedly oversaw a criminal enterprise that netted $26 million in earnings since 1998, federal prosecutors said.
Following his March arrest, Pisani and his wife posted a $500,000 bond for his federal racketeering case and he was released. Then in May, just as he was departing the downtown Brooklyn federal courthouse after a hearing related to the racketeering case, Pisani was re-arrested by a plainclothes sex crimes detective.
According to the criminal complaint, Pisani allegedly groped a female employee and exposed himself to her at his All-American Bagel and Barista Company at 82-51 153rd Ave., on April 28. Pisani allegedly cornered his victim in the back office one afternoon and grabbed her buttocks. He then allegedly unhooked the 28-year-old’s bra and tried to pull her shirt up when the woman shoved him away. Pisani then allegedly grabbed her hand, whipped it out, and wanted her to grab it.
It’s not the first time Adams had a run-in with the law. She was arrested in 2014 following a dispute with a neighbor that included her driving her car into a tree on his lawn. She then screamed, cursed and flailed her arms as officers tried to handcuff her in front of her Howard Beach home about 10 p.m.
Psani was convicted of the sexual assault last month.
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| NEW NICKNAME? Pisani the Pervert |
Pisani's rap sheet stretched back to 1992 and included assault, insurance fraud, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment charges.
Leading the March indictment was Howard Beach’s Giallanzo, 46, who allegedly oversaw a criminal enterprise that netted $26 million in earnings since 1998, federal prosecutors said.
Following his March arrest, Pisani and his wife posted a $500,000 bond for his federal racketeering case and he was released. Then in May, just as he was departing the downtown Brooklyn federal courthouse after a hearing related to the racketeering case, Pisani was re-arrested by a plainclothes sex crimes detective.
According to the criminal complaint, Pisani allegedly groped a female employee and exposed himself to her at his All-American Bagel and Barista Company at 82-51 153rd Ave., on April 28. Pisani allegedly cornered his victim in the back office one afternoon and grabbed her buttocks. He then allegedly unhooked the 28-year-old’s bra and tried to pull her shirt up when the woman shoved him away. Pisani then allegedly grabbed her hand, whipped it out, and wanted her to grab it.
After learning of his arrest for sexual assault, federal prosecutors moved to have Pisani’s bail revoked. Soon after a hearing was scheduled, law enforcement sources said, Pisani reached out to Patricia Adams, publisher of The Forum Newsgroup, a weekly newspaper based in Howard Beach, and asked for her help. The Forum serves numerous southern Queens neighborhoods including Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill and Woodhaven. Her paper had previously written favorable articles about Pisani and his bagel business, the complaint noted.
According to the complaint, Adams is considered a known associate of the Bonanno family and was buried by a massive debt owed to the Bonannos over her gambling habits “which resulted in losses of up to $1,500 per week.” She played cards regularly at an Ozone Park social club that the Bonannos controlled.
According to the complaint, Adams is considered a known associate of the Bonanno family and was buried by a massive debt owed to the Bonannos over her gambling habits “which resulted in losses of up to $1,500 per week.” She played cards regularly at an Ozone Park social club that the Bonannos controlled.
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| Pisani’s deli in Howard Beach before he bought it and changed its name and sexually assaulted a female employee. |
Shortly after Pisani’s bail revocation hearing was scheduled, prosecutors said, Adams reached out to the sex assault victim’s father and asked to meet with him. They agreed to meet on May 13 at a local Starbucks cafe. Adams allegedly threatened to smear the victim in the pages of The Forum newspaper if she dared to testify in court that Pisani had sexually assaulted her, according to a federal indictment.
During the nearly three-hour conversation, which the victim’s father recorded, law enforcement sources said, Adams allegedly told him that she was close with Pisani and that she was “in a position … to have to expose the whole situation if we get to that point.”
“I won’t hurt you if you don’t deserve — that’s for my enemies,” she allegedly told the victim’s father. “I will not hurt you … but in the newspaper, thoroughly, thoroughly objective … For my good, for everybody’s good — I’m hoping that she’ll decide to drop it.”
She went on to say she was “I’ve been trying to get out for two years. But because of certain obligations, I’m forced to stay on. I’m kind of under their thumb.” Federal agents believe she was referencing her alleged obligations to the Bonanno family.
Federal agents arrested Adams, 58, last August. She was booked on witness tampering charges for attempting to interfere in a sex assault case against Pisani. Adams was arraigned in federal court on charges of tampering with a witness. She was released on $150,000 bail but ordered to be detained at her home and fitted with a electronic monitoring device.
“I won’t hurt you if you don’t deserve — that’s for my enemies,” she allegedly told the victim’s father. “I will not hurt you … but in the newspaper, thoroughly, thoroughly objective … For my good, for everybody’s good — I’m hoping that she’ll decide to drop it.”
She went on to say she was “I’ve been trying to get out for two years. But because of certain obligations, I’m forced to stay on. I’m kind of under their thumb.” Federal agents believe she was referencing her alleged obligations to the Bonanno family.
Federal agents arrested Adams, 58, last August. She was booked on witness tampering charges for attempting to interfere in a sex assault case against Pisani. Adams was arraigned in federal court on charges of tampering with a witness. She was released on $150,000 bail but ordered to be detained at her home and fitted with a electronic monitoring device.
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| Former newspaper publisher/Bonanno associate. |
It’s not the first time Adams had a run-in with the law. She was arrested in 2014 following a dispute with a neighbor that included her driving her car into a tree on his lawn. She then screamed, cursed and flailed her arms as officers tried to handcuff her in front of her Howard Beach home about 10 p.m.
Psani was convicted of the sexual assault last month.
It was reported yesterday (July 14) that Adams is to return to court in September after pleading guilty to one count of misprision, which is an acknowledgement of concealing information about a felony crime.
She copped to the crime on June 26, nearly a year after her arrest for intimidating a sexual assault victim. She faces up to three years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, though some reports had earlier claimed she could get up to 20 years in prison.
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