A mob associate jailed for taking part in a gangland shooting of a Brooklyn mom could have three years wiped off his 10-year sentence after an appeals court cast doubt over whether the woman suffered permanent injuries.
Patricia Capozzalo miraculously survived the attempted rubout in March 1992, weeks before her mobster brother, Peter “Fat Pete” Chiodo was to testify against Luchese crime boss Vittorio “Vic” Amuso.
She was shot in the neck and back as she returned to her Bensonhurst home after dropping two of her three kids to school.
Robert Spinelli, who drove a getaway car and was convicted of conspiracy to murder in aid of racketeering, was sentenced to 10 years by Brooklyn federal Judge Raymond Dearie and is not due out of prison until 2007.
But the New York federal appeals court has ruled that the judge erred by adopting a sentencing mechanism that took into account “permanent or life-threatening injuries” to Capozzalo.
The appeals court said it could not be certain Capozzalo still suffers from the attempt on her life and ordered that Spinelli, 40, be resentenced.
“Under the circumstances, we deem it wise to remand for further inquiry into Capozzalo’s psychological and emotional injuries,” the ruling said.
Judge Dearie adopted the sentencing mechanism – which accounted for about three years of Spinelli’s 10-year sentence – after finding that Capozzalo continued to suffer emotionally from the crime.
Capozzalo, who now lives under federal protection and could not be contacted yesterday, said in interviews with court officers that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, court papers say.
She said she experiences “regular, vivid nightmares in which she is being chased and which cause her to wake up in a cold sweat.”
“As a result of being under federal protection, they [Capozzalo and her family] are daily reminded of the instant offense and as a result lead only a semblance of a normal life,” court papers say.
“She likened the separation [from her extended family] to losing her entire family in an instant, describing the loss as a death that she will never be allowed to grieve.”
Legal sources said the ruling could result in Spinelli getting his sentence cut by up to three years.
The judge might also try to end up with a similar sentence by taking into account other factors, sources said.
Prosecutor Daniel Dorsky said the government would comply with the court’s ruling and begin preparations for the re-sentencing.
Spinelli, who is said to have an IQ of 63, claimed he only took part in the planned hit because his mob brother, Michael Spinelli, instructed him to drive a backup getaway car.
Spinelli’s lawyer Gail Laser could not be contacted yesterday.