The final defendant charged in connection with the gruesome murder of a Hofstra University graduate inside a posh Upper East Side pad during a night of partying landed a sweetheart plea deal Friday.
Max Gemma, 31 — who tried to help cover up the 2016 slaying of Joseph Comunale by lying to cops — pleaded guilty in Manhattan court to one count of hindering the prosecution in exchange for six months in jail.
His co-defendants, James Rackover and Larry Dilione, have already been convicted of killing the young Connecticut man and were each sentenced to 28 2/3 years to life and 23 years, respectively.
On Nov. 13, 2016, Rackover and Dilione mercilessly beat Comunale in an argument sparked by their dwindling supply of cocaine inside an apartment at the Grand Sutton on East 59th Street.
“You, Max Gemma lied to police and concealed that you witnessed Mr. Rackover and Mr. Dilione attack and beat Joseph Comunale?” Justice James Burke asked Gemma. “You also concealed that you believed that they had killed Joseph Comunale shortly after that assault?”
“Yes,” replied Gemma, as his lawyer father, Gordon Gemma, watched from the gallery.
Gordon Gemma was formerly the mayor of Oceanport, NJ.
Comunale’s devastated dad, who hasn’t missed a court date in the case, also watched the proceedings in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Burke permitted Gemma to remain free until he is formally sentenced April 12, and he sullenly strolled out of court with his father.
Gemma’s lawyer, Mark Bederow, said, “He took responsibility today, but it’s important to know that the plea relates to statements made to the police after the crime, and he has not been convicted of anything related to the horrible violence committed inside the apartment by Rackover and Dilione.”
Gemma was indicted on two counts of hindering the prosecution and one count of tampering with evidence. He watched as his pals viciously beat the Connecticut man, whom Dilione met for the first time outside a Meatpacking District club a few hours earlier.
As Gemma left the Rackover’s blood-splattered apartment, he saw his maniacal pal straddling the unconscious man in the bathtub.
He chose not to report the shocking crime to the doorman as he left the luxury building or to any one else.
When cops tracked him down Nov.15, 2016, he falsely sai there had been no arguments at the party and that Comunale was long gone by the time he left Rackover’s apartment.
According to trial testimony, the crazed pals stabbed Comunale more than 15 times before Rackover unsuccessfully tried to dismember him in the tub.
They chowed down on a delivered meal of organic burgers before dumping the young man’s corpse behind a florist shop in Oceanport. They then doused Comunale in gasoline and lit him on fire before burying him.
Robert Abrams, the victim’s family’s lawyer, said relatives were grateful to police and prosecutors for securing the convictions.
“Now that Max Gemma has admitted his guilt, it’s time he finally tells the whole truth about what happened and acknowledge all the people who helped him and his co-defendants attempt to get away with this crime,” Abrams said.
Celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover was the younger Rackover’s alleged lover and surrogate father and bankrolled his extravagant lifestyle, including paying the rent on the apartment that became the scene of the tragic slaying.