John Gotti’s grandson Carmine Agnello missed a court-ordered deadline to donate a kidney to his mother Victoria by Monday, after a judge gave him a two-month reprieve on his fraud sentence to undergo the surgical procedure.
The saga of the “Growing Up Gotti” star’s kidney transplant took another turn Tuesday, after his lawyer revealed in a court filing that his mother, Victoria Gotti, has a “serious infection requiring a battery of antibiotics.”
Agnello, 39, was initially supposed to surrender on July 20 to start his 15-month federal prison sentence for a $1.1 million COVID fraud conviction in Long Island federal court.
But U.S. District Court Judge Nusrat Choudhury gave him two more months of freedom, allowing him to self-surrender on Sept. 18, as long as he donates his kidney to his ailing ma on Aug. 3. If the procedure doesn’t happen by then, he has to self-surrender by Aug. 10.
Federal prosecutors last month pushed back on granting Agnello a reprieve, arguing, “This is precisely the basis upon which the defendant sought an eve-of-sentencing adjournment in March; and, after obtaining that adjournment, no surgery actually occurred. Needless to say, the government is extremely skeptical of the instant request.”
His lawyer, Robert Beltrani, submitted assurances from two doctors stating that the procedure would happen on Aug. 3.
On Tuesday, though, Beltrani, said the infection prompted “what is expected to be a minor delay in the transplantation.”
“It is nonetheless hoped that she will be cleared for surgery in the coming days and Mr. Agnello stands ready to provide the donation and simply awaits word of a green light for the surgery,” Beltrani wrote on Tuesday, adding that he has “high hopes” the transplant will happen before Aug. 10.
He said Agnello will follow the court’s ruling and surrender by Aug. 10 at 2 p.m., but requests the judge allow for the later surrender date if the transplant happens before then.
“Unfortunately, much to my consternation, the profile of this case would seem to be causing extra delays with the Hospital’s legal department,” Beltrani wrote.
Back in March, Victoria Gotti wrote a lengthy letter begging the judge to spare Agnello prison time because of the pending kidney transplant, calling him her “Miracle Child” and proclaiming, “He is giving me the GIFT OF LIFE,”
Agnello’s lawyer at the time, Steven Metcalf, said in a March 11 filing that the clock was ticking on Victoria Gotti’s life if she didn’t get her son’s kidney, writing that she “faces an imminent terminal condition or permanent debilitation without an urgent kidney transplant.”
But despite the purported urgency, the transplant didn’t happen, and Agnello got a new lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, who apologized for Metcalf’s “voluminous” filing.
“While she suffers from ‘advanced chronic kidney disease,’ her renal function has not yet deteriorated to the point when surgery is required as the procedure has ‘significant risks and is only performed when absolutely indicated,’” Lichtman wrote on April 13.
He clarified that the transplant wouldn’t actually happen for six to 12 months, and if she didn’t get the kidney when she needed, she’d require three days of dialysis a week.
The judge handed down the 15-month sentence on April 20.
Agnello admitted to fraudulently applying for three COVID relief loans for his business, Crown Auto Parts, which he co-owned with his brothers, lying about the size of his payroll and falsely claiming he had no criminal record. He used $420,000 of the money he received to invest in a cryptocurrency business, according to the feds.
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