Carmine Agnello, the grandson of former Gambino crime boss John Gotti, began a 15-month prison sentence on August 10 for COVID-19 fraud after failing to meet a court-ordered deadline to donate a kidney to his mother. Agnello, 40, self-surrendered to the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in New Jersey.
His sentencing, originally set for June 20, had been postponed twice. The first delay granted a two-month reprieve for a kidney transplant procedure for his mother, Victoria Gotti, scheduled for August 3. However, the surgery did not occur by the August deadline.
Agnello's attorney, Robert Beltrani, informed the Brooklyn federal court in a letter on August 4 that his mother was battling a severe infection, which prevented the surgery. Beltrani stated that Agnello was ready to proceed with the donation once his mother was cleared.
On August 6, Judge Nusrat Choudhury set a new ultimatum: if the surgery took place by August 10, Agnello would receive an additional one-month deferral of his surrender date, moving it to September 18. If the transplant did not occur by this date, Agnello was ordered to report to prison on August 10.
Agnello's legal team sought another extension, requesting a surrender date of September 18, citing his mother's continued infection and inability to schedule the surgery. However, the judge denied this request, noting the absence of concrete evidence that an organ transplant would be scheduled before the new potential surrender date. "Because there is no concrete evidence that an organ transplant will be scheduled to take place at any time between today and September 18, 2026, the request for another deferral of Mr. Agnello’s self-surrender is unjustified," the judge stated, according to court documents.
Prosecutors from the Brooklyn US Attorney's Office had previously argued that the situation did not warrant leniency and that Agnello could donate the kidney while incarcerated.
Agnello was sentenced on April 20 after pleading guilty to skimming funds from the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, which was intended to assist businesses affected by the pandemic shutdown. In addition to his prison term, he was ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution.