By Alexander Dworkowitz
A 20-year-old believed by officials to be related to the Gambino crime family last week pleaded guilty to felony assault charges of stabbing two young men outside a College Point nightclub in 2000, the Queens district attorney said.
Nicholas Gambino’s plea bargain was entered after the Brooklyn resident in February was acquitted of trying to kill five patrons during a fight outside the Metropolis Nightclub in College Point on Aug. 4, 2000.
Gambino faced another trial on assault and weapons possession charges involving the same incident. If convicted, he would have faced a maximum of 14 years in prison.
“The defendant has waived his claim to self-defense and his right to appeal,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Gambino claimed that he acted in self-defense at his original trial in February.
Brown said Gambino “admitted that he caused physical injury to two other young men in a knife assault that followed a mindless and petty dispute in a nightclub.”
State Supreme Court Judge Stanley Katz will sentence Gambino to five years’ probation on May 23, Brown said.
The stabbing by Gambino stemmed from a dispute over a woman, Brown said. The fight broke out shortly after 2 a.m. at the club on 123rd Street just off the Whitestone Expressway and five men were stabbed, including two seriously, police said.
Gambino admitted he stabbed two of the men, Anthony Federici of Malba and James Mastronardi of Whitestone, both of whom are now 20 , Brown said. The three other young men suffered minor stab wounds.
Federici testified at Gambino’s trial that the Brooklyn man had stabbed him. He underwent surgery for a “large laceration” to his intestines, the complaint said.
Federici is the son of “Tough” Tony Federici, a reputed mob boss from the Genovese crime family who owns the Parkside Restaurant in Corona. Officials believe Gambino is the nephew of two soldiers in the Gambino crime family.
The August 2000 fight was the last in a series of violent incidents that had occurred at the Metropolis Nightclub, which was closed down later that month. It has not reopened.
In February 2000, Raymond Hernandez, 21, of the Bronx, was found murdered outside the club during a fight, police said.
In August 1999, three men died outside the club in a bizarre shooting incident and car crash.
And in December 1995, one man was stabbed in a fight in front of the club, three were shot and another man was hit by a car just months after the club opened.
Metropolis was billed as “the most exciting experience on the planet.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
