It took nearly three years, but the Antoniello family will finally have “justice for Jerry.”
Francis LaCorte — the convicted mastermind behind the 2009 Ozone Park home invasion in which 29-year-old Jerry Antoniello was shot and killed protecting his family — was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison last week.
LaCorte, 30, had been found guilty in May for the second-degree murder of Antoniello, after LaCorte and another assailant, Vincent Mineo, broke into the Antoniello home in September 2009. The push-in robbery saw father Bartolomeo “Romeo” Antoniello struck in the head and Gerardo, or Jerry, fatally shot in the head.
The coordinator behind the crime had a three-week trial in which he was also found guilty of first-degree attempted robbery, first-degree attempted burglary, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and fourth-degree conspiracy.
The District Attorney’s office released a statement in response to the sentencing, noting that this was one of three robberies during that time LaCorte and Mineo had carried out.
“This was a particularly brutal murder in which a son was gunned down in his own home as he bravely came to the aid of his father who was being robbed,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “At trial, the defendant was found guilty of not just murdering the young man, but of having orchestrated, planned and carried out other home robberies at gunpoint. Under the circumstances, the lengthy sentence imposed is more than warranted so as to punish the defendant and to protect society.”
Angelo Antoniello, Gerardo’s brother, said the entire family was happy LaCorte had finally been sentenced.
“We’re very satisfied that happened,” he said. “We’re glad he got 50 years and hopefully he’ll never win an appeal.”
