Carmine Agnello, John Gotti’s grandson, has begun his delayed prison sentence after failing to donate a kidney to his mother by a court-ordered deadline.
The 40-year-old self-surrendered on Aug. 10 and entered the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in New Jersey, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. His original surrender date of June 20 had been pushed back two months so he could undergo the transplant procedure for his mother, Victoria Gotti, 63, on Aug. 3.
That date passed without surgery. Agnello’s attorney, Robert Beltrani, wrote to Brooklyn federal Judge Nusrat Choudhury on Aug. 4 that Victoria Gotti was battling a severe infection. “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 greenlight for surgery,” Beltrani wrote in the letter to the court.
Judge Choudhury issued an ultimatum at a hearing on Aug. 6. If the surgery occurred on or before Aug. 10, Agnello could remain free until Sept. 18. If not, he had to surrender on Aug. 10. Agnello begged for one more extension in a motion filed the day he turned himself in. “This is an unusual and deeply personal circumstance,” Beltrani wrote. “Carmine is not asking the Court to interfere with his sentence or provide him with special treatment.”
The judge denied the request, ruling that without any surgery scheduled, another delay was unjustified. “Because there is no concrete evidence that an organ transplant will be scheduled to take place at any time between today and September 18, the request for another deferral of Mr. Agnello’s self-surrender is unjustified,” Choudhury said, according to the case docket.
Prosecutors with the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office had repeatedly argued against leniency, noting that Agnello could still donate his kidney while incarcerated. The former reality TV star was sentenced on April 20 after pleading guilty to skimming Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the Small Business Administration. He was ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution.
At sentencing, defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman argued that Agnello’s upbringing distorted his sense of right and wrong. “There was really no male role models for Carmine — they were all in jail,” Lichtman told the judge. “He tried to live up to the family name. He didn’t have a childhood that would have led to anywhere besides here.”
Agnello’s uncle, John A. Gotti, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse after the sentencing. “His mother did a fine job raising him. However, the circumstances surrounding it are very difficult,” Gotti said. “As you guys all know, we’ve had 15 members of our family go to prison. I think it’s enough. I think we did our time.”
Victoria Gotti had also pleaded for mercy in a letter to the court. “He is giving me the GIFT OF LIFE,” she wrote. “This entire event never made much sense to me from the start. My son, Carmine would never do anything he knew was wrong. There was no attempt to defraud anyone or any institution on his part.”
In the viral moment that preceded this saga, Agnello was arrested in early June on domestic assault charges just weeks before his original prison reporting date. Nassau County police said he allegedly slapped, punched and choked his 29-year-old girlfriend during an argument at his East Norwich, New York home, and smashed her phone. He pleaded not guilty and was released on non-monetary bail. The arrest added another layer of chaos to an already tumultuous period for the family.
Agnello’s sentence has since been reduced slightly — reports said his release date was moved up to Sept. 2, 2027, shaving nearly two months off the original 15-month term.