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'Things Will Get Ugly': Gambling Debt Collector From Long Island Convicted, Usao Says

Two men, including one 86-year-old Long Islander, have been convicted for extorting money from someone who owed them a gambling debt, authorities have announced.

Anthony Romanello, an 86-year-old Franklin Square resident, was convicted of extortion after he went to great lengths to demand a gambling debt be repaid. 

Anthony Romanello, an 86-year-old Franklin Square resident, was convicted of extortion after he went to great lengths to demand a gambling debt be repaid. 

Photo Credit: Unsplash/nielssteeman

Anthony Romanello, age 86 of Franklin Square, was convicted alongside his co-conspirator Joseph Celso, 50 of Queens on Monday, Dec. 11, according to the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York,

Romanello and Celso, along with another Queens resident named Luan Bexheti, conspired from March to June 2017 to collect a gambling debt from an unnamed victim and a family member (named John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 in the trial).

First, the Attorney’s Office said Romanello and Celso repeatedly used both threats and violence in an attempt to get the debt repaid by John Doe 1, confronting him three separate times.

On the third attempt, the pair went to John Doe 1’s Manhattan restaurant to demand payment.

When the victim said he would only hand over part of the money, Romanello punched him in the face.

After being socked, John Doe 1 reported the assault to the New York City Police; he later withdrew it when a day later, Celso threatened John Doe 2 that if his relative continued pressing charges against Romanello, the situation would escalate and “things would get ugly.”

The USAO’s Office reported that this case was handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section.

Romanello was charged with extortionate collection of credit and conspiracy to commit the same in connection with a gambling debt.

Celso, for his part, was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortionate collection of credit.

The two’s convictions come following a weeklong trial.

When sentenced, Romanello faces up to 40 years behind bars, while Celso’s sentence could be up to 20 years.

Bexheti, who is 51, pleaded guilty in October 2023 and is also awaiting his sentence. 

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