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Mobster Richard Riccardi has complained of excruciating pain from a hip tumor, requiring the use of a cane. But in an exclusive report from the New York Daily News, the convicted murderer and Mob goon's "unceasing pain" did little to prevent him from getting into two different altercations, both occurring while behind bars while awaiting sentencing.
Riccardi was charged in the 2010 fatal shooting of check casher James Donovan in Brooklyn. The actual shooter was Bonanno associate Hector Pagan, ex-husband of “Mob Wives” star Renee Graziano. Pagan has since copped a plea that earned him a reduced sentence.
“There can be no doubt that Mr. Riccardi’s biggest mistake was agreeing to do this crime with a truly unrepentant, cold-blooded killer (Pagan),” defense lawyer Susan Kellman argued in her sentencing memo.
Kellman said her client’s medical maladies are definitely real. “They would never prescribe painkillers for him if they didn’t confirm the seriousness of the condition in his leg, his thigh and his hip,” she said.
The first prison altercation was caught on surveillance tape and landed Riccardi in solitary confinement. Upon his release into the general population, Riccardi got into a subsequent fight with his co-defendant, Luigi Grasso.
The mobster’s defense attorney is seeking a reduced sentence due to “health issues” but
prosecutors argue that Riccardi’s alleged health issues are not so severe that they can’t be addressed by prison doctors.
His “unceasing” pain did not prevent him from violating prison rules by fighting with another inmate, they pointed out.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
