San Diego
Joseph C. Bonanno Jr. pleaded guilty Tuesday to one felony count of making a false statement to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and in return the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to drop four conspiracy counts in the sale of cocaine.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Lasater said that federal prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain, which could net Bonanno up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced on June 10.
However, Lasater said that U.S. District Judge Leland C. Nielsen would probably go along with a government recommendation to sentence Bonanno to 120 days in prison and give him a suspended sentence of three years, 18 months’ probation and a $10,000 fine.
Bonanno, 39, son of reputed former New York Mafia boss Joseph C. Bonanno Sr., was named in a November indictment charging him, his wife, Karen, and several others with conspiracy to sell 88 pounds of cocaine at $2,200 an ounce. Karen Bonanno was charged with one count of conspiracy, but that count was dismissed in exchange for her husband’s guilty plea.
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