Gotti grandson Carmine Agnello ordered to begin prison sentence amid efforts to donate kidney to his mother

A grandson of the late mob boss John Gotti was ordered Monday to begin serving a 15-month prison term for fraudulently taking $1.1 million in COVID-19 small business loans, after a judge denied his latest request to extend his surrender date until the fall to donate a kidney to his mother, a judge ruled Monday. 

U.S. District Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury ordered Carmine G. Agnello, 40, to turn himself in to the federal Bureau of Prisons by 4 p.m. Monday, rejecting his plea to stay out of prison in hopes that he could donate a kidney to his mother Victoria Gotti. Agnello was designated to serve his sentence at the prison camp at FCI Fairton in New Jersey, a source said. 

"Because there is no concrete evidence that an organ transplant will be scheduled to take place at any time between today and Sept. 18, 2026, the request for another deferral of Mr. Agnello's self-surrender is unjustified," Choudhury said. 

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond when asked if Agnello had surrendered by the 4 p.m. deadline. At 2:33 p.m. Monday, BOP spokesman Donald Murphy said by email Agnello was not in BOP custody. 

Agnello's attorney Robert V. Beltrani did not respond to calls and texts Monday. 

Agnello, in a last-minute request filed Monday, said Victoria Gotti is still fighting an infection that last week delayed the planned kidney transplant, but said Agnello remains a "great match" for his mother and asked the judge to let him surrender on Sept. 18 instead so the transplant can be rescheduled.

"His ability to serve as her donor is imperative to the transplant team’s determination on a surgery date," wrote Beltrani. "Further, if Carmine is required to surrender later today (Monday, Aug. 10) he will essentially be disqualified as an option to serve as his mother’s living donor at the very time that his mother’s medical team is working to determine when she can safely proceed with transplant."

Beltrani added: "This is an unusual and deeply personal circumstance. Carmine is not asking the Court to interfere with his sentence or to provide him with special treatment."

A letter submitted to the judge Monday from Victoria Gotti’s doctor, Steve W. Rucker, who has an office in Lake Success, said, “She has had recurrent infections necessitating the cancellation of any potential transplant. A workup is being performed to identify the etiology and the proper treatment for these infections.”

In a one-paragraph-long response, prosecutor Charles P. Kelly said the government opposed Agnello’s request and noted it came “without any surgery even scheduled.”

“Clearly, the transplant surgery is not imminent,” Kelly wrote, citing the letter from Victoria Gotti’s doctor. “The government opposes this request and asks that the Court not alter its standing Order of Aug. 6, 2026 in this case.”

The judge had already approved a Sept. 18 surrender date in the event that the surgery went forward by Monday. Kelly had said in a letter to the judge last week that he had "no objection" to that proposed delay.

In addition to the 15-month prison sentence, Agnello was also sentenced on April to two years of post-release supervision, to include 100 hours of community service, and he was also ordered to submit to a mental health evaluation and counseling, including for his gambling addiction.

Agnello pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after he received three loans from the Small Business Administration during the pandemic on behalf of Crown Auto Parts & Recycling LLC, a Queens-based business he operated, prosecutors have said. Agnello submitted documentation as part of the loan application process that falsely said he had no criminal record, prosecutors said, when, in fact, he had two prior convictions.

Agnello was arrested again in June for allegedly choking his girlfriend in East Norwich, Newsday has reported. He pleaded not guilty in First District Court in Hempstead on charges of third-degree assault, criminal obstruction of breathing and criminal mischief.