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The Sopranos never shied away from the violence of the mafia world it was depicting, and the many people Tony Soprano killed cemented him as a truly unique and dangerous television protagonist. Throughout The Sopranos' six seasons, Tony Soprano authorized the deaths of twelve people from his offices at the back of Satriale's Pork Store of the Bada Bing strip club. These murders were carried out by loyal lieutenants like Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri (Tony Sirico) and Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt).

Tony Sopranos' Kills:

Character

Actor

Method Of Death

Episode Of Death

Willie Overall

Herbert Rogers

Shot

Season 6, Episode 15, "Remember When"

Febby Petrulio

Tony Ray Rossi

Strangled

Season 1, Episode 5, "College"

Chucky Signore

Sal Ruffino

Shot

Season 1, Episode 13, "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano"

Matthew Bevilaqua

Lillo Brancato Jr.

Shot

Season 2, Episode 9, "From Where To Eternity"

Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero

Vincent Pastore

Shot

Season 2, Episode 13, "Funhouse"

Ralph Cifaretto

Joe Pantoliano

Beaten to death...

A Bronx Tale accurately portrays bar brawls, earning a 7 out of 10 score from a former Hells Angels member. Bar fights can break out if an establishment refuses to serve a club member due to the patches on their jacket. A Bronx Tale marks Robert De Niro's directorial debut and earned glowing reviews from critics, but it was a commercial disappointment.

A former Hells Angels gang member explains how A Bronx Tale accurately depicts bar brawls. Directed by and starring De Niro and released in 1993, A Bronx Tale chronicles how a young boy becomes torn between his hard-working father and the charismatic crime boss that runs their neighborhood. The film, which also stars Chazz Palminteri and Lillo Brancato, features some moments of intense violence, including a bar brawl involving a biker gang.

In a recent video for Insider, former Hells Angels chapter president Pat Matter breaks down A Bronx Tale's bar brawl,...

Robert De Niro worked the crowd at the Beacon Theater during the Tribeca Festival closing gala on Saturday evening, which served as a 30th anniversary celebration of his directorial debut, “A Bronx Tale.”

When asked about the film’s mild box office — earning about $17 million on a $21 million production budget — the director said, “How could you not be disappointed? You do all this work for it. At the same time, I was lucky to be able to make the movie I made.”

De Niro also admitted that “I never got asked to do movies after that,” and it was an effort to get his next directorial effort, 2006’s “The Good Shepherd,” made.

“That was another uphill battle,” he said.

Following a screening of the film, De Niro, who also starred in and produced the film, discussed the project with writer and co-star Chazz Palminteri in a conversation moderated by The New Yorker’s David Remnick.

There are plenty of poignant, powerful movies like Menace II Society that share its authentic look at troubled youths, urban bloodshed, and what leads young people into a life of crime. Set in the Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, Menace II Society revolves around Caine Lawson, played by Tyrin Turner, a young drug dealer whose criminal activity gets him kicked out of his grandparents’ house and chased by the cops. Menace II Society marked the feature-length directorial debut of the Hughes brothers, who were known at the time for helming music videos and quickly became renowned for their viscerally violent crime films.

Released in 1993, Menace II Society was a box office success and widely praised by critics, scoring 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. It received acclaim for its gritty style, its realistic depiction of inner-city violence, and the breathtaking performances by Turner and his co-star Jada Pinkett Smith. Menace II...

The Tribeca Festival has its opening-night, closing-night and centerpiece films.

Organizers said today that the documentary Kiss the Future will kick off the event on June 7 and a 30th anniversary screening of fest co-founder Robert De Niro’s A Bronx Tale will bookend it on June 17. This year’s Centerpiece Gala on June 10 will feature Disney-Pixar’s Elemental, which is set to close the Cannes Film Festival next month.

Kiss the Future, which premiered at Berlin in February, follows the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo and the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital. The docu is produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Sarah Anthony and features U2’s Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton.

The Peter Sohn-directed Elemental is set in Element City, where Fire, Water, Land and Air residents live together. It follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a tough,...

Beloved by moviegoers for decades, the mafia film genre typically centers around key players that make up the world of organized crime in various contexts, locations, and cultures, with a sprinkle of family life and a generous serving of violence included in the storylines. The genre traces back to the early beginnings of film, but was popularized by directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese in the 1970s and beyond.

Over the years, the mafia genre has continued to defy stereotypes and include elements from different film genres, like suspense or comedy. The latest mafia-related film, "Mafia Mamma," which hit theaters on April 14, presents a traditional look at the Italian mafia, with a refreshing, comedic tone delivered by Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci. In the film, Colette's character, Kristin, unexpectedly inherits her estranged grandfather's mafia empire in Calabria, Italy, and has to assume the role of mob boss...

When you have a life story as incredible as Calogero "Chazz" Palminteri's, you have to make a movie out of it. Palminteri first told his story as a one-man show on the stage. He took the basics of his childhood and his more remarkable experiences, such as witnessing a murder at age nine or being friendly with the neighborhood gangsters, and turned them into a coming-of-age story.

On stage, "A Bronx Tale" was all Palminteri. To bring it to the screen though, he would need help. He ultimately found his creative partner in Robert De Niro. Both men shaped the film behind and in front of the camera. Palminteri adapted his show into the film's screenplay and played Sonny, the boss who takes young Calogero under his wing. De Niro directed and played Palminteri's own father Lorenzo, a strait-laced bus driver. The project became a crown jewel of De Niro's filmography.

Diligently working to showcase their talents and prove they’re serious about improving their lives is a powerful motivator for actors and film characters alike. That’s certainly the case for actor Lillo Brancato, who rose from obscurity to movie stardom when he had his first feature leading role turn in Robert De Niro‘s 1993 directorial debut, […]

The post Lillo Brancato Recounts his Audition Experience for A Bronx Tale in Wasted Talent Exclusive Clip appeared first on Shockya.com.

Exclusive: Freestyle Digital Media announced today that is has secured the distribution rights to the Steve Sanulis-directed documentary Wasted Talent. The film will debut on demand on November 13.

The film, which also debuted its first trailer (watch above), follows 41-year-old actor Lillo Brancato who made his debut in Robert De Niro’s 1993 directorial debut A Bronx Tale. He went on to star in Renaissance Man, Crimson Tide, and The Sopranos, but Brancato fell from grace after becoming an addict and getting arrested for the murder of NYPD Officer Daniel Enchautegui during a drug excursion gone horribly wrong. Despite being cleared of the murder charge, Brancato still spent more than eight years in prison on an attempted burglary conviction. During his time in prison the actor was finally able to get clean and sober so that now, out from behind bars, he can hopefully pick up where is acting career left off.

When Lillo Brancato Jr. was chosen to play Robert De Niro‘s son in 1993’s A Bronx Tale, he was considered one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors. With all the offers that entailed.

At the time, De Niro took the then-17-year-old under his wing and gave him some fatherly advice. “Early on in my career I spoke to Bob and Chazz about how profound changes would occur in my life,” Brancato, now 41, tells People. “They said once this movie goes out, you will have people around you who will expose you to dangerous things and you have to be careful.

A classic film noir is getting a remake and modern update.

Silver Plane Films and Kingfisher Media announced that the production for D.O.A. Blood River will start shooting this month in Louisiana.

The noir thriller is inspired by director Rudolph Mate’s 1950 thriller D.O.A.

D.O.A Blood River will follow Sam Collins as a pharmaceutical sales rep, who visits a small town in Louisiana to close a business deal of a lifetime. Collins enters a world of sex, corruption and murder—as he is poisoned with no antidote. In a search for answers, he turns to a local girl named Jesse, in which their path leads to a voodoo priestess that confirms Sam’s fate. With nowhere to go and no others to trust, Sam and Jesse are on the run from police detectives, the Mob and a corrupt sheriff who wants him dead.

The studio also announced Billy Flynn...

Silver Plane Films and Kingfisher Media rounds out casting of the noir thriller, D.O.A. Blood River, with Christa B. Allen (“Revenge,” “13 Going on 30”) as Jessie, Scottie Thompson (“Skyline,” “NCIS”) as Bonnie, Christopher Rob Bowen (“Marauders,” “Heist”) as Deputy Billy Renee, Tyson Sullivan (“Banshee,” “Quarry”) as Officer Walker, Stephen C. Sepher (“Heist,” “4 Minutes”) as Vince Valenti, and Lillo Brancato (“A Bronx Tale,” “Crimson Tide”) as Frank Zanca. Sam Collins (Billy Flynn), a pharmaceutical sales rep, visits a […]...

There's an eerie 'Sopranos' coincidence surrounding James Gandolfini and the paramedic on trial for stealing his Rolex the day he died.  The paramedic, whose trial started Monday in Rome, is Claudio Bevilacqua. That name might sound familiar to hardcore 'Sopranos' fans ... since Tony offed a Matt Bevilaqua in a 2001 episode of HBO's hit show.  On the show, Bevilaqua robbed Tony's crew and demanded a watch from one of the guys. The boss eventually catches up...

The NYPD officers boycotting ex "Sopranos" star Lillo Brancato Jr.'s new movie ... are targeting the wrong guy -- at least according to Brancato Jr., who says they've got him all wrong. TMZ broke the story ... a police Benevolence Assoc. wants people to stay away from "Back in the Day" -- the first movie Brancato's worked on since getting out of prison last year. He served 8 years for committing a burglary where an NYPD officer was shot and killed.

A prominent New York City police association is fuming mad that convicted felon Lillo Brancato Jr. is back on the set of a Hollywood film ... and they don't want anyone to go see it. The former "Sopranos" star recently shot a movie called "Back in the Day" ... which stars Danny Glover and Michael Madsen. It's Brancato's first role since he was released from prison after serving eight years for his part in a burglary that...

New York (AP) — After spending eight years in prison, former "Sopranos" actor Lillo Brancato Jr. says he's trying to help young people avoid making similar, drug-fueled mistakes. "Here I am, I get the opportunity, I get the shot and then squander it, and do what I did, and get addicted to drugs and just make horrible decisions," the 37-year-old Brancato said in an interview broadcast Sunday on Wnym-am. He was paroled in December after serving time for his role in a 2005 Bronx break-in that left an off-duty police officer dead. Brancato, who got his break in the 1993 film "A Bronx Tale" with Robert De Niro, said he's reaching out to young people to discuss the addiction he was unable to control. His last drug high was in prison in 2006, he said. According to prosecutors, the actor and a Genovese crime family associate, Steven Armento, were drinking at a Bronx strip...

Former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato has spoken out for the first time since he was released from prison on New Year's Eve, after he served eight years behind bars for his role in a botched Bronx burglary that also led to the murder of an off-duty cop. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in his first sit-down interview since his release, Brancato shared his remorse for the death of NYPD officer Daniel Enchautegui, whose sleep was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass after Brancato and low-level mobster Steven Armento allegedly tried to break into an apartment to steal

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Lillo Brancato, who is best known for his roles on "The Sopranos" and "A Bronx Tale," has been released from prison after spending eight years behind bars for a botched Bronx burglary that led to the murder of a police officer. Brancato, who is now 37 years old, was sentenced to 10 years, but earned an earlier release by taking college courses and meeting disciplinary standards. He's on parole until the end of 2018. In 2005, Brancato and small-time mobster Steven Armento were drinking at a strip club in the Bronx when they decided to break into a nearby apartment and steal Valium. The sound of shattering glass awoke an off-duty police officer, who lived in the neighborhood. He confronted Brancato and Armento, which resulted in a gun fight. Armento fired first and the officer suffered a fatal wound to the chest. Armento was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Lillo Brancato Jr, former The Sopranos actor, was released from prison Tuesday, Dec. 31 after being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005.

Lillo Brancato Jr. Released From Prison

Brancato, who appeared in six episodes of the HBO series The Sopranos as Matt Bevilaqua in 2000, was imprisoned after a robbery gone wrong. In 2005, he was convicted of attempted burglary, which resulted in his accomplice, Steven Armento, shooting an off duty cop. Sentenced to 10 years, Brancato was released six months early on parole. Following his release, Brancato returned home to his parents’ house in Yonkers.

As part of his parole, Brancato must reportedly submit to frequent drug testing and comply with a 10 p.m. curfew until December 2018.

Brancato testified that he broke into the house to steal drugs at his trial, claiming he was experiencing heroin withdrawal at the time he committed the crime. While Brancato received a 10 year sentence, his accomplice Armento...

One of the stars from The Sopranos is coming home for the new year. The New York Daily News reports that Lillo Brancato returned to Yonkers after being released from the Hudson Correctional Facility after eight years served for urder. Actor and ex-con Lillo Brancato, paroled just three hours earlier for his part in a cop-killing, said, “Right now I just want to spend some time with my family. It feels great to be home.” Brancato spend eight years behind bars for his part in the Dec. 2005 murder of a New York City police officer. Brancato was shot twice by the dying cop as he tried to escape. A Brancato associate fired the fatal bullets, but the actor...

Former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato is set to celebrate his first New Year's Eve as a free man since 2005. The 37-year-old was released from prison on Tuesday after eight years behind bars for his role in a botched Bronx burglary that also led to the murder of an off-duty cop. Brancato was sentenced to 10 years in prison in January 2009, but he had already served three years in jail while awaiting trial and was eligible for a conditional release next July. Photos: TV’s Top 17 Anti-Heroes He earned an earlier release by taking college

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Lillo Brancato Jr. -- who starred in "The Sopranos" and "A Bronx Tale" -- has been released from prison on parole ... 8 years after he was involved in the killing of an off-duty NYPD officer. Brancato was sentenced to 10 years in prison back in 2009 after he was convicted of attempted burglary in a 2005 incident that resulted in the death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui. Brancato was acquitted of murder, but his co-defendant was found guilty of shooting...

Cert 15 / Region B / Running Time 121 mins

Robert De Niro’s 1993 directorial debut tells the story of Calogero Anello, the young son of morally strong bus driver Lorenzo Anello who is trying to bring his son up with a solid sense of right and wrong but living in the Bronx does’t make that an easy thing. After Calogero witnesses a shooting by local gangster Sonny (Chazz Palminteri) and does’t rat him out to the cops, young Calogero is taken under the wing of a gang leader and given an inside look at the world of the local crime scene.

As Calogero grows up the two father figures in his life struggle with each other’s mentoring of the teenager. Calogero himself begins to see the problems with his neighbourhood slim view of the world after he befriends a local black girl, Jane Williams (Taral Hicks) and as the racial...

In the past, the directorial debuts of Hollywood A-listers have traditionally served as an opportunity to make character-driven films which are more intimate in nature and scope (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Ordinary People, Little Man Tate). Even Mel Gibson scaled it back to make the thoughtful and moving The Man Without A Face before going bringing out the bombast with Braveheart.

Robert De Niro’s first venture into the director’s chair also presents an example of an actor choosing to tell a smaller, personal tale, this time in an environment which was (literally) close to home for him.

Written by co-star Chazz Palminteri (who adapted it from his successful off-Broadway one-man play) it’s clear to see why De Niro had an affinity towards this material. Although born in the bohemian Greenwich Village area of New York, the world of A Bronx Tale is familiar territory to the actor,...

Chazz Palminteri Goes to Bed Hungry

By Alex Simon

Chazz Palminteri’s life is one of those classic show biz stories that, dare we say it, is the stuff from which movies are made. Born and raised in the Bronx, Palminteri toiled for years as a struggling stage, film and television actor before finally being plucked from obscurity by Robert De Niro, who saw his off-Broadway autobiographical play A Bronx Tale, a one-man show in which Palminteri played a host of colorful characters he grew up and around in his Bronx neighborhood during the 1950s and ‘60s, where his life was shaped by two mentors: his straight-laced working class father and a local mobster named Sonny.

The movie version of A Bronx Tale was a hit with audiences and critics alike upon its premiere in 1993 and Palminteri hasn’t stopped working since. His latest turn, in Debbie Goodstein’s autobiographical film Mighty Fine,...

Jailed actor Lillo Brancato, Jr. has been confined to his cell for 23 hours a day as punishment after he attacked a fellow prisoner, according to a U.S. report.

The former Sopranos star was sentenced to 10 years in January last year for his role in a burglary that ended with the murder of an off-duty New York cop.

But Brancato Jr.'s time behind bars has become even harder to serve - he's only allowed out of his cell for one hour a day and has lost his phone privileges.

The punishment was handed down after the A Bronx Tale actor repeatedly punched another inmate during a bust-up in a communal area at Oneida Correctional Facility in New York, according to the New York Post.

The alleged victim, convicted thief Alvaro Hernandez, tells the publication, "He thinks he runs the place, like he's God's gift to this earth. He tells me, 'Hang up the phone, I gotta use the phone!' He forces open the door and spits at me, and he's punching me in the face and on the head."

After a probe by prison officials, Brancato was ordered to spend 23 hours a day in his cell and lose his right to use a phone. The punishment will last for one month.

Lillo Brancato Jr. has revealed that he regrets not listening to Robert De Niro when the acclaimed actor and director warned him about the pitfalls of fame. Speaking from New York's Rikers Island prison, the former Sopranos star reportedly said that he "squandered" an amazing opportunity because he didn't heed the advice. Brancato Jr., who is serving a ten-year sentence for attempted burglary, opened up to 20/20 for an interview which will be aired in the Us later this year. "[De Niro] said, 'A lot of people are going to want to be your friends, you know, and they don't have your best interest (more)...

Robert De Niro tried to warn fallen former co-star and 'lookalike' Lillo Brancato Jr. about the perils of fame after casting him in his first movie.

Brancato Jr. was spotted by talent scouts and cast by De Niro as his son in 1993 movie A Bronx Tale, when he was just 16 years old.

De Niro, who also directed the film, was taken by the likeness between the pair, particularly Brancato Jr.'s impersonation of him playing his Taxi Driver character Travis Bickle.

The young star went on to land a recurring role in mob drama The Sopranos, but started using cocaine and heroin and threw away any chance of lasting acting success in 2005, when he was arrested for a drug-fuelled burglary that resulted in the death of an off-duty cop.

The actor, now 32, was acquitted of murder - for which his accomplice Steven Armento is serving a life sentence - but he was sentenced in January to 10 years behind bars for attempted burglary.

And in a new interview with U.S. news show 20/20, Brancato Jr. reveals how he ignored De Niro's advice and "squandered" the chance of a lifetime.

He says, "(De Niro) said, 'A lot of people are going to want to be your friends, you know, and they don't have your best interest at heart.'

"I kind of shrugged it off. It was kind of like, 'Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but not me. I'll be fine Bob.'"

Speaking from New York's Rikers Island prison, Brancato Jr. adds, "I squandered it. I am ashamed."

The interview is due to air in the U.S. later this year.

Jailed actor Lillo Brancato Jr.'s performance has been chopped from the last movie he shot before his arrest for a burglary that ended with the murder of an off-duty New York cop.The former Sopranos star wrapped his part in comedy Saturday Morning before the December 2005 incident, in which officer Daniel Enchautegui was fatally shot.

Brancato Jr. was later cleared of murder and last month jailed for 10 years for the lesser charge of attempted burglary.

But Saturday Morning director Rob E. Greenberg has reduced the star's role to a series of walk-ons in time for the film's DVD release next month.

Greenberg - whose brother is a New York cop - tells the New York Post, "I didn't want to promote or showcase Brancato."...

Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. has been sentenced to ten years in prison for his part in an attempted burglary that left a police officer dead. 32-year-old Brancato was last month acquitted of the second-degree murder of Officer Daniel Enchautegui in 2005, while accomplice Steven Armento received a life sentence. However, Justice Martin Marcus of State Supreme Court in the Bronx has now handed Brancato (more)...

Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a burglary that ended with the murder of an off-duty New York cop.

The 32-year-old was cleared of murdering Officer Daniel Enchautegui, but convicted of attempted burglary on 22 December.

On Friday, Brancato Jr. was handed a 10 year sentence. The three years he has spent behind bars since his arrest will count towards the sentence.

Brancato Jr. and his friend Steven Armento were charged with murder following the shooting that took place on 10 December 2005, when Enchautegui discovered them attempting to break into his neighbour's Bronx, New York house.

Armento fired the gun which killed the officer, and was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment at an earlier trial.

Brancato Jr. - who claimed he was attempting to enter the house of a friend who had given him drugs in the past - faced the same sentence, despite the fact he wasn't carrying a weapon.

After his conviction on a lesser charge, Brancato Jr.'s lawyer asked the judge to free his client and send him to rehab instead of prison.

But Bronx judge Justice Martin Marcus opted for a sentence closer to the maximum of 15 years.

Brancato Jr.'s murder acquittal outraged public officials, including city mayor Michael Bloomberg, who raged, "It's just beyond me how the jury could come to that conclusion."...

Just when he thought he was out, they pulled him back in. Although former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. was found not guilty of second-degree murder of an off-duty police officer last month, his legal luck appears to have run dry: He was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in the botched burglary that preceded the New York cop's 2005 death. He could have faced up to 15 years behind bars for his role in the incident. The Bronx Tale actor was found guilty, along with an accomplice, of breaking into the Bronx home of an acquaintance in a bid to score painkillers. The residence was next door to the residence of 28-year-old NYPD Officer Daniel Enchautegui. Enchautegui went outside to...

If you live in or around the New York City area, you're no doubt well aware of the Lillo Brancato Jr. murder trial. Brancato Jr., who's most known for his six-episode stint on The Sopranos and for starring in Robert De Niro's A Bronx Tale as Calogero (or 'C'), was on trial for murdering an off-duty police officer after breaking into a house to obtain drugs with a friend. The friend, Steven Armento, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison earlier this month. Brancato Jr. claimed he did not shoot the officer, but only broke a window in the house because he was suffering intense heroin withdrawal. The house, according to Brancato Jr., belonged to a Vietnam veteran who gave the men permission to come over from time to time to get drugs.

But when no one answered the door that night, the two men -- itching...

A jury's decision on Monday to clear a former actor on The Sopranos of killing a New York City policeman during a bungled 2005 burglary has left the victim's sister outraged. "What message is this sending out to the New York City police officers today? It's wrong," Yolanda Rosa Nazario, sister of the slain officer, said of the verdict handed actor Lillo Brancato Jr., the Associated Press reports. Convicted of a lesser charge of attempted burglary, Brancato, 32, now faces from three to 15 years in prison – though he could receive credit for time served, having already been incarcerated for nearly three years.

Former Sopranos star Lillo Brancato Jr. has been cleared of second-degree murder following the 2005 shooting of an off-duty police officer. However, the 32-year-old has been found guilty of attempted burglary and could face a minimum of three years in prison. Brancato, who played wannabe mobster Mathew Bevilaqua in the hit show, had been charged in connection with the death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui in New York. Prosecutors claimed that Enchautegui had disturbed Brancato and his friend Steven Armento as they attempted to break into his neighbour's house in the (more)...

Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr has been cleared of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of an off-duty policeman in 2005.

Officer Daniel Enchautegui was shot dead by Brancato's friend Steven Armento when he disturbed the pair breaking into his neighbour's Bronx, New York home on 10 December 2005.

Brancato - who was shot and wounded by Enchautegui - was convicted of the lesser charge of attempted burglary on Monday and now faces a three and fifteen years in prison.

If handed the minimum sentence the star could be excused from serving any more jail time because he has already spent three years behind bars.

Brancato will be sentenced on 9 January.

The actor took the stand earlier this month to tell the jury he suffered from judgment-impairing heroin withdrawals on the night of the shooting.

He claimed he had known the owner of the house for several years and had permission to go inside and take painkillers and other pills - but didn't know the man had died earlier that year.

Armento was convicted of first-degree murder in November and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Lillo Brancato's Bronx tale had a bittersweet ending.  The former Sopranos actor, who also starred in the Robert De Niro-directed A Bronx Tale in 1993, was found not guilty Monday of second-degree murder in the 2005 shooting of an off-duty New York City police officer. Brancato, 32, who has struggled with drug problems over the past decade, showed little emotion as the verdict was read. But while he was also acquitted of two burglary-related charges, he was convicted on one count of attempted burglary and could get up to 15 years in prison for smashing a window in an attempt to pilfer painkillers from an acquaintance's house in the Bronx. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9....

Jurors on Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr's murder trial will resume deliberating over the verdict on Friday, after the case reached a deadlock.

Brancato is charged with second-degree murder over the death off-duty police officer Daniel Enchautegui, who was shot dead by Brancato's friend Steven Armento.

The actor took to the stand on Monday and the jury has since retired to consider their verdict on the case.

The case has not been without drama - Enchautegui's family have accused Brancato of smirking and his lawyer has been blasted by police for laughing during proceedings.

On Thursday, a mistrial was narrowly avoided after it was discovered a juror had been researching the case, which is not permitted.

At the end of proceedings on Thursday, jurors deadlocked 11-1 on the verdict and were sent home to resume their deliberations the following day.

Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr's murder trial erupted into chaos on Wednesday when the family of the cop he allegedly killed accused him of smirking.

Officer Daniel Enchautegui's sister Yolanda Ross hit out at Brancato Jr's response when the jury returned from their deliberation to ask for information about the two lesser charges the actor is facing, burglary and attempted burglary.

Claiming the 32-year-old appeared elated, Ross said, "You have no idea how much I'm sick of seeing that guy. I can't take this anymore. He's smiling and laughing."

Police union head Patrick Lynch also targeted Brancato Jr's lawyer Joseph Tacopina, accusing him of laughing.

He said, "To sit there and have a professional attorney laughing as if this was a joke in front of a dead man's family is the most insulting thing that ever happened in front of a bench in this state."

The jury is currently considering the charges against Brancato Jr, whose friend Steven Armento shot officer Enchautegui dead on the evening of 10 December 2005, as he disturbed them allegedly robbing a house in the Bronx, New York.

Former Sopranos star Lillo Brancato Jr. has denied second-degree murder, insisting that he did not know his accomplice was armed. The actor has been charged in the December 2005 death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui. Authorities claim that Brancato and friend Steven Armento broke into a house looking for drugs but were disturbed by off-duty Enchautegui, who lived next door. Armento, who has already been sentenced to life imprisonment, shot the 28-year-old officer. Enchautegui was able to wound both men before he died. Speaking at the Bronx court, Brancato denied knowing that Armento was armed and insisted that he had not been breaking into the (more)...

Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. has taken the stand in his murder trial, and denied knowing his accomplice, who shot an off-duty policeman during an apartment raid, was armed with a gun.

Officer Daniel Enchautegui was shot dead by Brancato's friend Steven Armento when he disturbed the pair allegedly breaking into his neighbour's Bronx, New York home on 10 December 2005.

Armento was convicted at an earlier trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Brancato - who was shot and wounded by Enchautegui - is charged with second-degree murder, but is attempting to escape a guilty verdict by challenging police claims he was committing a burglary at the time of the shooting.

The star faced questioning for the first time in the murder trial on Monday and described the night the murder took place.

Brancato claims he had known the owner of the house for several years and had permission to go inside and take painkillers and other pills - but didn't know the man had died earlier that year.

He said the pills were part of a drug problem that began when he was "introduced to marijuana" on the set of 1993 movie A Bronx Tale and he later became hooked on crack and heroin.

He told the jury that while suffering from judgment-impairing heroin withdrawals on the night of the shooting, he accidentally broke the kitchen window of the apartment in a desperate attempt to wake up his old pill-supplier

He says,."I was becoming dope sick. Mentally, I was a mess."

Brancato and Armento left the house to try to get drugs from a dealer but later returned, which is when they came face-to-face with the officer: "I heard someone say, 'Don't move.' I turned around quickly and I was shot twice."

The actor said he ran away, not knowing he'd been shot by a police officer. When uniformed officers stopped him, he lifted up his shirt to show them he was wounded and said, "Please help me. I don't want to die."

Anticipating a backlash against his testimony, Brancato's attorney Joseph Tacopina asked "Is this a role you're playing today?", to which he replied, "Absolutely not." The trial continues.

Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. was a regular visitor to the house he is accused of breaking into the night he was shot during a stand-off with an off-duty policeman - according to a defence witness at his murder trial.

Officer Daniel Enchautegui was shot dead by Brancato's friend Steven Armento when he disturbed the pair allegedly breaking into his neighbour's Bronx, New York home on 10 December 2005.

Armento was convicted at an earlier trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Brancato - who was shot and wounded by Enchautegui - is attempting to escape a guilty verdict by challenging police claims he was committing a burglary at the time of the shooting.

Under New York State law, Brancato cannot be convicted of murder unless they are sure he was robbing the house.

Earlier in the trial the 32-year-old's defence disputed an alleged burglary confession made at his hospital bed in the aftermath of the shooting, and on Thursday a longtime friend of the actor testified that she and Brancato had regularly visited the house, and had been given free reign of the property by its owner Kenny Scavotti.

Jenny Farley told the court, "We'd go through the garage or through the front door."

Other witnesses told police they heard someone shout Scavotti's name after the shooting took place.

The defence claims this is proof Brancato believed his friend was at the house and was calling for help.

The prosecution questioned the friendship, pointing out that Brancato didn't know Vietnam veteran Scavotti had been dead for four months. The trial continues.

Sopranos star Lillo Brancato Jr was visiting a friend and not breaking into a house the night he was shot during a stand-off with an off-duty policeman, according to his murder trial defence lawyer.

Officer Daniel Enchautegui was shot dead by Brancato's friend Steven Armento when he disturbed the pair, allegedly breaking into his neighbour's Bronx, New York home on 10 December 2005.

Armento was convicted by an earlier trial and sentenced to life in prison - but Brancato Jr, 32, is hoping to escape a guilty verdict by disputing a 'confession' cops claim he gave the night of the shooting.

Detective Claude O'Shea told the court on Monday Brancato - who was shot and wounded by Enchautegui - nodded from his hospital bed when asked if he and Armento were committing a burglary.

O'Shea told jurors, "He shook his head yes."

He added that Brancato Jr. had told him the pair hatched the burglary plan after leaving a strip club, because they craved prescription drugs.

Brancato later insisted he was banging on a window and shouting a friend's name loudly when he and Armento were disturbed by Enchautegui.

And the 32-year-old's lawyer forced Detective O'Shea to concede the actor never verbally confessed. Cross-examining, Joseph Tacopina told O'Shea, "He never uttered or wrote the word 'burglary,' that was your characterisation." O'Shea replied, "Correct."

A jury must establish Brancato Jr. is guilty of burglary, in order to convict him of murder.

Earlier in the trial, the actor - who also played Robert De Niro's son in movie A Bronx Tale - told the jury he did not know Armento was carrying a gun on the night of the murder, a fact disputed by his former drug dealer, a witness for the prosecution. The trial continues.

Sopranos star Lillo Brancato Jr's drug dealer has testified against him in court, telling his murder trial jury the actor knew his accomplice was armed the night he shot dead a New York cop.

Brancato claims he had no idea Steven Armento was carrying a gun on the evening of 10 December 2005, when they raided a Bronx, New York house in search of prescription drugs.

When neighbour and off-duty police officer Daniel Enchautegui disturbed them, Armento shot and fatally wounded him.

Joseph Borelli disputed Brancato's claim in court on Friday (5Dec08), telling the jury that the pair had visited him earlier that night to buy drugs and that Armento - who was convicted of murder at an earlier trial - showed them both his gun.

The law states that Brancato, 32, is culpable, if he knew his accomplice was carrying the murder weapon.

The trial continues.

The Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr.'s ongoing murder trial took an unexpected turn when a juror selected to decide his fate went missing - after he was held for assault.

The 34-year-old male juror was arrested and charged at the weekend (beg 29Nov08), according to court officials.

Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus waited for hours for the panel member, holding up Monday's proceedings as the man remained in police custody in the Bronx.

A courthouse source tells the New York Post, "That's where we found him, right across the street in jail."

Brancato is on trial for the murder of police officer Daniel Enchautegui, who was shot during an attempted burglary in 2005.

Brancato's co-accused Steven Armento was convicted and jailed for life for his role in the murder in October.

The trial continues.

The Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. had no idea the man who confronted him while he was robbing a New York house was an off-duty cop, his defence attorney told a murder trial jury on Tuesday.

Brancato, 32, is accused of murdering Officer Daniel Enchautegui, even though his accomplice Steven Armento fired the deadly shots during a botched burglary back in 2005.

Armento was convicted and jailed for life for his role in the murder last month.

Brancato is facing a similar sentence, but his defence attorney insists he was not carrying a weapon, and had no idea Armento was armed and that Enchautegui was a police officer.

After hearing shots fired, now-retired Officer Courtney Mapp raced to the scene and found Officer Enchautegui dying, Armento brandishing a gun, and Brancato bleeding, having been shot by the wounded cop.

Under cross-examination from defence attorney Joseph Tacopina, Mapp confirmed that Brancato made no mention of Enchautegui being a police officer, instead complaining, "That b**ch shot me."

Earlier in the trial, Tacopina described how Brancato and Armento were attempting to steal prescription drugs from the house they were robbing, after a night of drinking in a strip club.

The actor found fame playing Robert De Niro's son in A Bronx Tale, and then landed a role as junior mobster Matt Bevilacqua in The Sopranos.

Actor Lillo Brancato Jr. was unaware his accomplice had a gun when they embarked on a desperate search for drugs on the night he was arrested for the killing of an off-duty police officer, his lawyers have claimed.

Former Sopranos star Brancato, 32, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2005 death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui.

According to police, the actor and his accomplice, Steven Armento, broke into an apartment in The Bronx, New York in 2005 to steal drugs after a night of drinking at a strip club.

Enchautegui, who lived next door, came out to investigate and Armento shot the 28-year-old officer in the heart.

The officer fired back, wounding both men, but he died from his injuries shortly afterwards.

Brancato's attorney, Joseph Tacopina, told the New York court the only culprit was Armento, who was convicted of first-degree murder on 30 October and has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In his opening argument, Tacopina denied Brancato ever entered the apartment, and said his client did not know Armento was armed.

He told the jury, "Lillo was there to satisfy his addiction. But he wasn't there to do violence - and that's important."

Prosecutors agreed Brancato suffered from a severe drug problem.

The actor faces life in prison if convicted of murder and burglary. The trial continues.

Former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. has brushed off allegations in a new tell-all book accusing him of having a history of violent, drug-fuelled outbursts - days before he's scheduled to face charges of first-degree murder.

Brancato, 32, is accused of killing off-duty cop Daniel Enchautegui when he allegedly disturbed the actor and his accomplice, Steven Armento, while they were breaking into a neighbour's New York home in December 2005.

Armento, who fired the shot that killed the officer, was convicted of murder and burglary on 30 October.

But according to author Anthony Marini, former owner of closed New York sex-club The Vault, the star has a history of violence.

Marini dedicates a chapter to Brancato in his forthcoming book, named after the club, alleging the actor was repeatedly tossed out of the venue during the 1990s - once for bashing a transvestite in the head with a fire extinguisher.

Marini writes, "He was always in a lot of trouble, always (on) a lot of drugs, always with the wiseguys."

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Marini adds: "It's sad, I'm not glorifying it. He was an A-list celebrity in the Bronx and Yonkers. It was a rags-to-riches story.

"If he was jonesing (wanting) for drugs, he was going to break into the house. He was a good kid who was lost in drugs."

Brancato's lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, has denied the claims, adding, "People will be crawling out of the woodwork to get their 15 minutes of fame. If they had anything of value to say, we'd see them on the witness stand."

Brancato's trial is scheduled to begin on Monday; he could face life in prison if convicted of the charges.

Former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. should be cleared of the murder of a New York cop because he wasn't carrying a gun when the officer was shot, according to the troubled star's father.

Speaking after a court hearing on Friday, when Brancato Jr's trial was set for 17 November, Lillo Brancato Sr protested his son's innocence of the first degree murder charge he faces.

The 32-year-old actor is accused of killing off-duty cop Daniel Enchautegui when he disturbed Brancato Jr and accomplice Steven Armento breaking into a neighbour's New York home in December 2005.

Armento, who fired the shot that killed the officer, was convicted of murder on 30 October.

Brancato Jr faces a similar fate, despite maintaining he wasn't carrying a gun that night. And his father insists the actor has "never touched a gun in his life".

Brancato Sr, 61, tells the New York Daily News, "I support him 100 per cent. My son had no gun in his hand and he got shot (twice by Enchautegui)."

The actor - who also played Robert De Niro's son in movie A Bronx Tale - faces life in prison, without parole, if convicted.

The jury trying former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato for murdering a police officer have been told by the slain cop's partner to ignore his fame and focus on the facts.

Brancato and Stephen Armento stand accused of killing off-duty officer Daniel Enchautegui when he disturbed them while they robbed his neighbour's house in The Bronx, New York in 2005.

But Enchautegui's former partner, Detective Robert Korn, is angry so much media attention has been focused on Brancato, a 32-year-old actor who played Robert De Niro's son in A Bronx Tale and junior mobster Matthew Bevilaqua in The Sopranos.

Korn tells the New York Post, "It gets me kind of heated that people are more concerned for this kid because he came from a good family. So did Danny."

The trial is due to begin in New York next month.