Lillo Brancato, Jr

Early life

Brancato was born in Bogotá, Colombia. Adopted when he was four months old, he was raised by Italian-American parents, Lillo Sr., (a builder) and Domenica (an electrolysist), in Yonkers, New York. Brancato studied at Mount Saint Michael Academy. His adoptive brother, Vinny, briefly worked as a fashion model and now works as a Yonkers civil servant. Lillo is the third cousin of American songwriter/lyricist Gregory France-Brancato.

Although he was born in Colombia, Brancato has said, "I consider myself Italian. I was raised to eat pasta". Brancato was discovered while swimming at Jones Beach by a talent scout who noticed Brancato's resemblance to Robert De Niro. Brancato was a fan of De Niro and impressed the scout with an impression of Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. This won him the role of De Niro's son in A Bronx Tale.

Career

Brancato acted in three films in the mid-1990s, prior to joining the cast of The Sopranos. In A Bronx Tale in 1993 he played the main character Calogero 'C' Anello, a teenager torn between his father and a mob boss who befriended him as a kid. (According to New York Magazine, Brancato earned $25,000 for the role.) He also starred alongside Gregory Hines, Danny DeVito, and Mark Wahlberg in the 1994 movie Renaissance Man. In 1995, he played a minor role in Crimson Tide with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman.

In the second season of The Sopranos, which HBO broadcast in 2000, Brancato starred as Matthew Bevilaqua, a young mobster associated with Tony Soprano's crime syndicate. Bevilaqua first appeared in the second-season premiere, "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...", and appeared in five more episodes, the last one being "Bust Out", However, his character was murdered in the previous episode, "From Where to Eternity". Brancato also played a mobster in the TV series Falcone, which debuted in 2000. In 2001, Brancato starred opposite fellow Sopranos cast member Drea de Matteo in Abel Ferrara's 'R Xmas.

Arrests, conviction, and incarceration

On June 10, 2005, Brancato was arrested by the Yonkers Police Department, in Yonkers, New York, and charged with seventh-degree misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance. According to press reports, police pulled Brancato over for having a rear brake light out and found he had an expired registration and no other papers for the vehicle. He gave police permission to look in a cigarette box, where they found four bags of heroin.

On December 10, 2005, Brancato was arrested by the New York City Police Department in the Bronx on suspicion of murdering off-duty police officer Daniel Enchautegui. Enchautegui had served with the New York City Police Department for three years and was assigned to the 40th Precinct in the Bronx. Enchautegui confronted Brancato and his accomplice, 48-year-old Steven Armento, outside a vacant house located at 3119 Arnow Place, next to his own, after hearing glass break. While Enchautegui waited for backup, a gunfight erupted and Enchautegui was shot. He was later taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where he died. Police arrested Brancato and Armento in the vicinity, both with multiple gunshot wounds and in critical condition.

Armento, who was the father of Brancato's girlfriend Stefanie, was convicted of first-degree murder on October 30, 2008 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Brancato was charged with second-degree murder, and his trial began on November 17, 2008. On December 22, 2008, a jury found him not guilty of murder, but found him guilty of first-degree attempted burglary. On January 9, 2009, a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Brancato was incarcerated as state inmate #09A0227 in the Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, New York, and was subsequently transferred to the Hudson Correctional Facility. On December 31, 2013, he was released on parole.