ALBANY — Patrick Civitello was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Tuesday after the Schenectady teen pleaded guilty to assaulting a 15-year-old victim whose mother had testified against Civitello’s father and brother in a federal criminal trial, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Civitello, 19, assaulted the unidentified victim on May 19, 2024 outside the Max410 at The Waters Edge restaurant on Freemans Bridge Road in Glenville after he spotted the unidentified female witness and her son, according to a news release.
Jeffrey Civitello Sr. and his son Jeffrey Civitello Jr., Patrick Civitello’s older brother, were convicted alongside Richard Sinde of Fort Lee, New Jersey, of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, as well as possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, in April 2023.
While speaking on the phone with his incarcerated brother at the Glenville restaurant in May 2024, Patrick Civitello observed the witness and her son, telling his brother that he had just seen the witness walk into the restaurant, the release said.
Patrick Civitello then said “I gotta rag this bitch, I gotta call you back,” indicating that he intended to retaliate against the woman for her trial testimony, according to federal prosecutors.
After following the witness and her son into the restaurant parking lot, Civitello punched the son in the head, and continued to punch and kick the victim after he had fallen to the ground, the release said. The underage victim suffered minor abrasions and bruises, including to his head, neck and hand, according to prosecutors.
During the Tuesday sentencing, U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino labeled the assault an “attack on the justice system” that sends “a chilling message to anyone who might be subpoenaed to trial” to testify.
She ordered Patrick Civitello to pay a $5,000 fine and to serve a three-year term of post-imprisonment supervised release.
Glenville police assisted the FBI’s Capital District Safe Streets Gang Task Force in investigating the case.
FBI agents arrested Patrick Civitello on June 13 on a criminal complaint.
According to prosecutors, as Civitello was being transported to the FBI Albany Field Office, he asked federal agents, “Don’t you think the witness deserved it?”
