Convicted mob killer Joey Cupcakes is actually a sweet guy, his lawyer said yesterday.
Joseph “Joey Cupcakes” Urgitano pleaded not guilty yesterday to attacking two men in the West Village with a metal baseball bat last month, claiming the entire incident was sparked when he stood up to some racist loudmouths.
Urgitano’s lawyer, Murray Richman, said his client was stuck in traffic in a car at West 14th Street and Ninth Avenue on Aug. 4 when he saw a group of six drunks on the corner hassling women, then yelling racist comments at a person in a car behind Urgitano’s.
Urgitano yelled at the six and told them they should act “like gentlemen,” leading the men to surround the car and call him a “minority lover,” Richman said.
One of the men had a knife and came at Urgitano, leading to the brawl.
Prosecutors said Urgitano was the aggressor, and struck one of the men in the leg with a bat, and then hit another who was trying to act as peacemaker in the head, fracturing his skull.
Richman said he has three disinterested witnesses who’ll back Urgitano’s account, and is filing papers to get them before a new grand jury.