A decorated former cop who ditched the NYPD to become a Genovese grunt was hit with 14 months in prison after a judge slammed him for his role in a mob extortion scheme.
Dominic Caramanica was awarded one of the NYPD’s highest awards for bravery after he was shot and wounded during a drug arrest. But Brooklyn federal Judge John Gleeson reminded Caramanica that those days were long gone.
“It’s astonishing how far you’ve come — from a hero cop to a driver for a gangster,” the judge said.
Gleeson also hit Caramanica with three years probation and fined him $25,000.
“It’s a very serious crime,” the judge said of the mob shakedown scheme “You chose this life, you chose this crime.”
Brooklyn federal prosecutors say Caramanica served as a longtime driver for Genovese soldier Daniel “Uncle Danny” Cilenti, who died of natural causes earlier this year.
Defense attorney James Froccaro sought a reduced sentence, given that the former officer won the NYPD’s Combat Cross medal after he was shot.
Prosecutors countered that Caramanica should face the consequences of his decision to become a gangster.
Caramanica had pleaded guilty to helping to shake down a businessman who owed a debt — by using threats to collect the money.
Caramanica who comes from a family with several generations of NYPD service, was a cop from January 1986 to April 1989.
He retired after he was injured and bullet fragments are still lodged in his spine, his attorney said.