A Bronx jury convicted the junkie pal of “Sopranos” actor Lillo Brancato of first-degree murder yesterday in the 2005 slaying of an off-duty cop.
Steven Armento, 51, had no visible reaction when the jury read its verdict.
He will face life in prison without parole when sentenced Nov. 14.
Brancato, who also starred in “A Bronx Tale,” will face trial for second-degree murder beginning Nov. 7.
“They are two very different cases, and that’s why they are two separate trials,” said Brancato’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina.
“Steven Armento was convicted, but Steven Armento had a gun and shot a police officer. Lillo Brancato didn’t have a gun.”
At Armento’s trial, the jury of 10 women and two men took just six hours to deliberate and return a conviction for the shooting death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui on Dec. 10, 2005.
The off-duty cop had been trying to stop Armento and Brancato from breaking into a house to search for drugs.
As Enchautegui’s older sister, Yolanda Nazario, left the courtroom, she was applauded by scores of cops who had gathered for the verdict.
“My brother wasn’t a notch on someone’s belt. That was my baby brother, and he served the city of New York and his community until the day he died,” she said.
Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said he was gratified.
“But it’s bittersweet . . . That family is still torn apart,” he said.