Mayor Bloomberg yesterday ripped the excuses actor-turned-junkie Lillo Brancato used to persuade a Bronx jury to acquit him of murdering an off-duty cop.
The mayor said society was hurt by the not-guilty verdict Brancato received for his role in the December 2005 shooting of Police Officer Daniel Enchautegui.
“This business that, ‘Oh, I was high on drugs’ is no excuse. This business that ‘I didn’t know there was a gun’ is no excuse,” Bloomberg said.
Brancato, 32, was acquitted Monday after he took the stand to say he was “dope-sick” and didn’t know his pal Steven Armento, 48, was armed when they broke into what they thought was a drug dealer’s home in a drunken plan to steal prescription painkillers.
The drugged-up duo was confronted by Enchautegui, 28, and Armento shot him dead with a .357 revolver.
“If you and somebody else choose to rob somebody and the other person pulls a gun, you’re as culpable under the law and should be held to the same standards as the one that actually did the shooting,” Bloomberg said.
“It’s society that is hurt by the juries’ not standing up for those that are putting their lives on the line,” Bloomberg said, referring to both the Enchautegui case and the recent acquittal of Robert Ellis in the murder of Officer Russel Timoshenko.
Brancato was convicted of lesser burglary charges and faces 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison. The actor, who, except for a stint on the “The Sopranos,” saw his career fizzle after starring in the 1993 movie “A Bronx Tale,” is to be sentenced Jan. 9.
cbennett@nypost.com