Who is Stephen LoCurto? Mobster ‘Stevie Blue’ appeals life sentence over attorney’s 'misleading' advice over a plea deal
BROOKLYN, NEWYORK: Notorious mobster Stephen LoCurto, also known as "Stevie Blue" in the criminal underworld of New York, found himself back in court on Monday, October 7, arguing that his life sentence for the murder of a potential homicide witness should be overturned.
LoCurto claims that his attorney misled him during his 2006 trial, and contends that others who committed more heinous crimes received comparatively lenient sentences.
LoCurto expressed his grievances to a federal judge in Brooklyn, “These guys all had two and three murders, and they were getting 10-year pleas!”, adding that his attorney Harry Batchelder provided him inaccurate information about the potential jail time he faced.
Stephen LoCurto expresses shock at life sentence prospect after rejection of 20-year plea deal
According to the 62-year-old mobster, some of his fellow criminals with multiple murder charges were offered ten-year plea deals, while he was kept in the dark about his life sentence prospects.
The Bonanno crime family member insisted that he believed he was facing a maximum of 20 years in prison, the same term offered in the plea deal presented by the federal prosecutors.
LoCurto lamented that Batchelder failed to warn him about the life imprisonment risk he was taking by rejecting the plea bargain.
Despite believing that the plea deal was no better than what he might face at trial, LoCurto recounted instructing his lawyer to communicate his disdain for the offer to prosecutors.
When questioned about his choice of language, LoCurto admitted to using slang but couldn't recall the specifics.
Harry Batchelder, LoCurto's former attorney, offered a different perspective during his virtual testimony.
He maintained that he had presented a plea proposal to his client, who then expressed his strong aversion to the 20-year sentence.
Legal discrepancies emerge as Stephen LoCurto rejects plea deal in hopes of trial victory
According to Batchelder, LoCurto believed he could testify in his own defense and win at trial, despite the differences between this case and a previous state trial in which LoCurto had been acquitted.
LoCurto later acknowledged that he had access to court documents stating that he faced a life sentence if convicted.
Believing the plea offer was not more favorable than the potential outcome at trial, LoCurto conveyed his dissatisfaction to his lawyer and instructed him to communicate this to the prosecutors.
Assistant US Attorney Andrew Roddin questioned LoCurto about his statement: “Didn’t you tell [Assistant US Attorney] Greg Andres that he could ‘wipe his a–‘ with that letter?” LoCurto's response was somewhat vague: “I said something slang, I don’t really recall."
In a virtual testimony, Batchelder, LoCurto's attorney, contradicted LoCurto's account, stating that he had presented a document he referred to as a "plea proposal" to his client.
LoCurto responded by expressing his disapproval of the proposal, using similar language.
“Steven was adamant that he was not going to take 20 years,” Batchelder said. “He believed that he could testify on his own behalf and prevail at trial. I tried to explain that this case was different from [an earlier state trial in which LoCurto was acquitted].”
Mobster's murder conviction revealed: The Joseph Platia case
LoCurto later admitted that he had accessed court documents revealing the potential of a life sentence upon conviction.
In July 2006, LoCurto was convicted of a murder connected to racketeering. The jury found him guilty of shooting Joseph Platia, who was considered a potential witness in a homicide approximately two decades earlier, as reported by the New York Times.
Federal authorities alleged that the mob had targeted Platia because they suspected he had knowledge of which members of the Bonanno crime family were responsible for the murder and dismemberment of their associate, Robert Capasio.
Following the Manhattan shooting, LoCurto was arrested only a block away with a .38-caliber pistol that was still warm in his pocket, according to the Times.
During his court appearance, LoCurto claimed to have heard gunshots and then stumbled upon Platia's lifeless body slumped over in a car with a firearm nearby.
He asserted that he picked up the weapon and placed it in his pocket for self-defense.
LoCurto has relentlessly contested his conviction, including an unsuccessful appeal in 2009, according to the Daily News.
Federal prosecutors consistently argue that the 20-year plea was never a formal agreement, a viewpoint corroborated by Batchelder during his testimony.
“I would call this a letter of proposal,“ he testified. “They had 25 defendants. It was a plea proposal.”