You Gotti be kidney-ing me.
Lawyers for John Gotti’s convicted fraudster grandson are painting the former reality TV-star as a model citizen in an effort to keep him out of prison — while claiming his mother’s life literally depends on it.
Carmine Agnello, 39, overcame the pressures of going through childhood as a young reality star on “Growing up Gotti” to become a humble, soft-spoken family man who mentors a fatherless 8-year-old in Harlem and is now prepared to go under the knife to save his mother Victoria Gotti’s life, his attorney gushed in new court papers.
“Carmine entered a world where he was quickly in front of a camera — leading to public fascination, and family legacy that was absolutely unavoidable — and a topic for daily discussion,” Metcalf said in a 79-page sentencing memo sob story filed in Central Islip federal court on Thursday.
“His journey is far more uplifting than the one found with a quick google search, where the headlines naturally suggest something scandalous,” Metcalf said, adding that Agnello has the power to save a life by donating his kidney to his ailing mom.
Prosecutors have argued Agnello can still donate from behind bars.
The glowing portrait of the late Gambino boss’ grandson comes despite Agnello’s conviction for pocketing over $1.1 million in COVID relief loans — money he largely funneled into a cryptocurrency gambling addiction, court papers show.
Metcalf is asking the judge to spare Agnello any prison time, arguing that the admitted fraudster doesn’t deserve it and locking him up would effectively sign his mother’s death warrant, the docs said.
Gotti, 63, is battling end-stage renal disease and her son is her only compatible kidney donor, and without him, she faces just a 40% chance of surviving the next five years on dialysis, according to the memo.
“The ‘destruction’ created by his incarceration would be literal, not figurative,” his attorney argued.
“No legitimate penological interest is served by imposing a sentence that effectively sentences an innocent third party — the defendant’s mother — to a terminal status,” Metcalf continued.
Victoria herself pleaded with Judge Nusrat Choudhury in her own letter — calling Carmine her “miracle child” and insisting he is “kind and generous to a fault.”
“He is giving me the GIFT OF LIFE,” she wrote.
The mob princess also pushed back on the fraud conviction entirely, claiming her son “would never do anything he KNEW was wrong,” adding that his actions were not deliberately deceitful or fraudulent despite the fact he pleaded guilty to the crime in September 2024.
Prosecutors, however, argued that donating a kidney doesn’t rise to the level of “extraordinary family circumstances” needed to justify a sentence below established guidelines, and that the Bureau of Prisons is fully equipped to handle Agnello’s medical needs behind bars — which Metcalf disagrees with, according to court documents.
“Undergoing this transplant means that custody in the [Bureau of Prisons] is a huge risk,” Metcalf wrote Wednesday.
“If anything happens then he will be in the worst place to handle such a problem, BOP custody,” he added.