Lillo Brancato, known for his acting roles in A Bronx Tale and The Sopranos, gave an unpaid speech recently to an assembly of Union City high school students to promote an anti-drug message, based on his own recovery from cocaine and heroin addiction and the real-life crime that landed him in prison.
Part of his story on March 27 involved his participation in a second-degree burglary that went wrong and resulted in the murder of a police officer.
But according to state Sen. Brian Stack, who is also Union City’s mayor and public safety director, Brancato has no place as a guest speaker in school-hosted substance abuse awareness events.
A different tale from the Bronx
Brancato has historically spoken at length, in and out of a public awareness capacity, about his own descent into drug addiction. Eventually, his personal tumult escalated to a widely reported incident on Dec. 10, 2005. Brancato and another man, Steven Armento, burglarized a home in the Bronx.
An off-duty officer, Daniel Enchautegui, who lived adjacent to the home the two had broken into, went next door to investigate the burglary. During the confrontation, Steven Armento fatally shot Officer Enchautegui with a .357 Magnum. Both Brancato and Armento were also shot in the incident, but both survived.
Armento, who was convicted of firing the fatal shot at Enchautegui, received a life sentence for first-degree murder, with no parole. Brancato, who was arrested on second-degree murder charges, received an attempted burglary conviction and was sentenced to ten years. He was released two years early on parole.
The wrong messenger
Stack indicated that he had spoken to police departments in Union City, New York City, and other parts of New Jersey. He condemned Brancato’s presence at any school district. Stack said that while he supported substance abuse education, he was against having Brancato speak due to the criminal convictions he had.
“I am disappointed in the decision of the Union City Board of Education to host a substance abuse event featuring Lillo Brancato as the guest speaker,” Stack said. “While I fully support programs addressing substance abuse awareness, I echo the statement made by the Union City FOP [Fraternal Order of Police] and PBA [Police Benevolent Association] that Mr. Brancato was a horrible choice and that there could have been more powerful speakers to present on this important issue.”
While Stack agreed with Brancatos’ message, he condemned the messenger.
“His role in the death of New York City Police Officer Enchautegui should preclude him from this type of event. An anti-drug message is one that our children need to hear over and over again. Brancato is just the wrong messenger.”
School board’s hindsight
Following criticism from Stack, the Union City school board turned around on their decision. They issued a written apology, which emphasized that they should have been more sensitive to the concerns of law enforcement officers.
“The Union City School District does not condone the past actions of Lillo Brancato, or anyone else that would injure or even attempt to injure a police officer,” the statement read. “To combat drug abuse, we resorted to a non-traditional method by inviting this individual to speak about his life of drugs and crime, and his recovery as a long-time addict. He was not paid by the school district.”
The board called the decision to invite Brancato a “mistake” that they would not make again.
“Clearly, the decision to invite Lillo Brancato was a mistake,” the statement read. “In hindsight, we should have been much more sensitive to the feelings and concerns of the New York Police Department, our own Police Department, and police departments across the country. We apologize to everyone who is offended by our decision and rest assured, it will never happen again.
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