New Yorker pleads guilty to charges in outcall case

Kim Smith

Monday, Aug. 16, 1999 | 1:13 a.m.

A New York man accused of sending two hired killers to Las Vegas last year as part of a plot to take over local outcall service businesses pleaded guilty Friday.

Mario Stefano, 65, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interference with interstate commerce by threats or violence and aiding and abetting in U.S. District Judge Philip Pro's court.

Stefano could get between 70 and 87 months in prison and a $5,000 to $50,000 fine when sentenced by Pro Nov. 15. If he had gone to trial and been convicted, Stefano would have faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to court records, Stefano offered to send "a couple of aspirins" to Las Vegas last summer to help outcall service business owner Anthony Nastasi get rid of his competitors, or headaches.

Stefano didn't know that Nastasi, who had been arrested on state pandering charges, was working with the FBI in its investigation of Christiano DeCarlo, another outcall service business owner.

Court records show that in October, Stefano told Nastasi and an undercover FBI agent that he was sending Vinnie Congiusti, know as Vinnie Aspirins, to deal with Nastasi and DeCarlo's competitors.

Stefano said he had heard Congiusti was known to have used a cordless drill to drill holes into someone's head. The nickname Aspirins reportedly came from his reputation as one to take care of the mob's headaches.

Stefano, DeCarlo, 27, Congiusti and three other men, Anton Nelsen, Kenneth Byrnes, 38, and Joshua Snellings, 20, were arrested Oct. 9, 1998. Found in subsequent searches were a cordless drill, weapons and ammunition, walkie-talkies and bulletproof vests.

On Friday Stefano admitted sending Congiusti and Nelsen to Las Vegas to "bang heads," but said it was just an expression.

"I sent Vinnie Aspirin to confront whoever he could find that was doing wrong so he could talk to them and, ya know, if he had to, he could threaten them," Stefano said.

He sent Congiusti because he is a "rough-looking guy who could get his point across," Stefano said.

"Vinnie Aspirin, I was told he has a drill, but if he threatens people with it or if he's a legend in his own mind I don't know," Stefano said.

Stefano also denied that he planned to send two other hired killers to Las Vegas in the days after the arrests.

Congiusti, 49, pleaded guilty to the same charge as Stefano in July. He faces between 51 and 63 months in prison when Pro sentences him Oct. 1. He could also get up to a $100,000 fine.

DeCarlo, Nelsen, Byrnes and Snellings are scheduled for trial Aug. 23. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson told Pro that there are "no immediate plans" for plea agreements in those cases.

Various defense motions are scheduled to be argued before Pro Thursday.

An outcall service provides male or female dancers for customers who wish them to perform in their hotel room or private residence. Law enforcement officers have long considered the industry a front for prostitution, money laundering, credit-card fraud and drug dealing.

There are 165 outcall businesses licensed by Clark County, but about five operators own all of them, the Sun has reported.