Plea deal may fall apart in outcall case

Kim Smith

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2000 | 11:42 a.m.

When four men charged in intimidating competition in the outcall service industry entered a plea agreement in August, they did so to avoid a trial and to get a break on their sentences.

Now one of them wants to back out, and the fate of the other three is up in the air.

Christiano DeCarlo, Joshua Snellings, Kenneth Byrnes and Anton Nelsen pleaded guilty Aug. 20 in connection with a plot to get rid of Anthony Nastasi's competitors in the outcall business.

The four men could have received up to 20 years each if they had gone to trial and been convicted. However, they opted to plead guilty to one count each of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce through threats and violence.

The plea agreement called for DeCarlo, the reported leader of the plot, to get between 12 and 15 years in prison. Nelsen and Byrnes would have received between three and four years and Snellings between a year and 18 months.

DeCarlo, 28, was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but his attorney, Daniel Albregts, told U.S. District Judge Philip Pro that his client, who attempted suicide in October, is considering withdrawing from the plea.

Pro gave Albregts until Jan. 28 to file such a motion and scheduled arguments on the motion for Feb. 18. The judge also noted that next week's sentencing of Nelsen, Byrnes, Snellings and two others who pleaded guilty in the case would likely be postponed until the DeCarlo issue is resolved.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson said after the hearing that if DeCarlo formally asks to back out of the plea agreement, he will consider withdrawing the offer from the other three defendants.

Pro also formally announced during Wednesday's hearing that a U.S. Bureau of Prisons psychiatrist decided that DeCarlo is mentally competent. Pro had ordered a mental evaluation for DeCarlo after he overdosed on sleeping pills at the North Las Vegas Detention Center.

Authorities say the group had plotted to get rid of Nastasi's competitors, going so far as to bring in two alleged hitmen. One of the men, Vinnie Congiusti, and the man who called for his help, Mario Stefano, pleaded guilty weeks before the DeCarlo group did. Conguisti faces between four and five years in prison and Stefano could get between six and seven years.