Strollerderby : staten island

Mob Mol Who Smuggled Sperm Says Prison System Hates Her Child for Being Born

JeanneSager — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:32:00 GMT

She foiled the federal prison system in 1999 when she snuck a vial of her husband's sperm out of a Pennsylvania penitentiary, but now Regina Granato says the feds hate her daughter for ever being born. The government is keeping Kevin Granato, a one-time Colombo mob associate, as far from the family's New York City home as possible. So far that the 9-year-old daughter with a heart condition (conceived with that vial of sperm) never gets to see her father.

Since being transferred out of the Allenwood Federal Penetentiary, Granato has spent three and a half years in solitary confinement and seen daughter Gianna only once. Kevin was 13 years into a 25-year sentence for drug dealing and racketeering when his wife appeared at the prison, showing off a baby girl she said was her husband's. Strange, thought prison officials. Since the early 1990s, federal prison inmates have been denied conjugal visits. Gianna was born in 1999.

Since then, Granato has been bounced around. He served time in Oregon, including the stint in solitary, before being moved to West Virginia. Repeated requests to be moved to a facility within 50 miles of home have been denied. The cryogenic sperm kit used by the then 35-year-old Regina Granato earned her husband an extra 16 months in prison, which means he won't be released until 2013. If visiting Dad were as simple as hopping in a car, Regina would make the trip with Gianna. But she told a Staten Island, N.Y. newspaper that her daughter has been diagnosed with "a mild case of mitral valve prolapse, a genetic heart condition that causes a racing arrhythmic heartbeat, dizziness, shortness of breath and chest pain."

"She can't be in a car for more than two hours," Regina says. "I want to, but the cardiologist urges me not to take her in a car that long." Regina served her own sentence - nine months probation and 100 hours of community service - for the sperm smuggling. But she says it's her daughter who is being punished now. "State prisons can have conjugal visits. I didn't want a conjugal visit," she said. "I wanted a child. But they hate us for what we did. They hate us just because she was born."

I can't help but point out that Kevin Granato is in prison for a reason. And his wife knew it when she decided to have his baby. Her clock was ticking, yes, and chances are without committing a crime, she never would have had the baby she always wanted. But shouldn't she have known her husband's fate was up to the prison system? Should the federal government really be expected to make allowances for two convicted criminals and the baby they had illegally?

Image: eHow

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Maybe these pit bulls are dangerous

Brett Singer — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

I'm a dog lover (though not a dog owner), so I'm usually willing to sympathize with people that blame bad owners when their pooch attacks someone.

But with so many pit bull attacks, maybe these muscular little k-9's don't make the greatest pets.

Henry Piotrowski, a 90-year-old man in Staten Island, was attacked by two pit bulls and had to have his leg amputated. According to NY1, the owner, James McNair, allows the dogs to wander the neighborhood sans leash; Piotrowski was attacked outside his home.

Then there's the sad tale of Kamar Reynolds, a 3-year-old Brooklyn boy who had an ear bitten off by a pit bull a few days ago. He seems to be recovering nicely, or as nicely as he can, considering the fact that he had to have his ear reattached.

Now, to be fair, this particular incident happened because some jerk threw his dog through an open window into a room full of kids, including Kamar. The dog has been put to sleep, the owner is being held "on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon - the dog." I've never heard of a dog being classified as a weapon, but this probably isn't the first time.

Are there any stories of poodles attacking people? Chihuahuas? Pugs? Golden retrievers? Labs? Maybe it happens and isn't reported. But I sort of doubt it.

This may be a bit of a stretch, but I think you can draw a parallel with gun ownership. Yes, guns don't kill people, people kill people. But one way to ensure that nobody gets accidentally shot is to not have a gun in the house.

Are pit bulls the doggy equivalent of a loaded gun? Or is it just stupid owners?

image: nydailynews

Related:

Pit bull attacks one-year-old girl

Politician drives drunk, has child with mistress, is big jerk

Brett Singer — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:45:00 GMT

Is every guy in New York politics an adulterer? Vito Fossella, a Congressman from Staten Island, has now admitted to fathering a "love child" with a mistress that he carried on an affair with for several years. This news came to light after Fossella was charged with a DWI after leaving a D.C. bar where he was drinking with a friend who was so wasted he "passed out in front of the men's room."

The other woman is Laura Fay, a former colonel in the United States Air Force. The Post, clever wags that they are, call her "Fay Lay" because of dalliances during her previous two marriages. The affair with Fossella probably began in 2001; their out-of-wedlock daughter is now 3 years old. Fossella was elected to House of Representatives in 1997. So he lasted maybe 4 years before he started to stray – unless there are more of his "other women" out there.

Aside: Why is a baby conceived through an extra-marital affair referred to as a "love child"? Is a kid born to a married couple a "tax-deduction child"? (Thank you! Tip your waitress!)

The best line is actually from Fossella's Wikipedia page: "his confession on May 8, 2008 that he had fathered a (now) three-year-old child out of wedlock…could seriously jeopardize Fossella's bid for re-election." Gee, ya think?

That said, many politicians have weathered serious personal failings and remained popular with the people; some were even re-elected. So I'm curious: do people here think that sexual dalliances are relevant when it comes to a politician's ability to do their job?

image: NYPost

Firefighter's Wife: I Killed Him Because He Called Me Fat

Brett Singer — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Ah, the New York Post. Where would we be without you? This story isn't exactly "Headless Body in Topless Bar," but it's still quality tabloid fodder.

Here's the scoop: in December of 2007, Janet Redmond-Mercereau called 911 and reported that her husband, Staten Island Fire Marshall Douglas Mercereau, was dead. Two days later, the Post referred to her as "the elephant in the room" because of suspicions that she had murdered Douglas because of "humiliating fat jokes he made at her expense." On Saturday (3/22/08) she was charged with murder.

Now comes the defense. Her lawyer says that "her husband had been verbally abusive after she gained weight because of a thyroid condition." The prosecution says, "We believe [the abuse] not to be true."

I know it's just a quote and could be out of context. But let's say, just for a moment, that it was true. That her husband had called her "Fatty McFatso." That she was wearing a t-shirt from Guess and he said, "I don't know, 245? 260?" (That last line I swiped from a comedian whose name I can't remember.) If he did that, she can kill him?

Well, no. But Andrea Peyer has a column warning guys to "be careful" when they poke fun at the little woman for not being so little. Still, to me it seems like a pretty thin defense strategy. (Pun intended.)

It does seem that the accused is a tad, shall we say, unhinged. A The New York Times story says that she had an oak tree in their yard chopped down because Douglas' family compared him to it at the funeral. The Staten Island Advance quotes Janet as saying, "I feel like a model," to a photographer when he arrived at her home to get a photo. And The Post describes her as "winking" to her family at the arraignment.

For the record, Janet is listed at 5' 3" and 240 pounds. But I'm not saying a word about that. Just in case she's acquitted.