‘THERE’S AN X ON HIS BACK’
Authorities anticipate a possible assassination attempt against the Staten Island construction worker suspected of gunning down mob boss Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, sources told The Post Sunday.
Officials haven’t confirmed that the Gambino crime family has posted a bounty on Anthony Comello, but “the general feeling is that there’s an ‘X’ on this guy’s back,” one source said.
“He’s going to have some issues in jail,” a high-ranking NYPD official said.
“Maybe there’s some guys who are wiseguys in jail who will show their allegiance to the Gambinos and say, ‘We’ll take care of this guy.’ ”
Sources said Cali’s former underlings would likely wait until Comello, 24, was serving time in an upstate prison before making an attempt on his life.
But that won’t prevent another inmate from taking matters into his own hands to score a reward or simply to boost his reputation behind bars, sources said.
Comello was arrested Saturday at his parent’s waterfront vacation home in Brick Township, NJ.
He has retained high-profile defense lawyer Robert Gottlieb, who said on Sunday that his client would waive extradition from New Jersey so he can fight the allegations against him.
“The people who know him best — his family and friends — cannot believe what they are hearing,” Gottlieb said.
“There is something very wrong here, and we will get to the bottom of it.”
Comello was scheduled to appear in the Ocean County Court- house in Toms River, NJ, on Monday afternoon, Gottlieb said.
Investigators hadn’t yet found the 9mm pistol that was used to pump 10 slugs into Cali in front of his home at 25 Hilltop Terrace in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island on Wednesday night.
But a BB gun and paintball gun were found in his family’s Brick home, and a bow and arrows were seized from their house on Staten Island, sources said.
Cali, 53, was lured outside by a killer who backed a pickup truck into his Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Investigators believe Comello may have been seeking revenge for Cali preventing his niece from dating him, sources have said.
Nicky Santora, one of Comello’s friends from Tottenville HS, told The Post on Sunday, “Cali made sure it didn’t work out, and Ant clearly couldn’t accept that.”
“I’m not sure if he knew who Cali was,” Santora said.
“If you ask me, he wasn’t all in the head, and it’s sad, because . . . It’s only a matter of time before he’s found dead in jail.”