3rd person sentenced in 2016 murder of Stamford man
STAMFORD — The last defendant charged in connection with the murder of a Stamford man in 2016 pleaded guilty Friday to a charge that will land him in jail for just six months, news reports indicate.
Max Gemma, 31, pleaded guilty in Manhattan court to one count of hindering the prosecution, according to the NY Post.
In court, Gemma confessed to trying to help cover up the killing of Joseph Comunale, 26, of Stamford — whose body was found in a shallow grave in New Jersey on Nov. 16, 2016.
The co-defendants, James Rackover and Larry Dilione, were already convicted of killing the Stamford resident. Rackover was convicted of murder and sentenced to 28 and two-third years to life in prison. Dilione was sentenced to serve 23 years after he pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter.
According to the NY Post, Rackover and Dilione beat Comunale on Nov. 13, 2016, during an argument sparked by their supply of cocaine running out inside an apartment on East 59th Street in New York City.
“You, Max Gemma, lied to police and concealed that you witnessed Mr. Rackover and Mr. Dilione attack and beat Joseph Comunale?” Justice James Burke asked Gemma, according to the NY Post. “You also concealed that you believed that they had killed Joseph Comunale shortly after that assault?”
“Yes,” replied Gemma, according to the NY Post.
Gemma will be formally sentenced April 12.
News reports indicate Comunale’s body was thrown from a fourth-floor window that night, put into the trunk of a car and brought to Dilione and Gemma’s hometown of Oceanport, N.J. Then, they poured gasoline over Comunale’s body and lit the body on fire before burying his remains in the shallow grave.
Gemma’s lawyer, Mark Bederow, told the NY Post: “He took responsibility today, but it’s important to know that the plea relates to statements made to the police after the crime, and he has not been convicted of anything related to the horrible violence committed inside the apartment by Rackover and Dilione.”
Gemma had been indicted on two counts of hindering the prosecution and one count of tampering with evidence, the NY Post reported, adding that Gemma was accused of watching his friends beat Comunale.
When police tracked Gemma down on Nov. 15, 2016, the NY Post reported, he said there had been no arguments and that Comunale was gone by the time he left Rackover’s NYC apartment that night.
Trial testimony indicated Comunale was stabbed more than 15 times before Rackover tried to dismember him in the bathtub, the NY Post reported.
“Now that Max Gemma has admitted his guilt, it’s time he finally tells the whole truth about what happened and acknowledge all the people who helped him and his co-defendants attempt to get away with this crime,” Robert Abrams, Comunale’s family’s lawyer, told the NY Post.