STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A sentencing date has been set for a reputed Lucchese crime family associate in a federal extortion case, while the defendant’s half-brother was sentenced recently on Staten Island for unrelated crimes.
Joseph Cutaia, 47, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty last year after prosecutors said he shook down two businessmen for cash and luxury watches, records show.
A sentencing hearing initially scheduled for Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court was adjourned to June 23, court documents indicated on Thursday.
A disposition in the 2024 case comes nearly six months after the defendant’s half-brother — Anthony Cutaia, 37, of Rossville — was sentenced to 32 years in prison for unrelated burglaries across several Staten Island neighborhoods.
Extortion case included ominous screenshot: Feds
Federal prosecutors in the Joseph Cutaia extortion case — as part of their pre-sentencing arguments in Brooklyn federal court — alleged the defendant sent an ominous message to one of his extortion victims in late 2023.
It was a screenshot of the defendant’s bio from the “Mob Facts” website. He was described on the site as the grandson of deceased Lucchese capo Domenico Cutaia and was speculated to be “a future force to be reckoned with.”
“Lucchese Crime family Associate Joseph Cutaia (T-L) Son of Soldier Salvatore (B-R) & Grandson of deceased Various Crew CAPO Domenico (B-L) has been released from Prison. Speculated to be a future force to be reckoned with,” the bio reads, according to the government’s court filings.
Prosecutors said the defendant at one point also showed up at the victim’s offices in New York to demand the victim either pay him or hire him.
In one message to the victim, he allegedly wrote: “Maybe next time you will think before you speak.”
On a separate occasion, he sent a message warning, “I don’t care who’s listening [I’m] going to put you under that building.”
Joseph Cutaia’s attorney, Gary Cutler, wrote in a court filing that his client considered the victim a friend.
Cutler also stated that his client was commended by the warden at Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn for preventing his cellmate from dying by suicide by hanging.
Brothers previously sentenced in ’09 attempted heist
In this June 25, 2025 photo, burglary defendant Anthony Cutaia stands before a judge in state Supreme Court, St. George. (Steve White for the Advance/SILive.com)Steve White for the Advance/SILive.com
Joseph Cutaia and Anthony Cutaia were among those convicted about 15 years ago of an attempted heist in Brooklyn, records show.
Prosecutors said Anthony Cutaia acted as the driver when the crew targeted a Brooklyn electronics store in late 2009.
Joseph Cutaia received a heftier sentence than his brother did, according to Advance/SILive.com reporting.