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Artie Bucco In Hot Soup

NYC cops nab sauced "Sopranos" star on DWI, coke raps

MAY 2--In the latest arrest of a "Sopranos" cast member, the actor who portrays sad sack restaurateur Artie Bucco was nabbed yesterday for cocaine possession and drunk driving. John Ventimiglia, 42, was popped on the misdemeanor counts after cops spotted his 2004 Volkswagen Jetta doing the weave at 12:45 AM near his Brooklyn home. After cops pulled over his car--which had its headlights out--Ventimiglia was observed "exhibiting signs of intoxication: to wit, slurred speech, red watery eyes, odor of alcoholic beverage on breath, and an unsteady gait," according to a criminal complaint. A subsequent chemical test showed that Ventimiglia's blood alcohol content was .12, above the state's .08 maximum. The actor was also hit with a drug count when a cop found a ziplock bag and a small envelope containing cocaine residue in his pants pocket. With his arrest, Ventimiglia joins, among others, castmates Robert Iler, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Pastore on the "Sopranos" docket sheet. (2 pages)

E-mail story to a friend.

Doing my best Silvio Dante voice:

'Didn't you notice? Artie's game's a little off lately.....'

abierman said:

nice.
[Edited 5/2/06 12:25pm]

the kid who plays Tony Sopranos new bodyguard was arrested this past week for breaking and entering. He said "I didn't do nothing, Im innocent.."..

PurpleRein said:

I'd prob. break and enter too, christ, Artie is tooling around in an 04 Jetta, imagine what that kid has to deal with!

jerseykrs said:

Are those guys actually actors? This show is starting to look like a documentary.

http://www.nydailynews.co...9960c.html
'sopranos' tough guy in
bad-boy rap

BY BARBARA ROSS
and SCOTT SHIFREL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

'Sopranos' actor Louis Gross
He plays Tony Soprano's muscleman on television - and he seems to be having trouble leaving the tough-guy act on the set.

Actor Louis Gross was arrested Sunday on charges he broke into a Queens home on April 18.

The 23-year-old ex-fitness model also is accused of roughing up a Manhattan merchant in February.

"I don't know nothing. I'm innocent. I'm always innocent," Gross said as he was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court last night.

His attorney said Gross is nothing like the hotheaded driver and bodyguard he plays on the HBO series.

"Is he a bad guy? No," said lawyer Samuel Bernstein.

"As an actor, he plays up to the camera. But people have to differentiate between his job persona and his real-life persona. He seems like a nice guy, a gentleman."

That's not how Trinny Hill - the woman who called Queens cops on Gross - sees it.

"It was a break-in," she said. "He came and took some stuff from the house. Now I've received threats from his family."

Gross is pals with Hill's brother and allegedly broke a doorframe and lock to her St. Albans home so he could retrieve some belongings.

Gross was arrested for burglary, but prosecutors downgraded the charges to criminal mischief. In the Manhattan case, Gross was stopped Feb. 3 as he allegedly set off an alarm while leaving a trendy .SoHo clothing store, Michael K., with a bagful of clothes.

"He ran out, he punched me," said store manager Fane Mamadou, who suffered a sprained wrist. "He was very big and very strong."

Gross faces a year behind bars if convicted in the Queens case and 15 years for the Manhattan robbery.

His big scene as mobster Perry Annunziata came when Tony Soprano beat the bodyguard to show he was still a strong leader.

With Kerry Burke and Oren Yaniv

he's isn't such a tough guy, he got his ass wooped by Tony, who just was released from the hospital, in his second appearance on the show.....

Nice Summary of The Sopranos' Actors Activities:

http://www.eonline.com/Ne...tml?fdnews

"Sopranos" Offscreen Shenanigans

by Gina Serpe
May 2, 2006, 9:25 AM PT



With a faltering restaurant and a credit card-stealing employee, Artie Bucco is having his share of problems on The Sopranos this season. But that's nothing compared to what's going on offscreen.

John Ventimiglia, who plays the troubled chef on the HBO Mafia hit, was busted Monday on drunken driving and cocaine possession charges near his Brooklyn home.

The small-screen spaghetti slinger was pulled over at roughly 1 a.m. just a block away from his Park Slope home after officers spotted his 2004 Volkswagen Jetta weaving into oncoming traffic with no headlights on.

Per the criminal complaint, Ventimiglia was asked to step out of his car and the cops determined he was unsteady on his feet, had bloodshot eyes and reeked of alcohol. Police allegedly found a Ziploc bag with cocaine residue in the actor's back pocket; prosecutors say his blood-alcohol content was at 0.12, well above the state's 0.08 legal limit.

The 42-year-old actor was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court Monday for a menu of violations: driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, operating outside the lane, operating without headlights and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

The New York Post reports that Ventimiglia had several glasses of wine at a Long Island City art gallery opening on Sunday night before driving home. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper says the actor was pulling into a parking spot near his apartment, when he turned off his headlights. Unable to squeeze his car into the opening, Ventimiglia was reportedly circling the block, with his lights still off, searching for another place to park when police pulled him over.

The actor was released on his own recognizance following the arraignment.

Ventimiglia's arrest wasn't the only case of life imitating art among Sopranos players.

Louis Gross, who plays Tony Soprano's new muscleman, Perry Annunziata, was arrested Sunday on charges of breaking into a Queens home last month. The 23-year-old actor was also accused of getting into a scuffle with a store owner in February.

"I don't know nothing. I'm innocent. I'm always innocent," Gross said at his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Monday.

Not according to his alleged victim.

"It was a break-in," Trinny Hill, whose brother is reportedly a close friend of Gross' and whose house the actor allegedly broke into, told the New York Daily News. "He came and took some stuff from the house. Now I've received threats from his family."

According to Hill, Gross reportedly broke a doorframe and lock in order to enter the apartment and retrieve several belongings.

The actor was arrested for burglary, though the charges were eventually downgraded to criminal mischief.

Gross also faces charges of robbery in a separate case involving the trendy SoHo clothing store Michael K. According to the Daily News, the actor set off the store's alarm on Feb. 3 while exiting with a bagful of clothes.

If convicted, Gross faces up to a year in jail in the break-in case and up to 15 years for the alleged robbery.

Over the years, the mobsters of The Sopranos have made all sorts of headlines for bad behavior. Lillo Brancato Jr., who played a wannabe wiseguy on the show's second season, is facing murder charges for his role in a botched robbery in December that ended in the slaying of an off-duty police officer.

Vincent Pastore, who played deep-sixed snitch Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor count of attempted assault on his former fiancée, who has since slapped him with a $5 million lawsuit.

Robert Iler, the club-hopping slacker scion Tony Jr. on The Sopranos, spent three years on probation after copping a plea to petty larceny in the shakedown of a teenage tourist in 2001. Meanwhile, four years ago, the show's Emmy-winning godfather, James Gandolfini, admitted to past drug and alcohol problems after his ex-wife made lurid allegations during their divorce.
[Edited 5/2/06 12:54pm]

i guess some people take their characters a little TOO seriously....

i hope Artie wasn't crying like a little bitch when they picked him...he would have done that on the show...

missfee said:

C'mon now! Artie kicked some ass! He's got some balls. Not the smartest guy, but he'll take on anybody. Tony included.