By Nicole Falco
A 79-year-old Valley Stream man and his son were arrested last Friday for allegedly conspiring to murder a former business partner, New York State Police said.
The two were arrested at their home following a police investigation. Police did not explain how they became aware of the alleged conspiracy.
According to a police report, Ernest Pinelli and his son, Ernest Jr., 43, both of 1155 Rottkamp St., allegedly attempted to hire someone to murder their former business partner, who lives in Puerto Rico, following a failed business venture. The elder Pinelli was the beneficiary of the partner-s $500,000 insurance policy, police said.
During a search of the Pinellis- home, state police recovered a loaded semi-automatic rifle, electronic stun guns, a kilogram of cocaine, a mold used to compress cocaine into bricks and more than a pound of marijuana, police said.
The two men were arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead last Saturday. The elder Pinelli, who has a prior felony conviction for forgery dating to the early 1980s, according to police, was charged with second-degree conspiracy and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He is being held on $300,000 bail. He faces up to 25 years in prison, according to the Nassau County district attorney-s office.
Pinelli Jr. is charged with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree conspiracy, second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia. He is being held on $1 million bail, and faces a maximum life sentence, according to the district attorney.
