Sopranos Actor Makes Guilty Plea
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Robert Iler, who plays the rebellious, pot-smoking son of a mob boss on HBO's The Sopranos, pleaded guilty Tuesday to mugging two youths and stealing $40.
Iler, 17, admitted to misdemeanor petty larceny in return for a sentence of three years' probation. Iler was granted youthful offender status, and his record will be sealed.
A co-defendant, Alban Selimaj, 17, entered the same plea.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The two were originally charged with second-degree robbery for the incident last July 4. A conviction on that charge carried a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Iler told the judge he and Selimaj spotted two youths walking toward them and decided to "hassle" the pair. Iler was arrested a few blocks away.
Iler's lawyer, Robert Morvillo, said the plea deals were "fair and just."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"My view is that he was a 16-year-old boy in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn't have enough sense to walk away," Morvillo said.
After the plea, Iler's manager, Jeff Mitchell, read a statement in which the actor apologized "for all the grief and trouble everybody went through."
A third suspect, Michael Cournede, 20, still faces trial on the robbery charge. He has pleaded innocent. A fourth suspect who was 15 was turned over to juvenile authorities and his case is being handled by Family Court.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Iler portrays the troubled Anthony "A.J." Soprano Jr. on the HBO television hit about gangland life, The Sopranos.