The sister of an imprisoned White Plains businessman who is serving time for exploiting boys has been sentenced for helping him extort the victims.
U.S. District Court Judge Vincent L. Briccetti sentenced Doreen Mastroianni, 71, to time served and one year of supervised release, and ordered her to pay a $5,000 fine, April 9 in White Plains federal court.
Though federal sentencing guidelines called for up to 21 months in prison, the defense attorney, prosecutors and U.S. Probation Department recommended a year of supervision as sufficient punishment for her role in the scheme.
Doreen’s brother, Fred, the operator of dry cleaning and interior design businesses, had recorded sexual activities with boys. Last year, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for exploitation of a child and possession and distribution of child sex abuse photos and videos.
While in prison, he concocted an extortion scheme. He circumvented prison restrictions on phone calls and emails and enlisted Doreen to contact two victims who are now adults. The goal, according to court records, was to get the men to contribute money to his prison commissary account and to fund an insurance policy on Doreen’s life, for his benefit.
Doreen conveyed messages to the men threatening to release a cache of photos and videos to a male pornography business.
Every aspect of the scheme, defense attorney Bruce D. Koffsky stated in a letter to Judge Briccetti, “originated in the mind of Fred Mastroianni.” He conceived the scheme, chose the victims, drafted the communications, and stood to gain a financial benefit.
Doreen is 15 years older than Fred and had helped raise him as a child. He exploited their bond and manipulated her, according to Koffsky. Now she has no intention of resuming contact, and “whatever parasitic bond existed has been permanently broken.”
Doreen also is in poor health, has lost her real estate license, lives alone with two dogs in Yorktown Heights, and subsists on $3,063 a month from Social Security and DoorDash deliveries.
“Her career has been ruined. Her ability to retire has been shattered. Her social world has collapsed,” Koffsky stated in the letter. “The public does not need protection from Doreen Masstroianni.”
Doreen stated in a letter to the judge that she has confessed her sins, asked for God’s forgiveness, done her penance as a Catholic, and will never again let anything make her go against her beliefs. As she is forbidden from contacting anyone involved in the crime, she asked Judge Briccetti to convey her shame and grief to the victims.
Assistant prosecutors Ryan W. Allison and Margaret N. Vasu stated in a letter to the judge that Doreen “played an indispensable role to help further Fred’s criminal goals.” She knew her brother was dangerous. She knew that the extortion was particularly repugnant. Yet, she decided to “launder Fred’s threatening communications.”
Despite the seriousness of her conduct, they agree that imprisonment is unnecessary. Doreen has substantial health issues. She never had any brush with the criminal justice system before this case, and she is unlikely to engage in crime again. And Fred “was clearly the mastermind” and intended beneficiary of the scheme.
Sentencing of Fred Mastroianni in the extortion case is scheduled for July 16. For now, at age 55, he is imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in the child pornography case. He is scheduled for release in 2050.
