BURSTThe Supreme Court on Friday ruled that crimes committed through inaction can still be violent, rejecting a New York crime family associate’s claim that his conviction in a foiled murder-for-hire plot wasn't a “crime of violence” because he used no physical force.
Salvatore Delligatti, a Genovese crime family associate also known as “Fat Sal,” was found guilty of charges including racketeering and attempted murder after plotting to kill a local “bully.” He hired members of a street gang and gave them a gun and getaway car, but police intervened before the plot ensued.
Delligatti was also convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a “crime of violence,” which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five consecutive years in prison. He was sentenced to 25-year prison term in total.
Delligatti contended that a crime requiring death or bodily injury like murder, but committed through inaction, cannot be deemed a “crime of violence." The justices in a 7-2 decision rebuffed that claim.
"Intentional murder is the prototypical crime of violence,’ and it has long been understood to incorporate liability for both act and omission," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the majority opinion.
Justice Gorsuch wrote a dissenting opinion, which Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joined.
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