A Coney Island firefighter's history may well be catching up with him. 27-year-old Anthony Cilento, of Ladder 166, is being held without bail and is suspended from the Department without pay due to his alleged previous involvement with a coke ring. Cilento, who is said to have left the ring when he entered the Fire Department Academy, is the second civil servant said to be involved with this particular drug delivery service: Earlier this year retired 39-year-old NYPD officer John Avvento was accused of trading "cash, cocaine and Vicodin" for NYPD gear.
Cilentro reportedly left the South Brooklyn drug dealership in 2009 to go straight and fight fires, but has since been fingered for his involvement by at least three snitches—including the ring's ringleader. According to court papers from 2002 through 2009, "Cilento took drug orders over the phone, allowed his home in Brooklyn to be used to store drugs, bagged bulk amounts of cocaine into smaller quantities for sale, met with suppliers and accompanied sellers on deliveries."
Another informant also says that the firefighter committed attacks on behalf of the gang (like breaking one guy's nose when he stole some booger sugar) while another says he "bought drugs for his own use." But since he made it through the FDNY screening process, he at least wasn't using while fighting fires. Unlike some firefighters, "he wanted to turn his life around," a source told the News.
