Life imitates Art...........Little Tony popped......
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marshallart.com
Teen actor who portrays A.J. Soprano
arrested on robbery, marijuana
charges
DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 5, 2001
Breaking News Sections
(07-05) 06:13 PDT NEW YORK (AP) --
The 16-year-old "Sopranos" actor who faces real-life
criminal charges was unaware of what his friends
were doing when two teens were allegedly robbed of
$40, his lawyer says.
Robert Iler, who plays the troubled son of mobster
Tony Soprano on the hit HBO series "The Sopranos,"
and three other youths were arrested early
Wednesday. Iler was charged with two counts of
second-degree robbery and one count of marijuana
possession.
The four were picked up by police for allegedly
robbing two teens on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Iler had a bag of marijuana and a water pipe in his
pocket when he was arrested, police said.
Police said the oldest of the four, Michael Cournede,
19, approached the victims and ordered them to hand
over their money. The other suspects allegedly
threatened the victims if they did not comply.
Iler's lawyer, Steven Mintz, disputed the allegations.
"My client didn't threaten anybody, my client didn't
hear anybody threaten anybody, my client didn't hear
anyone ask for money," Mintz said. "Robert didn't hear
anybody or see anybody receive money. And he only
learned what had happened much later when he was
picked up."
He posted $2,500 bail and was released.
Over the three-year run of "The Sopranos," Iler's
character, Anthony "A.J." Soprano Jr., has repeatedly
found trouble: smoking pot in the family garage,
vandalizing his high school, and cheating on a test.
Iler's mother, Helen, told reporters it was the first
time her son had been in real-life trouble -- "and it will
be the last."
The three other teens also had no criminal record,
police said. Cournede and Alban Selimaj, 16, pleaded
innocent to two counts of second-degree robbery. The
fourth suspect, a 15-year-old boy, will face charges in
Family Court because of his age.
"What we have here is three kids who thought it
would be fun to go out and do a robbery," Robert
Wallach, an assistant district attorney, said at the
arraignment.
Iler began his acting career at age 6, when Jeff
Mitchell, who became his manager, spotted him
walking down a Manhattan street with his father. He
was hired to appear in a Pizza Hut commercial. He
made his first film -- "The Tic Code" -- when he was
10.
HBO did not return calls for comment. |
