NEWYORK POST
A NERVOUS WRECK
By KATI CORNELL SMITH February 13, 2003 --
TOUGH TALKS:
Ex-assistant Neil Prashad (above) told a jury yesterday that mobsters made actor Steven Seagal "uncomfortable."
- NYP: Spencer A. Burnett
Action star Steven Seagal was unnerved by an intimidating crew of suspected wiseguys who demanded meetings with the action star and dropped by unexpectedly, his former assistant testified yesterday.
"Steven was very depressed, very quiet, very tense," Neil Prashad, 27, told a federal jury yesterday, describing the actor's demeanor after a particularly long meeting in a Brooklyn restaurant with reputed Gambino capo Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone.
Prashad said the trouble began when Seagal - who testified Tuesday against Ciccone and suspected mobster Primo Cassarino - decided to sever his ties with longtime business partner and producer Julius Nasso.
The feds say Nasso recruited the crew headed by Ciccone to help him extort $3 million from Seagal.
Prashad said the actor was "uncomfortable" and "concerned" every time Nasso and his posse showed up uninvited at Seagal's homes in Toronto and L.A. - although his boss always agreed to speak with them.
Seagal claims that on each occasion, Ciccone would pressure him for cash and to resume making movies with Nasso.
Prashad said their scariest encounter took place in January 2001, when Seagal agreed to meet Nasso and his brother Vincent for dinner at their mother's Brooklyn home. The Nassos changed the meeting place at the last minute and drove Seagal and Prashad to Gage & Tollner's Restaurant.
Once inside, Jules Nasso and Ciccone told Prashad he could not accompany Seagal to the table.
Prashad said he was left with reputed Gambino underling Richard "the Lump" Bondi to look after him.
"I felt scared," Prashad said. "Every time I looked at him, I thought there was something bulging out of his right side . . . could be a weapon, could be a cell phone."
Seagal testified that during this meeting, he told Ciccone he would try to work with Nasso.
Afterward, Nasso allegedly told the star, "If you said the wrong thing, they were going to kill you."
The assistant said Seagal came downstairs in a big hurry to leave and seemed "very depressed, very quiet, very tense." The two walked a crowded block to where a bodyguard was waiting in a car.
"Steven Seagal is an international celebrity. We don't exactly walk in densely populated places without a bodyguard," Prashad said.
The former assistant pointed across the Brooklyn federal courtroom to identify Ciccone and Cassarino, who are on trial for the alleged extortion.
Nasso also has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial in September.
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A NERVOUS WRECK
By KATI CORNELL SMITH February 13, 2003 --
TOUGH TALKS:
Ex-assistant Neil Prashad (above) told a jury yesterday that mobsters made actor Steven Seagal "uncomfortable."
- NYP: Spencer A. Burnett
Action star Steven Seagal was unnerved by an intimidating crew of suspected wiseguys who demanded meetings with the action star and dropped by unexpectedly, his former assistant testified yesterday.
"Steven was very depressed, very quiet, very tense," Neil Prashad, 27, told a federal jury yesterday, describing the actor's demeanor after a particularly long meeting in a Brooklyn restaurant with reputed Gambino capo Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone.
Prashad said the trouble began when Seagal - who testified Tuesday against Ciccone and suspected mobster Primo Cassarino - decided to sever his ties with longtime business partner and producer Julius Nasso.
The feds say Nasso recruited the crew headed by Ciccone to help him extort $3 million from Seagal.
Prashad said the actor was "uncomfortable" and "concerned" every time Nasso and his posse showed up uninvited at Seagal's homes in Toronto and L.A. - although his boss always agreed to speak with them.
Seagal claims that on each occasion, Ciccone would pressure him for cash and to resume making movies with Nasso.
Prashad said their scariest encounter took place in January 2001, when Seagal agreed to meet Nasso and his brother Vincent for dinner at their mother's Brooklyn home. The Nassos changed the meeting place at the last minute and drove Seagal and Prashad to Gage & Tollner's Restaurant.
Once inside, Jules Nasso and Ciccone told Prashad he could not accompany Seagal to the table.
Prashad said he was left with reputed Gambino underling Richard "the Lump" Bondi to look after him.
"I felt scared," Prashad said. "Every time I looked at him, I thought there was something bulging out of his right side . . . could be a weapon, could be a cell phone."
Seagal testified that during this meeting, he told Ciccone he would try to work with Nasso.
Afterward, Nasso allegedly told the star, "If you said the wrong thing, they were going to kill you."
The assistant said Seagal came downstairs in a big hurry to leave and seemed "very depressed, very quiet, very tense." The two walked a crowded block to where a bodyguard was waiting in a car.
"Steven Seagal is an international celebrity. We don't exactly walk in densely populated places without a bodyguard," Prashad said.
The former assistant pointed across the Brooklyn federal courtroom to identify Ciccone and Cassarino, who are on trial for the alleged extortion.
Nasso also has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial in September.
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