A Long Island crook marked tax day yesterday by admitting he plotted to pose as an IRS agent and use a bolt cutter to cut off a woman’s fingers and force her to open a cash-filled safe.
Julius Scalercio’s surprise guilty plea during his trial in Suffolk Supreme Court came right after audiotapes on which he talks about amputating the woman’s fingers were played for the jury.
Scalercio, 45, of Farmingville, and three cohorts plotted the robbery 28 months ago of a home near Riverhead that he erroneously thought had a safe with more than $2 million.
But an informant alerted authorities, and the bad guys were bugged by cops.
On Nov. 30, 1999, en route to the scene, Scalercio stopped at a Home Depot and purchased heavy-duty bolt cutters.
“Don’t worry about it,” Scalercio told the others. “I’m gonna use these things here and once I lop off a couple of her fingers, that’s it. She sees a little blood and no problem; forget about it.”
He’ll be sentenced to 10 years on April 29.