Hot-headed “Mob Wives” TV star Drita D’Avanzo and her allegedly mob-connected hubby were busted after authorities found weapons and drugs at their Staten Island home during a raid, police said Friday.
D’Avanzo, 43, and Lee D’Avanzo, 50, who have two daughters, were arrested Thursday night on a slew of charges including criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, cops said.
Authorities found two loaded Smith & Wesson firearms – a 9mm and a .38 caliber gun in the bedroom and kitchen — an assortment of pills, including painkillers, a large quantity of marijuana and two scales with residue, police said.
According to a criminal complaint, the marijuana stash was recovered in the basement and a cabinet in the kitchen of the couple’s Pleasant Plains home “that was accessible to defendants’ 12-year-old daughter.”
The D’Avanzos were arraigned in handcuffs Friday in Staten Island Criminal Court on the charges.
Drita, who wore a long black jacket, quickly posted her $15,000 bail, while Lee, who donned a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants, had his bail set at $100,000 and was remanded on a fugitive warrant out of New Jersey on a separate, but related case, officials said.
Lee’s attorney, James Froccarro, had asked Judge Ann Thompson for a “reasonable bond” for his client, saying that Lee is “not a flight risk” and that his “whole family” was in court.
The judge issued a limited order of protection against the couple in regards to their 12-year-old daughter.
Lawyers for both Lee and Drita declined to comment to reporters following the arraignment.
The couple’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 31.
Drita starred on the VH1 reality-TV “Mob Wives” show, which aired for six seasons from 2011 to 2016.
On her bio page for the show, Drita is described as the wife of Lee, “who federal prosecutors allege is the leader of a Bonanno and Colombo crime family farm team.”
“While Drita’s husband is serving time in prison for bank robbery (for the second time), she is left alone raising two young girls, Aleeya and Gizelle,” the bio, posted at the time the show aired, read. “Drita, who comes from a strict Albanian household, defied her parents and married someone outside the community — an Italian.”
According to the bio, Lee was “allegedly robbing banks (among other things)” at the beginning of his and Drita’s relationship, and before Drita “gave birth to their first daughter, he was escorted away by the feds for an 8-year prison term.”
“Drita had their baby, and stood by her man — who promised her that he would never leave her again,” read the bio, which added that Lee was later arrested and sentenced to prison for two to five years “for similar crimes.”
“Needless to say, Drita was not happy. But, like so many times before, she picked up the pieces and carried on.”