Schenectady man accused of assaulting child of witness in family’s drug trafficking case

A Schenectady man is accused of assaulting the child of a witness who testified in his brother and father’s drug trafficking trial.

Patrick Civitello, 18, allegedly struck the victim on May 19 outside the Max310 Restaurant at the Water’s Edge in Glenville (formerly the Water’s Edge Lighthouse), according to court documents.

The assault was in retaliation for testimony provided by the victim’s mother at the

Trial of Civitello’s father Jeffrey Civitello and younger brother Jeffrey Civitello Jr., prosecutors said.

Jeffrey Civitello Jr. was sentenced in March in U.S. District Court to 11 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and marijuana over a two-year period and possessing two firearms. He also worked with Jeffrey Civitello Sr. and three New York City-area men to traffic about 15 kilograms of cocaine.

Civitello Sr. was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison.