What the hell is up with the cast from The Sopranos?

It is interesting how life sometimes mirrors fiction. I was looking at the news this week and read about Lilloo Brancato Jr.’s murder acquittal and was thinking about the fact that this is not the first time I have seen someone in the news from The Sopranos lately. Here is a quick rundown of what has been going on since the show began a few years ago:

In 2008 John Costelloe was found dead, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Lilloo Brancato Jr. was acquitted of the murder of a police officer, but found guilty of the lesser charge of attempted burglary for a botched robbery involving drugs 3 years ago. . (One might also note that he was arrested a few years ago for heroin possession.) Also Joe Pantoliano spoke out about depression while promoting an organization he founded two years ago to address the stigma attached to mental illness. His group is called: “No Kidding, Me Too!”.

This was all preceeded by the arrest of John Ventimiglia on charges of DUI and cocaine possession in 2006 and the arrest of Louis Gross same year for assaulting a Manhattan merchant.

In 2005 Vincent Pastore plead guilty to assaulting his girlfriend. Not to be outdone, Louis Gross found himself in trouble with the law for breaking and entering.

In 2002, Robert Iler, who plays Tony Soprano’s son plead guilty to robbing tourists.

Possibly most interesting, Tony Sirico, who played Paulie Gualtieri has been reported to have been an associate of the Colombo crime family prior to working as an actor. While that is not a proven fact, it is well known that he has a record including 28 arrests and served 13 months in prison for felony weapons possession.

So I have to ask myself once more: “What the hell is up with the cast of the Sopranos”.