LILLO BRANCATO'S FIRST POST-PRISON ROLE BEING BOYCOTTED BY THE NYPD

PATRICK LYNCH & LILLO BRANCATO

After spending eight years behind bars for his role in a city cop-killing, Lillo Brancato is getting his shot at redemption. The actor most famous for “A Bronx Tale” has landed a part in a boxing epic being filmed in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

“Back in the Day’’ stars Alec Baldwin, Danny Glover and Mike Tyson and tells the story of a troubled kid from Benson Hurst, Brooklyn, who gets mentored by a local mobster while training to be a prizefighter.

Brancato, 38, called the Hollywood role a “blessing” and gave all the credit to producer and star William DeMeo for giving him a shot.

For Brancato, it’s a long-awaited return to the big screen.

He rose to fame with the 1993 Robert De Niro film “A Bronx Tale” and later played a dim-witted mobster in HBO’s “The Sopranos.’’

But his path to success also led him to heroin and cocaine — and a role in a 2005 Bronx robbery that went horribly awry.

Brancato and partner-in-crime Steven Armento were trying to break into an apartment in search of prescription drugs when they encountered Officer Daniel Enchautegui, who lived next door.


 LILLO BRANCATO & OFFICER DANIEL ENCHAUTEGUI

Armento fatally shot the off-duty cop as he tried to stop them. Armento is now serving a life term for the murder.

Brancato, convicted of attempted burglary, spent nearly a decade behind bars before being sprung on New Year’s Eve 2013.

As you might expect, the NYC Patrolmen's Benevolent Association is not happy to hear Brancato is resuming his career. PBA president Patrick J. Lynch told TMZ his organization will never forgive or forget what "that junkie Lillo Brancato" did. 

Lynch added, "We ask all right-thinking people not to support this thug’s acting career by avoiding this movie and any project in which he is involved."