‘Sopranos’ Star Breaks Silence About Crime, Prison Sentence

Former “Sopranos” star Lillo Brancato shared his remorse for the death of officer Daniel Enchautegui.  Brancato served eight years for his role in the fatal shooting during a burglary attempt gone terribly wrong.  He was recently released.

An accomplice of Brancato’s, Steven Armento, was found to have fired the fatal shot that killed officer Enchautegui.  Armento is currently serving a life sentence.  The two men were drug addicts looking to burglarize the apartment in search of valium.

Enchautegui confronted Brancato and Armento and a gun battle eensued, with the officer being shot in the chest.

"I wish I could just take it back and I could bring police officer Daniel back to life," Brancato told Entertainment Tonight. “I mean he was a hero, he was off-duty, lived next door, heard broken glass, came out and put his life on the line."

Brancato had previously starred opposite Robert De Niro in the 1993 film “A Bronx Tale”.  He would later play a wannabe mobster shot dead by James Galdolfini’s character, Tony Soprano, in the HBO hit series “The Sopranos”.

"I thought about [my past career] a lot and [it] reminds me of a saying someone once told me, 'It takes a second to get in trouble and a lifetime to get out of it' and I think about that every day because I did have many great opportunities…and [I] made the horrible choice to use and abuse drugs," he told ET.

"[Acting is] not the most important thing to me," he said. "The most important things to me right now [are] staying focused and giving back, and using that second chance at life."

The ET interview will be airing both Friday (March 7, 2014) and the following Monday.

- Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com