Shrimp wagon
antagonist guiltyConnie Aragona says she did
not hire thugs to force Troy
Nitsche to cede his business
A businesswoman was found guilty yesterday of forcing a former associate in a lucrative North Shore shrimp wagon business to sign the business back to her at gunpoint.
Connie Aragona, 47, faces a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment when sentenced Aug. 22 on robbery, kidnapping and theft charges.
According to prosecutors, Aragona and her husband sold the shrimp wagon to Troy Nitsche in 1997 so they could concentrate on their other venture, bottling gourmet sauces. Four years later the shrimp wagon was thriving, but the sauce business was not.
In August 2001, Aragona allegedly asked Nitsche to meet her at the office of her sauce bottling company in Pearl City, where she told him she wanted to buy the shrimp business back for the same $120,000 he paid for it, said deputy prosecutor Franklin Pacarro Jr.
When Nitsche refused, two men walked into the office and would not let him leave until he signed a contract turning over the business to Aragona, Pacarro said. The men threatened Nitsche and his family members, saying they knew where they lived. One of the men "pistol-whipped" Nitsche in the face with a gun and threatened him with it.
Nitsche finally signed the contract out of fear for his family's safety, Pacarro said.
Later that same day, Aragona allegedly showed up at the Kahuku shrimp wagon and took the day's cash box, containing about $3,500.
But Aragona's attorney, Dwight Lum, argued that an acquaintance known as "Pete" Depietropaolo recruited two men to strong-arm Nitsche into turning the business back to Aragona.
Lum said Aragona had nothing to do with what happened at the meeting but was afraid for her safety and that of her disabled daughter. Depietropaolo had threatened to harm her and her daughter if she did not give him money, Lum said.
Depietropaolo, who pleaded earlier to first-degree robbery, extortion and second-degree theft, testified that Aragona had orchestrated the entire incident. He also faces a 20-year prison term with a mandatory three years.
Circuit Judge Michael Town allowed Aragona to remain free on bail pending sentencing so she could make arrangements for the care of her disabled daughter.