Steven Molinaro, grandson of ex-Staten Island borough president, granted $5 million bail in shooting

A federal judge granted the grandson of former Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro bail in the near-fatal shooting of his girlfriend, but issued the a dire warning — screw up, and your family is on the hook for the whole $5 million bond.

Steven Molinaro, 31, is accused of shooting his 22-year-old on-again, off-again girlfriend in the chest on April 27 in his Fort Wadsworth, S.I., home, then trying to cover up the crime. He’s been locked up without bail since August after his arrest on federal gun and other charges.

Steven Molinaro seen in a photo which authorities said was taken on a private plane.

On Tuesday, Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis reversed a magistrate judge’s decision to reject Molinaro’s request to be released to house arrest on a $5 million bond — which would be in part secured by $2.4 million in property owned by his grandfather. The rest would be secured by three other relatives.

“I’ll take every damn penny of it, pardon the expression, if he violates. Every penny,” Garaufis warned, ordering that Molinaro serve his home confinement with an ankle monitor, living with one of the relatives who secured his bond.

“We have to treat him in such a way that he understands that he’s not going anywhere until this matter is resolved,” the judge said.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis

Federal prosecutors allege Steven Molinaro waited an hour to call 911 after shooting his girlfriend in the chest, and tried to hide the gun in a trash bag in a neighbor’s garbage can. When police arrived, he tried to pin the gunplay on the victim’s ex-boyfriend, authorities said.

His defense lawyer Chad Seigel has called the shooting an “accident,” and maintained that Molinaro frantically called 911 three times before police arrived.

Molinaro faces federal charges of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, attempted obstruction of justice and marijuana possession.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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