Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 13, 1992 TAG: 9201130219
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
VICTOR CUCCI'S SUCCESS: ONLY IN AMERICA
THIS LETTER is written in regard to the front-page news article Dec. 15: "Suspect: `If I'm in the Mafia, why do I work so hard?' "How can Victor Cucci say that he has lost respect for America? Where else could this man have made the financial gains and business success he has made in the few short years that he has been here? Only in America!
Like Mr. Cucci, I own and run my place of business, stand on my feet hours on end, and have worked many 16-hour days. Not once, however, have I gone home with "bleeding feet"! Was Victor working barefoot on broken glass?
Does he think the people in the cities of Covington and Clifton Forge, along with Alleghany, Bath and Greenbrier counties, are stupid? Does he really believe that his "poor pitiful me" act will bring sympathy and cause us to excuse him?
Cucci blames the government, claiming that he was "set up." Are we to believe that the government forced him to say "yes" to a drug deal and made him help Robert Seidman pay for $60,000 worth of cocaine? Did it hold a gun to his head and threaten his life or the lives of his loved ones? Mr. Cucci was already seen as a prominent businessman and friend to many. He should have had no need to prove himself to anyone.
Mr. Cucci and Mr. Pardue, the article's writer, should do well with any of today's soap operas. The story line is appropriate for our times, and the acting (tear-filled eyes, biting of upper lip and rocking back and forth) was superb! PEG H. WALTON COVINGTON