Former Sopranos actor Lillo Brancato Jr. is speaking out on his drug addiction after spending eight years in prison, in an effort to help young people avoid making the same mistakes he did.
“Here I am, I get the opportunity, I get the shot and then squander it, and do what I did, and get addicted to drugs and just make horrible decisions,” Brancato said in an interview broadcast with WNYM-AM on Sunday.
Brancato landed prison time in 2005, for his role in a Bronx burglary that left an off-duty police officer dead, reports Daily Mail.
The officer took part in a gun battle with Brancato and his friend, Steve Armento, after they broke into a basement in an attempt to steal valium.
Armento was responsible for firing the bullet that killed the officer. Brancato was ultimately acquitted of murder and convicted of attempted burglary.
Brancato got his big break alongside Robert DeNiro in A Bronx Tale in 1993 and also played a young mobster on The Sopranos in 2000.
In the interview, he said he wants people to "at least, see the person that I am today, see the person that I've grown up into.”
"I definitely had to learn the hard way, but I am no longer that person who was present that night,” he went on to say, according to The Guardian.
Brancato will remain under supervision until 2018.