Learning more about the man arrested after FBI raid on Andrews Street
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A Rochester man has been criminally charged after a raid Thursday at an Andrews Street building.
Vincenzo Cilino, 24, was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
RELATED: Building on Andrews St. evacuated; street closed for FBI investigation
The raid prompted an evacuation.
The FBI led the multi-agency raid at Cilino’s business, Biotechnica. Traffic was shot down for hours on that stretch of Andrews Street.
Cilino was arraigned in Rochester City Court on March 29th. The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office requested no bail, no release. Judge Michael Lopez set bail at $10,000 cash, $20,000 bond, and $20,000 partially-secured bond. He has posted bail, as he was not included in the Monroe County Jail roster as of 4 p.m. Friday.
We’re working to learn if there was more to the FBI’s raid than just securing Cilino; the FBI has not confirmed.
A spokeswoman from the FBI says more charges could be filed.
Rick Zugnoni is a co-owner of Hill and Valley, a production company inside 214 Andrews St., one of two businesses inside the building. The other business is Vincenzo Cilino’s Biotechnica.
When the FBI came Thursday afternoon, Rochester Police and New York State Police were with them. So was the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In less than 30 minutes, they had taken custody of Cilino and evacuated the building for the rest of the day.
Biotechnica makes equipment and products for hydroponics, or growing plants without water. The company 3-D-prints much of the equipment in-house. At 24, Cilino is the CEO. A LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to him says he went to Webster Schroeder and then St. John Fisher for a semester but dropped out to pursue hydroponics.
Zugnoni said while Thursday’s raid was scary, he wasn’t surprised to learn Cilino was under investigation. He said he’s been off-put by the man in the past.
“We kind of know the guy. So I wasn’t super surprised unfortunately, but I was also very – you know still nervous cause he’s next to us all the time. I was pretty shooken up cause we’ve been around him so long, so I was just kinda, a little, little scary,” Zugnoni said.
News10NBC reached out to Cilino and Biotechnica repeatedly. Property records also show the building’s owner as Anthony Cilino, whom we also contacted. So far, we haven’t heard back from anyone.