It has been revealed by the feds that former Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino the highest ranking New York mafia figure to turn rat will take the stand and testify against fellow mobster Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano. Basciano took over as boss of the Bonanno family after Massino was indicted by the feds. Massino has not been seen in public since he was in court pleading guilty to eight gangland murders in a Brooklyn Federal Court where he cut a deal with the feds to let his wife keep their Howard Beach mansion. Massino was facing the death penalty when he decided to flip for ordering the murder of a Bonanno family captain.
Basicano is himself now facing the death penalty for ordering the murder of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo if convicted. Massino during a prison conversation recorded Basciano admitting that he ordered the murder. During that conversation the two mobsters also discussed the possible murder of a federal prosecutor. “We was okay until i got pinched … We were on top of the world” Massino said according to court documents to which Basciano replied “We fell apart and i took the bull by the horns”.
Thomas Reppetto author of “American Mafia” said “The old time bosses like Luciano and Genovese are rolling in the graves. The mafia as they knew it no longer exists”. One mafia boss testifying against another mafia boss is a sea of change in the world of the mob. It is still unknown what if any kind of reward Massino will be in line for in exchange for his cooperation and if this will lead to him possibly being released from prison. Massino’s brother-in-law and former underboss Salvatore Vitale turned rat after admitting to 11 gangland murders and was rewarded for snitching with a sentence of time served.
But former Basicano lawyer Barry Levin said that it is possible that Massino could crumble on the stand under cross-examination because he is a pathological liar who has lied even to his mafia associates for his entire life so why would anything change now.
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