Vinny Gorgeous Basciano guilty of mob murder

The jury of seven men and five women will return Monday to decide whether Basciano should die by lethal injection or get life in prison for ordering the murder of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo.

Basciano turned his chair to face Judge Nicholas Garaufis, not the jury forewoman, as she read the verdict on the fourth day of deliberations in Brooklyn Federal Court.

He showed no reaction and later stood as the jury filed out of the courtroom, took a deep breath and sighed.

I think we're all disappointed," defense lawyer Richard Jasper said outside court.

Basciano, 51, is already serving a life sentence for the shotgun murder of Bronx junkie Frank Santoro in 2001.

The flamboyant gangster was buried under the weight of testimony from six cooperating witnesses, including another former Bonanno boss, Joseph Massino, the highest-ranking New York gangster to sing for the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Taryn Merkl and Stephen Frank told jurors Basciano's big mouth proved he was a murderer.

Basciano - who was in jail when Pizzolo was executed Nov. 30, 2004, on a deserted street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn - told Massino in a taped jailhouse conversation he gave the order to kill Pizzolo.

"His own words are on tape telling you the murder was his idea, he selected the hit team and explaining why it had to be done," Frank said in closing arguments.

Pizzolo had committed numerous mob indiscretions and the hit was meant to send a "wakeup call" to the rest of the Bonanno crime family, already reeling from the defections of several high-ranking gangsters.

"Even though justice has been served, there isn't anything that can or will replace the lifetime sentence of emotional void my family and I serve, without my dad," Pizzolo's daughter Connie told the Daily News.

"If capital punishment is what is next for Vinny, then my

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/05/16/2011-05-16_mob_boss_vincent_vinny_gorgeous_basciano_found_guilty_of_murder.html

Joseph 'Big Joey' Massino recordings reveal delusions of grandeur

The Bonnanos think they’re the Corleone family, but not even Mario Puzo could have made up these clowns. Based on recordings former boss-turned-rat Joseph "Big Joey" Massino made of his successor Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano while wearing a wire, the "Godfather" character he and his crew most resemble is not Vito or Michael. It’s Fredo. "[Anthony] Ace Aiello is like a Luca Brasi," Basciano said, comparing the Bonnano associate to the Corleone’s loyal hitman, on one of the recordings played in Brooklyn Federal court today. He’s your Luca Brasi," Basciano said. After playing the recording, prosecutors asked Massino – the first mob boss to spill his guts on the stand – if he was familiar with "The Godfather" movies. "Yes, I am," he replied. Asked to describe the significance of a Luca Brasi?" Massino exlained, "if they sent him out to kill someone, he’d do it." The Bonnanos do apparently share the Corleone’s flair for the dramatic. "Did your wife get the money, by the way," Basciano asks on the recording. "I sent your wife money." Massino replied that she did in fact receive the $50,000 tribute, which was stuffed inside a bottle of Dom Perignon. "A bottle of Dom Perignon. $50,000. It came from Vinny," Massino explained on the stand. Prosecutors played the recordings Massino made in prison as he and Basciano stood six inches apart in adjacent exercise cages to prove that Basciano was behind the murder of associate Randy Pizzolo, for which he faces the death penalty. "Randy — you OK’d it?" Massino asked Basciano. "I gave the order," Basciano replies. "Randy was a f—-ing jerkoff." Massiano then pushed him further. "Did it warrant the clip?" Basciano explained that Pizzolo went to meet a made man while carrying a pistol – a major Cosa Nostra no-no. "Randy went into Villa Sonoma. He went with a gun, he got drunk and he says he’s the only one capable of killing anybody — in this family He says he was an ex-SEAL," Basciano said. Rather than just shun him from the family, Basciano said he had him whacked to set an example. "He’s a a f——ing dangerous kid, who don’t listen. He’s just an annoying kid," Basciano said. "These guys were out there doing whatever the f—- they want," he added, referring to the behavior of other Bonnano members. "I thought this kid would be a good wake up call for everybody." Massino, who turned informant in 2005 to avoid the death penalty after getting convicted of seven murders and facing charges on an eighth, complained that Basciano didn’t clear the hit with him first, "Why didn’ you ask me?" Massino asked. "It was already in the works, bo," Basciano said. "This kid though...this kid deserved it. This kid was a f—-ing thorn. He didn’t listen to no f——ing body." Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mob_boss_confirms_hit_while_wearing_aCKVAsMuK1eCNxWf8j6YIP#ixzz1JTG5HT6z

Mafia turncoat: Joseph Massino, ex-Bonnano boss, testifies against fellow mobster Vinny Gorgeous

Mafia turncoat: Joseph Massino, ex-Bonnano boss, testifies against fellow mobster Vinny Gorgeous. So much for Omerta. Highest ranking Mafia Rat Fingers “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano for murder. Ex-Bonnano heavyweight Joseph Massino made Mafia history Tuesday, becoming the first crime boss to take the stand as he testified against his successor. As mob legends turned in their graves, Massino fingered Vincent [/Vinny Gorgeous\] Basciano in the killing of a crime family associate. Asked if there was anyone in the room who was a fellow member of his crime family, the turncoat boss pointed directly at Basciano. “That man in the gray suit sitting there,” he said. Massino then described how he secretly taped Basciano in prison talking about killing mob associate Randolph Pizzolo in 2004. “He told me that he had him killed,” Massino explained to the jury. “He said he was a scumbag, a rat, a troublemaker, a bad kid.” Taking the stand in Brooklyn Federal Court, Massino wore a blue, two-toned warm-up jacket, zipped-up halfway to reveal a white undershirt and bowling ball sized gut underneath. The 68-year-old Massino, who has been jailed since 2004 in eight gangland murders, said he had been a member of the Bonnano family for 33 years. When asked what his last title was, Massino replied, “I was the boss – official boss.” “Was anyone above you?” assistant U.S. Attorney Taryn Merkl asked. “Nobody,” Massino replied. Massino described what he did for the crime organization as, “murders, responsible for the family, make captains, break captains.” Massino became the highest-ranking Mafia rat when he agreed to cooperate to avoid the death penalty in the slaying of a Bonnano capo. This is the second trial for Basciano on charges of killing Randolph. In 2007, a mistrial was declared in the murder case because of a hung jury, although Basciano was convicted of racketeering charges. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Bronx man behind 'Godfather'-inspired move to intimidate star witness aquitted of murdering bouncer

A Bronx man who orchestrated a "Godfather"-inspired witness-intimidation campaign was acquitted of murder Thursday.

Daniel Carbuccia - who plotted to steal a scene from the iconic mob movie to terrify a star witness out of testifying - was cleared in the Jan. 2004 murder of bordello bouncer Robert Quintana, 25.

Carbuccia's two alleged accomplices, Carlos Santos and Robert Rivera, were also acquitted.

"It's disgraceful that a movie gangster's plan worked for these fools," said Quintana's pal David Hernandez, 33. "I can't believe the jury knew Carbuccia tried to silence a witness and still voted not guilty."

Jurors in the six-month trial heard tapes of Carbuccia calling friends from Rikers Island, urging them to pack the courtroom to scare the prosecution's key witness.

In one call, Carbuccia and his uncle agree to mimic Michael Corleone's plan to intimidate a mob rat by inviting his brother to the proceedings.

The death threats didn't stop the the real-life witness from eventually testifying against Carbuccia and his pals.

Jurors said the men were no real-life Corleones.

"We looked at all the evidence and there were some doubts," one juror said.