Wednesday, April 2, 2008

'Gorgeous' goes away for life


Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, former boss of the Bonanno Crime Family, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for the Dec. 14, 2001, murder of underworld rival Frank Santoro, according to stories by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News and the Associated Press.

Basciano (right) was convicted of the Santoro shotgun slaying last July. The killing was one of the racketeering charges first brought against him in 2006. A federal jury convicted him of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling but deadlocked on the murder charge. U.S. Attorneys decided to retry him on that charge.

Basciano's attorneys are appealing the conviction, arguing that the prosecution's case was built upon false information supplied by mob turncoat Dominick Cicale. Things could still get worse for the former crime boss. He could face the death penalty in an upcoming trial for allegedly ordering the murder of Randolph Pizzolo.

Basciano became acting boss of the Bonanno clan after boss Joseph Massino was indicted for racketeering. A federal judge imposed a life sentence on Massino in 2005. Facing the possibility of a death sentence for his role in underworld murders, Massino aided prosecutors in their efforts to acquire evidence against Basciano. Massino recorded his prison conversations with Basciano.

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Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
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