Prosecutors Wont Call Lewis Kasman to Testify against Junior Gotti
Lewis Kasman, the former John Gotti confidant who joined Team America to bring down the Gambino family, will not be testifying against his "adopted brother" Junior as reported by Alison Gendar and Larry Mcshane for the Daily News:
Instead, prosecutors played a 2007 conversation between Kasman and Junior's cousin Peter. The chat - which Kasman taped - purportedly shows Junior was still collecting mob money. Prosecutors must demonstrate Junior was involved in illegal Mafia activity since 2003 in order to win a conviction.
Bruce Golding reports for the New York Post that "the FBI recruited Kasman 13 years ago when the elder Gotti was still boss of the Gambino crime family":
During a hearing last year in Florida, Kasman, who is not expected to testify in the Gotti trial, testified as a star witness against reputed Gambino gangster Vincent Artuso. During that hearing, federal prosecutors played recorded tapes of Kasman and Gambino consigliere Joseph "JoJo" Corozzo discussing the dysfunctional Gotti family. "He [John Sr.] died hating that kid [John Jr.], you know that," Kasman told Corozzo. Kasman told the feds he'd paid hundreds of thousands in cash to Gotti lawyers, including Gerald Shargel and Joseph Corozzo, who represented Gotti brothers Peter and Richard in 2002. In a jaw-dropping move, Kasman even wore a wire inside Manhattan federal court in 2005 during the first of three trials for "Junior" Gotti in a failed attempt to snare defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman. He asked Lichtman to accompany him to a "nearby establishment" and offered him $11,500 in off-the-books cash for attorney fees. But Lichtman didn't bite, taking only $9,500, which is under the legal limit.
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