Feds reveal former Bonanno Boss Massino to rat out Vinny Gorgeous at trial
Ex Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino will take the stand against his successor Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano, the feds have revealed.
The fat man is finally going to sing.
The feds revealed Friday that roly-poly former Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino - the New York mob's highest-ranking turncoat ever - will testify against successor Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano.
"What a surprise," Basciano said to his lawyer.
When last seen in public, Massino was pleading guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to eight gangland murders in an extraordinary deal with the feds to let his wife keep their mansion in Howard Beach.
"A boss testifying against another boss is a sea change in the mob world," said Thomas Reppetto, author of "American Mafia."
"The old-time bosses like (Charles) Luciano and (Vito) Genovese are rolling in the graves. The Mafia as they knew it no longer exists."
Massino, 68, was not called to the stand for Basciano's 2007 murder trial - or any other organized crime trial since he became a government witness.
Basciano faces the death penalty if convicted of ordering the murder of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo.
Massino secretly taped Basciano in prison admitting he ordered the murder. They also discussed a plot to whack a federal prosecutor.
"We was okay until I got pinched.... We was on top of the world," Massino said, according to court papers.
"We fell apart and I took the bull by the horns," Basciano replied.
When Massino flipped, he was facing the death penalty for ordering the murder of a Bonanno capo. It's unclear if he will ever be released from prison as a reward for his cooperation.
Last year, his brother-in-law, former underboss Salvatore Vitale, was rewarded for snitching with a sentence of time served for 11 gangland murders.
Basciano's ex-lawyer, Barry Levin, said Massino could crumble under cross-examination.
"Massino is a pathological liar who has lied to his criminal associates his entire life. Why would he be any different now?" Levin said.
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