Whacking and ratting: Prosecutors reveal Colombo hitman committed murders while feeding lies to the FBI during mob war
The murderous gangster nicknamed "Grim Reaper" wasn't the only federal informant committing murder at the same time he was working for the FBI during a mob war two decades ago.
In a blockbuster disclosure, prosecutors revealed there was a second mobster besides Colombo capo Greg Scarpa who lied and killed while he was also snitching.
Colombo hit man Frank "Frankie Blue Eyes" Sparaco was involved in at least three gangland slayings in the early 1990s while he was an informant, court papers filed in Brooklyn Federal Court say.
Prosecutors disclosed the secret because lawyers for Colombo crime boss Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli and soldier Dino "Little Dino" Saracino were mulling over spilling the secret at their upcoming trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes stated in court papers.
Gioeil and Saracino go on trial next month for multiple murders and appear to be weighing the same defense that worked for a bunch of Colombos in the late 1990s - that rogue G-man Lindley DeVecchio's cozy relationship with Scarpa crossed the line into a criminal conspiracy to eliminate his informant's rivals.
The feds acknowledged Sparaco and Scarpa "lied" and "misrepresented" to the FBI their involvement in murders during the Colombo civil war. Sparaco lied about his role in the 1992 murders of Michael Imbergamo and bystander John Minerva. He is also implicated in the 1992 brutal whacking of Michael Devine, who was dating the estranged wife of Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, who is the son of the crime family's official boss.
FBI spokesman James Margolin declined to comment.
Federal Judge Brian Cogan will have to decide whether it is a proper defense to muddy the waters of the current case, which is replete with new cooperating witnesses, with allegations about Scarpa's unholy alliance with the FBI in the past.
DeVecchio's lawyer Douglas Grover said he had never heard of Sparaco but his dirty dealings with the feds "underscores the difficulty of using informants who are involved in very significant criminal activity."
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