Government dumps another mob informant
A good rat is hard to
find.
The feds have dumped a
second mob informant who had secretly taped wiseguys in a case currently on
trial in Brooklyn Federal Court.
In both trials, the
tapes were played for the jury, but the wire-wearing weasels were missing in
action.
Prosecutors revealed
Wednesday Bonanno associate Joseph Galante Jr. — who should have been the star
witness in the extortion trial of reputed Genovese captain Anthony “Rom”
Romanello — has been booted off Team America.
Galante recorded an
alleged mob sitdown in a Queens pizzeria to settle a dispute over a $30,000
debt he owed a mortgage broker.
“Mr. Galante is not
going to get a 5K1 letter from the government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack
Dennehy told Federal Judge Carol Amon, referring to a letter that recommends a
reduced sentence in return for assisting authorities.
The government typically
takes such drastic action when the informant has been caught committing new
crimes.
Galante's criminal case
is sealed so it is unknown what he’s accused of. His lawyer did not respond to
a request for comment.
Another mob rat, former
Colombo capo Reynold Maragni, was fired last week as a government witness in a
money laundering on trial across the hall.
Cooperating witnesses
are the backbone of Mafia cases. When rats go bad, the government’s case often
does, too.
Both trials are going to
the juries Wednesday.
“There’s no question a
jury wonders why the informant is not called to testify,” said prominent
criminal defense lawyer Robert Gottlieb who is not involved in either case. “If
they hear there was some misconduct that led the government not to call him, it
could prove devastating.”
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