First member of the Bonanno family to cooperate with the government gets time served

First member of the Bonanno family to cooperate with the government gets time served

  November 14, 2014    Dapper_Don

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Frank Coppa (Left), a New York mobster who became a rat pictured with Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino

The first made member of the Bonanno crime family to turn rat was sentenced to time served for racketeering in Brooklyn federal court Thursday.

Frank Coppa, a Bonanno capo and close pal to former boss Joey Massino, apologized for his lengthy life of mob mayhem before Judge Nicholas Garaufis handed down his fate.

“I’d like to say that I’m really sorry,” the hulking but aged crook said after navigating his way into court on a motorized scooter. “I’m really sorry for the people I hurt.”

Prosecutors lauded Coppa’s landmark tenure as a rat and credited him with decimating the highest ranks of the once potent Bonanno clan.

“His cooperation was truly historic,” said federal prosecutor Amy Busa. “He was the first made member of the Bonanno family to break the Cosa Nostra code of silence.”

Coppa, 73, took the stand against many high ranking Bonanno hoods – including Massino himself.

He copped to taking part in a slew of murder conspiracies but his decision to turn rat allowed him to escape without any additional time behind bars.

“With Mr. Coppa’s cooperation, many of the redwoods started to fall,” Garaufis said of his impact on the Bonanno family.

http://nypost.com/2014/11/07/made-member-of-mafia-sentenced-to-time-served/