Bonanno mobsters plead guilty to involvement in enterprise
Anthony "Skinny" Santoro, 52, of Great Kills, recently pleaded guilty to attempted enterprise corruption and must admit it was done in connection with a criminal enterprise, according to a law enforcement source.
As part of the plea, Santoro, who has been incarcerated since July 2013, is facing four to eight years in state prison when he is sentenced Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court, said the source.
He has also waived an appeal and will pay approximately $45,900 in forfeiture.
Santoro and his three co-defendants -- Vito Badamo, Nicholas Santora and Ernest Aiello -- were accused of enterprise corruption, including loansharking, gambling and drug dealing, after authorities reportedly busted an alleged Bonanno nine-man crew in July 2013.
The quartet was also charged with attempted grand larceny in the second degree, while Santoro, Badamo and Santora were facing an additional charge of first-degree criminal usury.
Badamo and Aiello have also pleaded guilty, while Santora's case is still pending, according to the source.
Badamo pleaded guilty to attempted enterprise corruption and must admit it was done in connection with a criminal enterprise, waived appeal and will pay $40,000 in forfeiture.
He is facing three and half to seven years in state prison when he is sentenced May 18.
Aiello pleaded guilty to promoting gambling in the first degree and must admit it was done in connection with a criminal enterprise, waived appeal and will pay approximately $30,000 in forfeiture, said the source.
He is promised a sentence of two to four years in state prison.
Anthony "Skinny" Santoro, the alleged Staten Island Bonanno mobster, has been
portrayed with these conflicting -- yet fascinating -- personalities.
After a nearly three-month trial last year, the case ended in a mistrial in May due to juror dissension.
Supreme Court Justice Mark Dwyer granted the defense's request for a mistrial after juror No. 9 told the court the rest of the jury was not considering his opinions, and felt they were only worried about getting a guilty verdict.
"I can't go on at this point," the juror told the court. "They're not listening to me. I can no longer sit there and listen to them anymore. I want to make sure what I render is just, not just because we don't want to be here anymore or we've been here for three months."
A few jurors sent a note to the judge alleging that juror No. 1 said he was unable to hear the calls and refused to use the transcript binders for fear they were tampered with. The binders, the judge instructed the jury, are not evidence.
"It's a little bit frustrating because we're trying our hardest," one of the jurors said.
"He was able to hear just fine," juror No. 9 said. "He just kept getting attacked and they didn't like his responses."
However, when asked if he was able to follow the evidence, juror No. 1 said, "Yes."
But two jurors who spoke to the Advance after the trial contend the two weren't always so harmonious.
"Throughout the process, juror No. 9 claimed he did not share the same opinions as juror No. 1, so we were surprised when he stated he could not continue deliberating after juror No. 1's dismissal," the two panelists said in a statement to the Advance last May.
Judge declared mistrial amid juror dissension.
The bulk of the state's case against him was the information intercepted from a series of wiretap calls, which implicate him using mob slang referring to illegal drug and gambling activities.
Santoro still has a pending federal case after pleading guilty to operating an illegal gambling business as part of a local Bonanno crime crew in Connecticut. In 2013, he was sentenced to eight months and arrested in the Manhattan case before he could serve that time.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/04/skinny_santoro_an_alleged_stat.html
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