Legendary Gambino rat Sammy the Bull who turned on John Gotti released from prison
Legendary mob turncoat Sammy "The Bull" Gravano is a free man after serving out an ecstasy dealing sentence shaved down for good behavior, his lawyer said.
Gravano, 72, was convicted in 2002 for distributing and possessing MDMA. That came after he was in witness protection for taking the stand and helping bring down late Gambino boss John Gotti.
Gravano's lawyer, Thomas Farinella, said Gravano was released on Monday.
"He's in good spirits, good health, and anxious to move forward with the next stage of life," Farinella told the Daily News.
The attorney said he had to withhold specifics about Gravano' plans and whereabouts.
"Right now, his plan is to soak up the experience he's in right now," he said. "He’s focused re-acclimating into society and enjoying his freedom."
Gravano had been sentenced on the drug charges to 20 years in prison, plus the rest of his life on supervised release. He was being held in Arizona prison, according to radaronline.com and was due to be released in 2019.
The ex-Gambino underboss got off on 19 murder charges after he became an FBI snitch and helped jail dozens of his former Mafia associates, including Gotti.
About two years ago, Gravano tried to slice down his prison time due to amendments in federal sentencing guidelines.
Brooklyn Federal Judge Allyne Ross denied the bid to lop off about three years. She said she wouldn't tinker with the ecstasy sentence, even though Gravano might have "favorably adjusted to life in prison."
Ross said her reasons had to do with the "staggering severity" of Gravano's criminal history — like his approximately 19 murders and murder conspiracies in about 15 years, plus his past jury tampering.
The judge said he ended up with an extremely lenient five-year sentence for the crimes, based on his cooperation.
But months after the gangland sentence, Ross said Gravano turned to a "large scale Ecstasy distribution venture."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mob-rat-helped-lock-john-gotti-released-prison-article-1.3509678
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