Feds seek 15 year sentence for aging Bonanno mobster
An aging “Goodfellas” gangster, acquitted for his alleged role in the infamous $6 million 1978 Lufthansa heist, could still spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors want a judge to sentence Vincent Asaro, 82, to 15 years in jail for ordering a hit on the car that cut him off.
Federal guidelines say the auto arson charge merits five or six years in prison.
Two years ago, the Bonanno capo scored a stunning acquittal on racketeering charges, and walked out of Brooklyn Federal Court a free man.
Part of the case against Asaro involved his alleged role in the Lufthansa caper, immortalized in the movie “Goodfellas.”
But the case could still haunt him.
The feds insist Judge Allyne Ross can weigh the acquitted conduct in her sentence. And they say she can also consider his more recent behavior — such as his alleged talk of killing a prosecutor, and jailhouse boasts about the decades-old heist like “We did it and got away with it.”
Asaro “has lived a literal life of crime and, for most of his life, evaded punishment,” prosecutors said in court papers filed last week.
Prosecutors said that although Asaro has “participated in racketeering, murder, robbery, extortion, loansharking, gambling and other illegal conduct, he has served less than eight years in jail.”
In June, Asaro pleaded guilty to directing the 2012 Queens arson.
The defense says Asaro should get time served.
Asaro’s lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio, declined to comment.
Whatever prison sentence Asaro gets will have about two years immediately deducted to account for his jail time while awaiting trial on the Lufthansa case.
Prosecution papers revealed new details about the traffic fiasco.
The latest case started with the unidentified motorist’s mistake of pulling in front of Asaro, then a soldier in the Bonanno crime family, on April 1, 2012. Asaro chased the driver through Howard Beach, Queens. The frantic motorist drove to where he knew there were red light cameras and circled the block, trying to trigger the cameras and alert police to his location.
The driver said another car showed up in an apparent attempt to box him in. But by the time police arrived, he said the two cars giving chase were gone. The next day, Asaro allegedly contacted a Gambino associate with access to “local law enforcement databases.” The database linked the plate to an address.
Asaro enlisted a Bonanno associate to do the automotive hit. The associate brought in John J. Gotti and another man to help out.
Gotti, the grandson of the late Gambino boss, pleaded guilty to being the getaway driver. He’s awaiting sentence.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/prosecutors-seek-15-years-aging-gangster-road-rage-hit-article-1.3659804
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