Vincent Basciano

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Vincent Basciano
Born November 14, 1959 (1959-11-14) (age 48)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Vincent J. "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano (born November 14, 1959) is a well known figure in the New York underworld. He's a long time member of the Bonanno crime family and according to the FBI, Basciano is presently the official boss of the Bonannos.

In 1994 Basciano was acquitted of supplying heroin to a smuggling ring that reaped $10 million a year from 1985 to 1991.[1] He became acting boss in 2004 and was rumored to do family dirty work even though he is in a leadership position.[1]

[edit] Arrest and Trial

On November 19, 2004 Basciano was arrested on charges of racketeering and illegal gambling. He was arraigned the same day by United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom in Brooklyn, New York. The case was later assigned to United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis.[2].

After Basciano was arrested in 2004, he promoted Dominick Cicale to capo and put him on the crime family's ruling panel. However, when Cicale was arrested and charged with two murders, he turned on his boss. Cicale claimed that in February 2001 he and Basciano shot and killed Frank Santoro in the Bronx. He also claimed that Basciano ordered the 2004 rubout of Randolph Pizzolo. [3]

In 2004, while still in jail awaiting trial, Basciano was indicted on charges that he planned to order the murder of Patrick DeFilippo, a fellow captain in the Bonanno crime family[4], as well as the prosecutor in his case, Greg Andres. This indictment relied on jail yard conversations between Basciano and then-current boss Joseph Massino, whom had agreed earlier to become an informant and was wearing a wire during the conversation. A judge later threw out the charge, saying the evidence was inconclusive.

On February 16, 2006, Basciano's racketeering and murder trial began in Brooklyn Federal Court. During a discussion about a man he's charged with shooting in 1985, Basciano blurted out to reporters that the victim is a convicted child molester. Prosecution witnesses included Cicale, who was like a son, and lawyer Thomas Lee, who had been charged with being a 'house consoul' for Basciano and Massino earlier.[5] In May 2006, Basciano was convicted of racketeering; it was a hung jury on the murder charges.

As of July 2007, Basciano was undergoing retrial for the Santoro murder. He is scheduled to be retried on the Pizzolo murder in 2008. Basciano remains the official boss of the Bonanno crime family and is said to be highly regarded on the street. As of October 2007, Basciano is still imprisoned in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.

On April 1st, 2008, Vincent Basciano was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of Frank Santoro, which he was found guilty for in a 2007 re-trial. He is still awaiting trial for ordering the murder of Randolph Pizzolo. If convicted, Basciano is facing the death penalty.


Preceded by
Joseph Massino		 Bonanno Crime Family Boss
2005-		 Succeeded by
Salvatore Montagna

[edit] Notes

Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.

  1. ^ Mob Still Feasting at San Gennaro, Gang Land News November 4, 2004.
  2. ^ United States Attorney's Office, November 19, 2004
  3. ^ A traditional wiseguy, New York Daily News, March 27, 2006.
  4. ^ http://www.ganglandnews.com/column462.htm
  5. ^ John Marzulli, Dressed to Kill, New York Daily News, February 19, 2006

[edit] External links