It's 50 Years for "Little Dino" Saracino

Little Dino
Dino "Little Dino" Saracino, 41, who won an acquittal for the 1997 murder of off-duty police officer Ralph Dols in a split verdict, was sentenced to 50 years for racketeering.

The Colombo soldier allegedly won his button by carrying out the Dols hit for then-acting boss Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, who wanted Dols hit for marrying his ex-wife.

“It seems like what he mainly wanted out of life was to be a member of the Mafia and he attained that goal,” said Federal Judge Brian Cogan.

Both Cacace and former acting boss Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli also were cleared, by separate juries, of the Dols slay.

Last week, Gioeli was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to 18 years in prison for racketeering and murder conspiracy.

In a split verdict that stunned many trial watchers, Gioeli and Saracino were acquitted in 2012 of several murders that could have sent them away for life. In addition to Dols, the two  were also cleared of the 1999 slaying of Colombo underboss William “Wild Bill” Cutolo, and the 1995 execution of Colombo associate Richard Greaves.

After the May 2012 trial, the two defendants smiled broadly and slapped their lawyers’ backs after the jury left the courtroom.

Outside courthouse, defence attorney Adam Perlmutter said the verdict was a repudiation of the government’s star witness, admitted assassin Dino “Big Dino” Calabro.

“It’s clear (jurors) rejected the vast majority of what Dino Calabro had to say,” the lawyer said.

During the trial, Calabro described his days as a Colombo associate, including an invitation from Gioeli to do a “piece of work” for boss Cacace.

Calabro contended that Gioeli had misled him by telling him the target worked at a Queens social club and was in trouble with the family. The witness described how he and Saracino donned baseball caps and gloves before confronting Dols who was getting out of his car after parking it.

“What’s up?” Dols asked before both men opened fire and left him in fatal condition on the street, Calabro said. The killers tossed their guns in the sewer as they fled, he said.

Calabro said he only learned the victim was a police officer by reading newspaper headlines the next day.

“I was amazed,” he said. “We don’t typically kill police officers. That’s just the rule — you don’t hurt kids and you don’t kill cops.”

Another witness, Saracino’s brother Sebastian, testified that he was ordered to get rid of a Cadillac used in the Dols rubout. The testimony drew a courtroom outburst by Saracino.

“Don’t call me your brother no more! … Stop lying, Sebby!” the defendant shouted as he was led to a holding cell while jurors took a break.

Comments

  1. DINO PINOCCHIO NOSE WAS BORN A BASTERD AND WILL ROTTEN IN HELL ............. HE HAS NO REMORSE FOR HIS VICTIMS .......RIP FOR THE INNOCENT VICTIMS MERCY FOR THE FAMILY ......JUSTICE IS FAIR ....IN THE NAME OF GOD AND POPE FRANCIS HE WILL GO FOR SURE TO HELL.........AMEN....

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  2. NO MERCY ON YOU DROP DEATH BASTERD..........................................................................WELCOME TO HELL......................LOW LIFE MUD....................

    ReplyDelete

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