Anonymous Jury Sought for "Lufthansa" Bonanno Trial

Tommy D, Bonanno acting boss.
Prosecutors are asking the judge for an anonymous and partially sequestered jury for the trial involving reputed Bonanno acting boss Tommy "Tommy D" DiFiore, capo Vincent Asaro and other crime family members.

This is revealed in a court filing made last month by Loretta E. Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Specifically, the prosecutors requested that jurors' names, addresses and employment information not be revealed to the defendants or their attorneys. Also, it was requested that each juror be escorted by U.S. Marshals to and from court each day, and "at all times during recess."



Among the reasons cited for the added security (aside from the fact that the defendants are members of the Mafia charged with serious criminal activity): both Tommy D and Vinny Asaro are alleged to be high-ranking members of the Bonanno crime family.

Also on trial are alleged Bonanno capo Jerome Asaro (capo), Jack Bonventre (acting capo) and John Ragano, soldier.

Quoted in the filings are the now-infamous remarks made by acting boss Anthony "Tony Green" Urso, who spoke of killing the children of cooperating witnesses:
Bonanno capo Vinny Asaro

"Why should the rats' kids be happy, where my kids or your kids should suffer because I'm away for life? If you take one kid, I hate to say it, and do what you gotta do, they'll f---ing think twice."

Noted as well: "Even against the backdrop of the Bonanno's family's lengthy history of obstructing justice [much of which is detailed in the filing], defendants V. Asaro and J. Asaro have demonstrated a willingness and capacity to engage in obstructive behavior, including murder."

The case will involve testimony from four turncoats: Peter "Bud" Zuccaro, who testified against Charles Carneglia (who had been Zuccaro's best man) and John Gotti Jr in Manhattan; former family boss Joe Massino; Salvatore Vitale, Massino's onetime right-hand man; and a relative of the Asaros, Gaspare (Gary) Valenti, who wore a wire and recorded numerous incriminating discussions.

The defendants were rounded up in January of this year, with nearly all newspapers touting the case's link to the infamous Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy Airport in 1978. Only Vinny Asaro is charged with crimes related to that heist, however.

Asaro's other alleged crimes include ordering the early-1980s firebombing of a mobbed-up bar on Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park.

The indictment also claims that Asaro muscled his way into the pornography business, and that he also robbed $1.25 million worth of gold salts from FedEx (gold salts are apparently used as an ingredient in medicinal treatments).

Only the Asaros have murder-related charges; both face potential life sentences.

The others face charges for the typical gangster crimes of racketeering, extortion, arson, robbery and gambling.


The Goodfellas Effect
Lufthansa was so widely included in initial headlines that the "unsolved" caper that informed a pivotal moment in the Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas" seemed to dwarf the news that the Feds had also nabbed the crime family's acting boss, “Tommy D," who was supposedly keeping the seat warm for Michael Mancuso.

Mobster Vincent Asaro, 72, has fallen in and out of favor with the Bonanno hierarchy over the years, primarily due to greed.

Heretofore, only a Lufthansa cargo agent described as the “inside man” in the robbery had been prosecuted for the Lufthansa heist.

Louis Werner, $20,000 in the hole due to gambling debts, used his knowledge of the incoming cash and jewelry to formulate an idea for a robbery that he then passed off to his bookmaker, Marty Krugman, who then told Luchese associate Henry Hill. The rest, as they say, is history.

Werner was indicted in March 1979, within four months of the robbery. He was lucky. Most of the men who directly committed the job are dead or are presumed dead.

Vincent Asaro has the distinction of being the first made member of organized crime to ever be charged in the heist, which netted about $6 million ($21.4 million, when adjusted for inflation.)

Asaro is known to have been the Bonanno capo in charge of the airport at the time of the robbery. Other court papers say he took part in “several planning meetings” with James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke (July 5, 1931 – April 13, 1996), an Irish-American gangster with ties to the Luchese family through his association with Lucchese capo Paul Vario.

Asaro and Burke also were business partners in Robert's Lounge, according to court papers. The late former Luchese associate Henry Hill described it as Burke's private cemetery.

Prosecutors believe that Asaro was paid off following the Lufthansa heist with some stolen jewelry; Asaro then reportedly "kicked up" a share to a superior in the Bonanno crime family.

Asaro allegedly admitted his involvement in the Lufthansa to ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, who later became America’s highest-ranking Mafia turncoat and is a witness against Asaro, sources said.

Asaro as recently as 2011 was recorded by another informant complaining about the amount he was given from the historic heist.

“We never got our right money, what we were supposed to get, we got fucked all around. Got fucked around. That ­fucking Jimmy [Burke] kept everything,” Asaro griped in 2011, according to a recording made by a mob informant.