Cosa Nostra News

COSA NOSTRA NEWS EXCLUSIVE  UPDATED Gene Borrello, a former Bonanno associate and the key witness in three recent Mafia roundups, was a major player in the arson case that helped the Feds finally nail 84-year-old Bonanno capo Vincent (Vinny) Asaro — two years after his lawyers bested them in court by winning a stunning and humiliating victory for the longtime wiseguy. The car Asaro ordered torched. Inset, Gotti grandson who copped to being arson wheel man. Also implicated in the arson case was John J. Gotti, a grandson of the late Gambino boss, who pleaded guilty to helping torch the car that earned Asaro’s deep animosity. (Gotti was a very capable wheelman, we've learned.). Gotti and Asaro—in fact, all 20-plus defendants charged in that trio of 2017 indictments — copped out. Since there was no jury trial, the Feds have not publicly detailed the full extent of Borrello’s cooperation. However, Borrello has been lifting  the curtain slightly for Cosa Nostra...

A Brooklyn federal court judge yesterday (August 15) sentenced acting Bonanno capo Ronald Giallanzo to 14 years behind bars for running a loansharking operation that she said terrorized a Queens neighborhood for nearly 20 years. A cting Bonanno capo Ronald Giallanzo Giallanzo, whose uncle is Bonanno mobster Vincent Asaro, and nine other Bonanno members and associates were arrested last year on a broad swath of criminal charges, including racketeering, kidnapping, robbery, and attempted murder in Brooklyn federal court. Ronnie G pleaded guilty in March to running the loansharking ring and was ordered to forfeit his $1.25 million mansion on 86th Street in Howard Beach, which he "built with his ill-gotten gains." On top of that, he still owes $268,000 in restitution to five loansharking victims. Prosecutors said the 48-year-old acting capo ran gambling and extortion rackets in Howard Beach since 1998. As per the indictment, Giallanzo and an associate o...

Vincent (Vinny) Asaro, reputed Bonanno mobster, 82, was found last week in Brooklyn MDC “incoherent and unable to leave the visiting room on his own power” -- and he needs emergency bail, according to his lawyer. UPDATE : Vincent Asaro was sentenced to eight years in prison for ordering an arson (though really it's for committing one of the most profitable heists in American history, the Lufthansa Heist at JFK airport ). Asaro was sentenced yesterday in Brooklyn federal court. Asaro as a young hoodlum, left, and as an old hoodlum, right. Asaro's attorney, Elizabeth Macedonio, in a heroic effort,urged Judge Allyne Ross to consider the arson charge to which Asaro pleaded guilty in June, on its own. Federal prosecutors however worked to ensure that wasn't the case.They submitted detailed accounts of Asaro’s life of crime, highlighting the murder of Paul Katz and the $6 million Kennedy Airport heist as per their efforts to get Asaro a 15-year sentence. “Mr. ...

Kirkus  describes  it as "a  straightforward update to the notorious 1978 Lufthansa Airlines heist. Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Anthony DeStefano understands the difficulty of opening new aspects of a crime immortalized in journalism, memoirs, and the film Goodfellas. James Burke, aka Jimmy the Gent. “Of all the Mafia heists, rip-offs, scores, and plunders, none has been more iconic a part of American popular culture than the brazen [Lufthansa] robbery.” Vincent Asaro, who now faces 20 years in prison on charges related to arson, was charged with (and acquitted of) co-masterminding the infamous $6 million Lufthansa heist with James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke; Asaro also was charged with (and acquitted of) murdering Paul Katz, a suspected mob snitch strangled to death with a dog leash.

SLIGHTLY REVISED :  John Gotti 's grandson and namesake thought he was en route to an eight-year prison sentence at a correctional facility in upstate New York called Fishkill. Instead, he was ferried to Brooklyn Federal court and brought before a judge alongside reputed  Bonanno mobster Vincent Asaro, 82, and five alleged Bonanno associates to face a new indictment on arson and bank burglary charges. Michael Guidici at the Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan. Allegedly  he wasn't there to make a deposit. If everything is what it seems, this is could be a difficult case for the defendants as the Feds have a turncoat intimately involved. In addition, John Gotti's girlfriend allegedly was involved in the bank job though her status in the Fed's case is unclear. Apparently she hasn't been charged in the indictment. Fed's have in the past braced wives and girlfriends allegedly involved in criminal activity to pressure defendants to cop pleas, if not flip....

This guy is 57 years old and still afraid of an 80 year old man. what a pu** A nearly unrecognizable Vinny Asaro walks home triumphantly with his daughters lawyers..... I first heard the term "jury nullification" Monday morning in conversation with a federal prosecution source regarding the Vinny Asaro verdict. I'd actually known what it meant, I just didn't know there was a term for it. Asaro departed Eastern District Federal Court in Brooklyn on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, after being found not guilty of masterminding the infamous $6 million Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport in 1978. The anonymous jury of six men and six women also found Asaro, 80, not guilty in the killing of mob associate Paul Katz in the 1960s as well as various extortion, robbery and gambling charges. His attorneys, Elizabeth Macedonio and Diane Ferrone walked with Asaro who no doubt was thinking about home-cooked food, the comforts of home.

Peter "Bud" Zuccaro Bud Zuccaro must've had a heart attack that day when he heard pounding on his front door and opened it up, only to see Jimmy the Gent standing there, along with Tommy Two-Guns and others. They were fuming over something, but Bud probably had no idea over what or why. He was probably more concerned with impending death staring him in the eye. James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke killed enough people to fill a cemetery under a boccie court (according to Henry Hill, who was probably exaggerating somewhat.). 

Model of Lufthansa cargo terminal at JFK in 1978, exhibited in court.  A former Lufthansa Airlines worker described what happened on that night in 1978, when masked gunmen infiltrated the Lufthansa cargo area at JFK, committing what was then called the largest robbery in American history.  The witness took the stand today in Bonanno member Vincent Asaro's trial in Brooklyn Federal Court. The charges Asaro faces include co-masterminding the infamous $6 million Lufthansa heist with James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke. Asaro also is charged with the murder of Paul Katz, a suspected mob snitch strangled with a dog leash.  Early in the a.m. in 1978, Rolf Rebmann was among the staffers grinding out the hours at the Kennedy Airport terminal targeted by mobsters using inside information, including blueprints.

Vinny Asaro, last man standing, on trial risking a life sentence at 80. Vincent Asaro sat in a car with James Burke, about a mile away from the Lufthansa cargo terminal on a December night in 1978, when eight mobbed-up gunmen were stealing a haul expected to be around $2 million, only to discover -- first to their joy, then to their horror -- that the crime had netted them three times that amount. This story has been told before of course, initially in the iconic book  Wiseguy , followed by an equally iconic cinematic adaptation, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas , not to mention the library of articles and additional books about the vaunted robbery. Once the largest heist in American history, it has been eclipsed. The 1990 Boston Museum robbery , valued at $300 million, currently is considered the largest. Still, there remains information about the Lufthansa Heist  that only now is being revealed. That is if you believe Gaspare Valenti who claims he flipped in 200...

Vincent Asaro at Brooklyn Federal Court in 1966. In a Brooklyn courtroom this week commenced the trial of an 80-year-old Bonanno family gangster, Vincent Asaro, who allegedly was involved in the notorious 1978 Lufthansa Heist . Not only was he supposedly the Bonanno family's overseer at JFK airport, the prosecution charged, noting that Asaro himself played a direct role in the heist. Ex-underboss Salvatore Vitale testified yesterday, providing a window into events surrounding the notorious robbery at JFK airport. Asaro supposedly was heard muttering "motherfucker" constantly under his breath during testimony, trying all the while to stare Vitale in the eye. Asaro personally handed off a case stuffed with jewelry from the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist to future Bonanno boss Joseph Massino , Vitale said Monday at the first ever mob-related trial over the historic "unsolved" crime. Massino himself also is slated to testify, among others.

Ebook is now available on Amazon. Where is the $6 million that was stolen during the infamous Lufthansa Airlines heist? Make sure you sign up for our CosaNostraNewsletter; I'm sending an exclusive excerpt from The Mystery of the Lufthansa Heist today!! See sign-in form at the end of this story... For 37 years, the FBI has been unable to find the cash and jewels taken from the Lufthansa cargo vault at JFK airport. Now, for the first time, a Mafia insider reveals what happened to the loot. In this short-format e-book , Dominick Cicale , a former high-ranking member of the Bonanno crime family, discloses never-before-told details about the Lufthansa robbery, which was immortalized in the movie "Goodfellas." The Mystery of the Lufthansa Airlines Heist:: A Wiseguy Reveals the Untold Story  is available now for $3.99.

Vinny Asaro was among the top characters of interest in 2014.... His Tommy D rant makes us really want to hear the tapes.... I deleted a bunch of horseshit with which I initially started this post. Based on a quick Google Analytics filter, we found five days when there was a clear spike in our daily traffic. piked progressively, save for the last two samples, which were nearly equal. 

TheCrimeBeat.com : On Dec. 11, 1978, a crew led by mob associate Jimmy Burke pulled off a daring stunning heist at JFK Airport that netted $5 million in cash and $1 million in precious stones. The case, which was immortalized in Martin Scorsese’s movie “Goodfellas,” has puzzled authorities for 36 years. Only one robber was ever convicted for the crime and the whereabouts of the loot has remained a secret…until now.

Vinny Asaro alone pays the piper. One rule of thumb for reporters is, if something happens three times it's a trend. Well, it seems we have something of a trend... The recent Lufthansa news, beginning with street boss Thomas "Tommy D" DiFiore's successful motion for separation , something virtually unheard of in racketeering cases involving multiple members of a single crime family, makes for three recent New York Mafia cases in which the Feds' once promising indictments slowly crumbled and ended up a shadow of what they were supposed to be. As for the other two: one involved reputed Gambino crime-family associate Daniel Fama , who faced charges that were eventually dropped for allegedly driving the getaway car in the 1990 gangland hit on  Edward "Eddie the Chink" Garofalo ordered by then Gambino boss John Gotti ; the other was the  "Papa Smurf" case involving a three-family panel trying to take control of the waste hauling business...

Jimmy the Gent chose killing over sharing  the bulk of the Lufthansa heist proceeds. TheCrimeBeat.com  has an interesting story posted regarding what happened to most of the cash and and jewels taken from the infamous Lufthansa heist masterminded by James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke . This Dominick Cicale guy was a capo in the Bonanno family and apparently he gave a big scoop to my friend Rob. Check it out: "The Jan. 23 arrest of Bonanno crime family member Vincent Asaro  in connection with the Lufthansa Airlines robbery has sparked renewed interest in the daring heist, which was dramatized in the Martin Scorsese movie “Goodfellas.” "The unsolved caper, which occurred at New York’s JFK airport, netted $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry. At the time, it was the biggest cash robbery in U.S. history. In today’s dollars, the take would be worth about $21 million.

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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."

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The Bonanno capo of JFK airport during heist: Vincent Asaro in an undated mugshot. “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.” --Vincent Asaro, as recorded by cooperator Yesterday's Bonanno bust was not solely related to the infamous Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy Airport in 1978. However, the legendary "unsolved" caper that informed a pivotal moment in the Martin Scorsese film " Goodfellas " has been the media's primary focus, to the extent that the fact that the crime family's acting boss,  Thomas “Tommy D” DiFiore , was also caught in the net has been largely overlooked. Only mobster Vincent Asaro , 72, who has fallen in and out of favor with the Bonanno hierarchy over the years, primarily due to greed, is linked to Lufthansa. Heretofore, only a Lufthansa cargo agent, described as the “inside man” in the robbery...

Vincent Asaro was arrested this morning; he was allegedly the capo who ran JFK for the Bonanno family back in 1978. Bonanno capo Vincent Asaro was arrested for murder, racketeering, extortion, arson, robbery and other charges--some of which are linked to the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was one of five alleged members of the crime family rounded up by Federal agents in a series of pre-dawn raids this morning in the New York area. Also arrested were Bonanno acting boss/underboss Thomas “Tommy D” DiFiore of Commack, the highest-ranking Bonanno family member not behind bars; soldier John “Bazoo” Ragano; soldier and acting captain Jack Bonventre; and Asaro's son, Jerome. See the indictment here , courtesy of CBS News. Only Vincent Asaro was charged in the Dec. 11, 1978 JFK robbery itself; both Asaros face life in prison for the murder of a suspected police informant. High-profile informant Henry Hill long ag...