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July 2, 2008: Jury selection in the trial of Mike Mancuso and the Three Anthonys (Indelicato, Donato and Aiello) is set to begin in September. There is talk for plea discussions but sources said the government and the defendants are still far apart.
Meanwhile Vincent Basciano was in court for a status conference and his case is expected to go to trial in 2009.
Will Massino testify in either of those cases? Legal sources believe the government intends to call him.
June 23, 2008: Sources familiar with the case say there are plea negotiations going on in the case of former reputed acting Bonanno boss Michael Mancuso and The Three Anthonys. But the sources, none of whom wanted to be identified, said the negotiations aren't going well. So it remains unclear if any of the defendants, who include Anthony Indelicato, Anthony Donato and Anthony Aiello, will avoid trial. A status conference in the case is expected soon in Brooklyn federal court and a trial could begin--if there is one-- in September at the earliest. The Basciano case isn't expected to go to trial until 2009.
June 16, 2008: Vinny Loses and Wins. A unanimous panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Friday against Vinny Gorgeous Basciano's attempt to get Judge Nicholas Garaufis removed from hearing his death penalty case. The short order didn't go into legal reasons but denied Basciano's attempt to get a legal writ. Basciano wanted Garaufis removed because the government is expected to try and prove that Garaufis's name was on a so-called "hit list" allegedly prepared by Basciano. This means that the case will be heard by a judge whose was a possible hit list target and which the jury will know about, said defense attorney Ephraim Savitt. A triual date is yet to be set but may likely go over into 2009.
But the court allowed Basciano to proceed in his appeal as a poor person, without sufficient assets. A small victory and almost meaningless.
May 23, 2008: The lawyer for Michael Mancuso, reputed Bonanno big wig, have written to ask that the government turn over any materials which shed light on whether Lewis Kasman, the so-called adopted son of the late John Gotti, may have had something to do with Randolph Pizzolo's murder, a homicide charged against Vincent Basciano. At least that is the thrust of a letter sent to federal prosecutors by attorney David Schoen. The letter, now on file in Brooklyn federal court, was prompted by Kasman's remarks on tape recordings in a Gambino crime family case that he caused Pizzolo to be beaten while both were in the same prison. Schoen said the beating, reports of a promise of future retaliation against Pizzolo and a later murder of Pizzolo "would be included in the government's disclosure obligation" about the Pizzolo homicide. He doesn't accuse Kasman of involvement in any murder but want to see what other material is out there.
May 2, 2008: The August 2008 trial of Vinny Gorgeous will be put off. The jailed Bonanno captain plans to file a special appeal to the Second Circuit in Manhattan that challenges the continued presence of Judge Nicholas Garaufis on the case. The so-called petition for a writ, which is different than Basciano's regular appeal of his 2007 conviction, will claim that Garaufis shouldn't handle the death penalty case because of the fact that his name appears on the controversial "hit list." The list, prosecutors allege, was prepared by Basciano, who maintains it is nothing more than a Santeria ritual list. As a result, Garaufis has delayed all activity in the death penalty trial, effectively pushing the case in 2009. It can take the appeals court up to five months to hear such a case on a quick basis. Stay tuned.
April 10,2008: Vinny Appeals. Vincent Basciano, convicted in 2007 of racketeering and recently sentenced to life in prison has formally appealed his conviction and the entire record of his case has gone up to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. A long wait as the case gets ready to come before a three judge panel.
April 13, 2008: After getting his life sentence, Vincent Basciano has filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The entire record in his case is now going up to the court in Manhattan. Basciano is appealing on a number of grounds, including the issue of whether the trial judge should have heard his case, given the allegations about the "hit list" which included the name of the judge. There are also issues going to be made about Dominick Cicale. Stay tuned.
April 02, 2008: Vincent Basciano got his life sentence, without parole, as expected. Judge Nicholas Garaufis handed down the sentence in Brooklyn federal court, calling Basciano both a "Shooter" and "earner" for the Bonanno family. Vinny Gorgeous didn't say anything but the family of murder victim Frank Santoro had plenty to say. Grace Santoro, the victim's 77 year-old mother, said that Basciano should spend time in hell with his friend "Lucifer." She then kissed the prosecutors. Vinny seemed to be unfazed. He still faces a death penalty trial later this year, although defense attorney Ephraim Savitt said there are grounds for appeal the recent conviction which lead to the life term. Stay tuned.
March 27, 2008: The feds dredged up information from Joe Massino and John Gotti's old "adopted son" Lewis Kasman in an effort to get lawyer Joseph Corozzo bounced from representing his father in the big Gambino case. Prosecutors succeeded but it wasn't info from Massino or Kasman that swayed Judge Jack Weinstein. Instead, convicted stock swindler Salvatore Romano, 40, testified about having a kind of attorney-client relationship with Corozzo. That was enough to convince Weinstein to disqualify Corozzo. That means reputed Gambino consiglieri Joseph Corozzo, 66, needs a new lawyer, and quick. Weinstein though attorney Corozzo is a good lawyer and said he disqualified him reluctantly.
March 5, 2008: Nicholas Corozzo is still on the lam but lawyers in the big Gambino indictment are lining up to knock Judge Nicholas Garaufis off the case. While prosecutors say Garaufis should have the case because some of his old Bonanno crime family trials and cases are related to some of the Gambino defendants, a growing number of lawyers say that argument was nothing more than judge shopping by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorneys Office. The issue erupted when lawyers for reputed consiglieri Joseph Corozzo filed papers in Brooklyn federal court charging that attempts to tie the Gambino case to the docket of Garaufis was against local court rules. amounted to nothing more than judge shopping. Watch for more developments as close to a dozen defendants have joined Joseph Corozzo's motion to get the case assigned randomly to another judge.
February 24, 2008: The move by prosecutors to use old Bonanno crime family prosecutions as a way of getting the latest Gambino crime family case before a particular judge is under attack. Lawyers for reputed consiglieri Joseph Corozzo filed papers in Brooklyn federal court charging that attempts to tie the Gambino case to the docket of Judge Nicholas Garaufis amounted to nothing more than judge shopping. Corozzo's lawyer, who is his son, also named Joseph, said the government is illegally trying to circumvent court rules. Garaufis handled the Massino and Basciano trials, as well as many other Bonanno cases. This legal issue is expected to heat up. The elder Corozzo's own brother, Nicholas Corozzo, is still considered a fugitive.
February 14, 2008: The Bonanno family figures into the big roundup of Gambino crime family members a week ago. Federal prosecutors said in court papers they are looking into the 1981 murder of the Three Captains during the Bonanno war (detailed in The Last Godfather) as part of the current probe. Witnesses have said the Gambino borgata helped dispose of the bodies of Dominick Trinchera, Philip Giaccone and Alphonse Indelicato. Some 62 people are charged in the Gambino roundup with reputed captain Nicholas Corozzo still at large.
February 6, 2008: Vincent Basciano's lawyers won a delay in his sentencing, which had been set for Valentine's Day, February 14. Instead, Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn federal court granted a request by Basciano's lawyers for a delay because keeping to the February date could cause complications on any appeal since post-trial motions in the case are still pending. So Garaufis pushed sentencing back until March 24, 2008. By then Garaufis should decide the motions.
January 28,2008: Lawyers for Basciano have asked the court to reconsider the ruling that has kept him in strict solitary confinement. They stress that the so called hit lists are now shown to be lists for Santeria rituals--thus undercutting the argument that Basciano plotted murders while in custody. Government prosecutors expected to file responses.
January 17, 2008: Basciano kept in strict solitary. A federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled that there is evidence that Vincent Basciano tried to plan murders from jail so he should stay in solitary confinement. The ruling by Judge Nicholas Garaufis thwarted Basciano's efforts to get out from under the special administrative measures, known as SAMs, which keep him under tight security. He gets one phone call a week to his lawyers and is allowed two family visits a month. Basciano is awaiting sentencing on his 2007 racketeering conviction and a death penalty trial that starts in August. Garaufis is still troubled by the problems lawyers for the Bonanno captain face in getting into see him in jail to prepare for the August trial and may intercede. Basciano's lawyers say the SAMs are keeping their client from focusing on the case at hand.
December 24, 2007: Just in time for Christmas. Vincent Basciano had a visit with his six year-old son, Anthony, in the confines of Brooklyn federal court on December 20th. A source said it went well with some emotion. The visit came after a court hearing at which is was disclosed that Basciano had prepared two other Santeria lists, complete with an invocation or magic spell. The lists predate the alleged "hit list" disclosed earlier and their existence, Basciano's lawyers said,is further evidence that the so-called hit list isn't that at all but rather was used to get a magic spell for good luck during a criminal trial. The new lists have up to 24 names of all sorts, mostly mob witnesses, some attorneys and Judge Nicholas Garaufis.
December 20, 2007: Christmas came a little early for Vincent Basciano, the Bonanno captain being held in solitary confinement. Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that Basciano can have a special one hour visit within the confines of the courthouse on this day with his six year-old son Anthony, as well as the boy's mother and Basciano's girlfriend Deborah Kalb. Basciano hasn't seen the boy in 17 months. Garaufis said a visit was appropriate to assuage the hardship Anthony has suffered. Basciano said through his lawyers that he was gratified by the court's action. He is still fighting the strict confinment measures.
December 10, 2007: A plea deal seems to be afoot in the case of Nicholas Santora, the reputed street boss of the Bonanno clan. Last week before Brooklyn federal judge Sandra Townes prosecutor Amy Busa stated that plea negotiations continued and that it was expected that a plea would take place sometime in February, 2008. Santora would be one of the last to plead in the case. Although charged in the alleged extortion of Howard Beach housewife Yvonne Rossetti, if the pattern of previous pleas holds up it is unlikely that Santora will plead to that.
December 04, 2007: Michael Mancuso is another guy who is joining in the push to get information about turncoat Dominick Cicale. Mancuso's lawyers said in papers filed a few days ago in Brooklyn federal court that information Cicale fabricated a murder plot while in jail goes to his credibility as a witness against the reputed former street boss of the Bonanno clan. (Vincent Basciano is already making that claim in his cases.) Now Mancuso thinks info about Cicale is important for him because the informant is the only witness who has implicated him in a racketeering murder indictment.
Nov. 28, 2007: Basciano's lawyers are now pressing prosecutors and prison officials to come up with "any and all documents" including prison records, that relate to Joseph Massino and a host of other potential witnesses against the Bonanno captain. The lawyers also want all documents related to the alleged bogus plot concocted by former captain Dominick Cicale in which he tried to implicate Basciano in a murder conspiracy in jail. Lead attorney Ephraim Savitt is also asking to interview anybody in the prison who knew of the plot, including three witnesses in the witness security program--probably other reputed mob members. This is all in a detailed request to prosecutors by Savitt filed on Nov. 27. Prosecutors are expected to reply to the request
