NEW EDITION!: "The Last Godfather" will be coming out in paperback on June 5, 2007 under the title "King of The Godfathers." It will be available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNovle.com, as well as finer bookstores. June 21, 2007: Former Bonanno underboss Sal Vitale took the stand on Wednesday and gave a reprise of his testimony from past cases. This is Vitale's fifth trip to the witness stand in a federal case. He talked about his life in the mob, his friction with Joe Massino and his decision to become an informant. He testified about knowing Basciano over the years from the time the Bronx guy got made. He also testified, as he did in Basciano's first trial, of being told by Massino that Vinny Gorgeous had shot a guy in the Bronx. That guy, prosecutors contend, was murder victim Frank Santoro. Under cross examination Vitale said everybody in the mob lies and that he himself lied once to a federal judge. He has never admitted having any direct knowledge of Basciano killing anybody but said Vinny had gambling operations in the Bronx. The trial continues today, Thursday. June 19, 2007: Trial starts.  The retrial of Vinnie Basciano began Tuesday with opening statements by prosecution and defense lawyers. Prosecutor Winston Chan said Basciano was a consummate gangster who was a "shooter" and an "earner", a man who saw the Bonanno crime family as his real family. Attorney Jim Kousouros said the government's key witness, Dominick Cicale, was a man who spun tales of "unmitigated fantasy." The first moment of drama came when Frank Santoro's widow, Maria, told how she found her husband dead on a Bronx street, with his brains blown out. Prosecutors contend Basciano killed Santoro because he wanted to kidnap one of his sons. Sal Vitale is expected to testify Wednesday about what Massino told him about the Santoro hit.  Judge Nicholas Garaufis also ruled that Basciano can try to impeach any Massino statements with the fact he is cooperating if the government tries to use anything the old boss said after July 30, 2004, the date he was convicted. June 11, 2007: Going it alone. Vinny Basciano is asking that next year he not go on trial with his co-defendants in the death penalty case. Not surprisingly, the co-defendants, none of whom face the death penalty, are also asking to have their cases severed from him. The co-defendants--Michael Mancuso and the Three Anthonys (Aiello, Donato and Indelicato) say it would be prejudicial to them to stand trial in the same court as Basciano. As it turns out Basciano agrees. The co-defendants say evidence will come out that Basciano schemed to kill some of them. Basciano is slated in the 2008 case to go on trial for murdering Randolph Pizzolo. May 29, 2007: Reputed Bonanno captain Vincent Basciano should stay in strict solitary confinement but should also be allowed contact visits with his attorneys, a federal magistrate has recommended. Brooklyn magistrate-judge Robert Levy believes that keeping Basciano from having visits with his attorneys, in which they can easily pass documents back and forth and so on, serves no purpose and appears to violate his right to counsel.  But Levy said Basciano should stay the rest of the time--when he is not talking to his attorneys--under strict solitary conditions. Levy credited government claims that Basciano gave a hit list to another inmate last year. Basciano claimed it was a list prepared for a Santeria ritual.  Basciano is awaiting retrial next month. He has been getting visits from his family. May 24, 2007: Agostino Accardo, a businessman from Queens caught up in the extortion case involving housewife Yvonne Rossetti, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. He is expected to get a term of between 20 to 30 months from Judge Sandra Townes in Brooklyn federal court for acknowledging he tried to threaten Rossetti by saying he would besmirch her reputation. Accardo was the man whose family loaned Rossetti over $400,000 in an investment that went apparenlty sour. Prosecutors said that about $100,000 was a loan--which the defense said was interest free-- from a reputed Bonanno loanshark. This $100,000 and attempts to get it repaid from Rossetti led to the extortion charges and case that exploded to ensnare Nicholas Santora and Anthony Rabito May 04, 2007 (6:34p.m.): Vito Rizzuto, March 20, 2007:  Santora files appeal--Lawyers for reputed underboss Nicky Santora have filed an appeal of last weeks decision by Judge Townes to keep him in jail without bail. A second appeal, for Michael Virtuoso, who also was denied bail by Townes after a magistrate had granted it, has also been filed in U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Bonanno captain Patrick "Patty From The Bronx" DeFilippo was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his racketeering conviction. DeFilippo, 68, said nothing as Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis hit him with 20 years for racketeering and four five year sentences for gambling offenses.  Garaufis said that while DeFilippo wasn't convicted of taking part in the 1999 murder of George Sciascia (Bonanno captain), the preponderence of evidence showed that he was involved. the reputed "John Gotti" of Canada, plead guilty to racketeering charges in Brooklyn federal court. The 61 year-old Rizzuto admitted to Judge Nicholas Garaufis that he took part in the May 5, 1981 murders of the Three Captains: Dominick Trinchera, Philip Giaccone and Alphonse Indelicato. Rizzuto faces a ten year sentence and could be out in about 6.5 years. A wealthy man, Rizzuto has been in custody since late 2004 and was extradited to the U.S. late last year. He told the court he has a "spot" on his lung and needs a CAT scan. Rizzuto could serve his time in Ray Brook federal prison in upstate  New York. Sentencing is set for May 25. April 2, 2007: (11:51p.m.) It's official. Vincent Basciano is the latest target of federal officials for the death penalty. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales decided on Friday to seek the death penalty against Basciano, 46, for allegedly ordering the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in December 2004 and soliciting a murder plot against assistant U.S. attorney Greg Andres (he wasn't hurt).  No trial date is set. If convicted and given a death sentence verdict Basciano would be the first major NYC mobster to face execution since Louis Buchalter who was executed in 1944.   Gonzales decided not to seek death for Michael Mancuso, Anthony Indelicato, Anthony Aiello and Anthony Donato. March 22, 2007: After months in jail under strict no contact rules, Vincent Basciano, reputed Bonanno captain, might be coming closer to finding life a little easier. A federal magistrate-judge said he was recommending that Basciano be able to have "contact" visits with his attorneys in solitary confinement, despite being under strict security measures usually reserved for terrorism suspects. The attorneys said it had been very difficult to prepare Basciano for retrial on racketeering by being confined in a 4-foot by 5 foot room, separated from him by a screen. Legal documents had to be ferried back and forth by jail guards, they said.  Basciano can have visits from two of his sons but without contact and with the FBI watching. It is unclear if a five year old son Basciano has can be brought in. Magistrate Robert Levy also indicated he wanted to have a hearing about the strict security measures surrounding Basciano in the federal lockup.  March 14, 2007: Nicky Santora is out of hospital and back in the Brooklyn federal jail, according to his attorney. A court appearance to discuss his bail application and health is on tap for Brooklyn federal court for March15.   Meanwhile reputed Bonanno captain Patrick "Patty From The Bronx" DeFilippo was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his racketeering conviction. DeFilippo, 68, said nothing as Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis hit him with 20 years for racketeering and four five year sentences for gambling offenses.  Garaufis said that while DeFilippo wasn't convicted of taking part in the 1999 murder of George Sciascia (Bonanno captain), the preponderence of evidence showed that he was involved.

Vincent Basciano:  Prelimenary jury selection expected to begin in mid-May for retrial of Basciano on racketeering murder charges. Trial could start in mid-June 2007.