Ex-NY mob boss makes history with trial testimony

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- A jailed former Mafia boss who once ordered a payback killing in the infamous "Donnie Brasco" case made gangland history Tuesday by becoming the highest-ranking member of the city's five Italian organized crime families to break their sacred vow of silence and testify against one of their own.

Joseph Massino took the witness stand at the Brooklyn trial of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, who served as one of his captains in the Bonanno crime family. Prosecutors say that Massino secretly recorded Basciano admitting he ordered a hit on an associate who ran afoul of the secretive Bonannos.

"You will hear the defendant did not tolerate being disrespected or disobeyed and that the penalty for both was death," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Argentieri said in opening statements.

Moments after being sworn in, Massino pointed across the courtroom and identified Basciano - "the guy sitting in the gray suit" - as the crime family's former acting boss. The defendant stared back at the government's star witness, steadily chewing on a piece of gum.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_VINNY_GORGEOUS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-04-12-20-49-14

[IScreamSundays]

1. That was interesting.

Thanks for posting VLR