- Vincent Basciano
Infobox Person
name=Vincent Basciano
right|thumb|200px|_
caption=Vincent Basciano
birth_date=Birth date and age|1959|11|14|mf=y
birth_place=Brooklyn ,New York , U.S.
death_date=
death_place=Vincent J. "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano a.k.a. "Vinny from the Bronx" (born
November 14 ,1959 Brooklyn, New York ) is a well known figure in the New York underworld. He's a long time member of theBonanno crime family and according to the FBI, Basciano is presently the official boss of the Bonannos. His nickname "Vinny Gorgeous" originates from a Bronx hair salon that he owned named "Hello Gorgeous".In 1994 Basciano was acquitted of supplying
heroin to a smuggling ring that reaped $10 million a year from 1985 to 1991. ["Mob Still Feasting at San Gennaro", Gang Land NewsNovember 4 ,2004 . ] He became acting boss in 2004 and was rumored to do family dirty work even though he is in a leadership position. [http://www.ganglandnews.com/column467.htm ]Arrest and Trial
On
November 19 ,2004 Basciano was arrested on charges ofracketeering andillegal gambling . He was arraigned the same day by United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom inBrooklyn, New York . The case was later assigned to United States District JudgeNicholas G. Garaufis . [United States Attorney's Office, November 19, 2004] .After Basciano was arrested in 2004, he promoted
Dominick Cicale to capo and put him on the crime family's ruling panel. However, when Cicale was arrested and charged with two murders, he turned on his boss. Cicale claimed that in February 2001 he and Basciano shot and killedFrank Santoro in the Bronx. He also claimed that Basciano ordered the 2004 rubout ofRandolph Pizzolo . ["A traditional wiseguy", New York Daily News,March 27 ,2006 . ]In 2004, while still in jail awaiting trial, Basciano was indicted on charges that he planned to order the murder of
Patrick DeFilippo , a fellow captain in theBonanno crime family [http://www.ganglandnews.com/column462.htm] , as well as the prosecutor in his case, Greg Andres. This indictment relied on jail yard conversations between Basciano and then-current bossJoseph Massino , whom had agreed earlier to become an informant and was wearing a wire during the conversation. A judge later threw out the charge, saying the evidence was inconclusive.On
February 16 ,2006 , Basciano's racketeering and murder trial began in Brooklyn Federal Court. During a discussion about a man he's charged with shooting in 1985, Basciano blurted out to reporters that the victim is a convicted child molester. Prosecution witnesses included Cicale, who was like a son, and lawyer Thomas Lee, who had been charged with being a 'house counsel' for Basciano and Massino earlier. [John Marzulli, Dressed to Kill, New York Daily News, February 19, 2006] In May 2006, Basciano was convicted ofracketeering ; it was a hung jury on the murder charges.On April 1st 2008, Vincent Basciano was sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of Frank Santoro, which he was found guilty for in the 2007 re-trial of the 2006 trial. He is still awaiting trial for ordering the murder of Randolph Pizzolo. If convicted, Basciano faces the death penalty.
As of October 2008, Basciano is still being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC)in Brooklyn.
Notes
External links
* [http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ge/exclusion/basciano_v.htm Vincent J. Basciano - N.J. Excluded Person]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/blog/organizedcrime/bonanno/basciano.html American Organized Crime - Bonanno Crime Family - Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano]
* [http://www.nysun.com/article/35973 Gangland: The Mobster and the Failed Polygraph] by Jerry Capeci
* [http://tonydestefano.com/_wsn/page3.html The Last Godfather] by Tony DesStefano
* [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator Website]
* [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/04/01/2008-04-01_bonanno_crime_boss_vincent_basciano_sent-1.html Bonanno crime boss Vincent Basciano sentenced to life in prison]
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