Mafia Turncoat
January 28, 2005'Last Don' Reported to Be First One to Betray MobBy WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM In a remarkable turn in the long, sometimes colorful history of law enforcement's fight against organized crime, the imprisoned boss of the Bonanno crime family has begun cooperating with federal authorities and has told them about another top Mafia member's proposal to kill a prosecutor, law enforcement officials said yesterday.The cooperation of one of the official bosses of New York's five Mafia clans is all the more extraordinary because it involves Joseph C. Massino, 62, who was known as the last don, an Old World stalwart who clung to the fading values of honor and omertà, the Mafia's code of silence.Mr. Massino, who was convicted in July on federal murder and racketeering charges and could face the death penalty if he is convicted in a new pending murder case, secretly recorded prison conversations with another mob figure about the idea of killing the prosecutor, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of Mr. Massino's cooperation. The threat led federal authorities to provide the prosecutor with a 24-hour security detail.The discussions between Mr. Massino and the other mob figure, the Bonanno family's acting boss, Vincent Basciano, were recorded on Jan. 3 and Jan. 7 inside the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail in Brooklyn where both men were imprisoned, according to officials and court papers. Both men were in solitary confinement; it is unclear how or where in the prison they met.Their conversations are briefly outlined in a murder and racketeering indictment unsealed yesterday against Mr. Basciano, a beauty salon owner who is known as Vinny Gorgeous, in an unrelated killing. It does not cite Mr. Massino by name but refers to two meetings between Mr. Basciano and "a high-ranking member of the Bonanno family" at which the proposal to kill the prosecutor - who handled two cases against Mr. Massino and an earlier case against Mr. Basciano - was discussed. The officials said that the high-ranking member was Mr. Massino.As the news spread yesterday among law enforcement officials and lawyers who represent organized crime figures, and in the world of the gangsters themselves, most people responded with disbelief. One former Mafia member who himself turned informant in recent years summed up the reaction, shouting "What?" when he learned of the development. "I'm shocked," the onetime mob figure continued in a phone interview. "He seemed like an old-time guy. I never would have thought."The defense lawyer who represented Mr. Massino in his trial that ended in July, David Breitbart, was skeptical that his former client was cooperating with the government."I can't believe Joe Massino is an informant - I just don't buy it," he said. Mr. Massino's current lawyer, Flora Edwards, would not comment yesterday. Neither would spokesmen for the F.B.I. nor the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn. Several law enforcement officials suggested that Mr. Massino's cooperation so far has been limited largely to his disclosure about what they say was Mr. Basciano's proposal to kill the prosecutor, Greg D. Andres, and the secretly recorded tapes. And it is unclear what Mr. Massino may be seeking - or may have obtained - in exchange for his cooperation with the F.B.I. and Brooklyn federal prosecutors or why he came forward.He may have been seeking consideration in the death penalty case or perhaps wanted to forestall pending forfeiture proceedings that could leave his family destitute. One former investigator said Mr. Massino might have been prompted to act by Mr. Basciano's proposal, a highly unusual violation of mob protocol, which holds that such killings are to be avoided because of the intense scrutiny they would bring.It also remains to be seen whether Mr. Massino will be extensively debriefed, as are most Mafia turncoats, but the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors believe they already know much about the Bonanno family because so many of his underlings have already switched sides and testified for the government. Nine former associates, including Mr. Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, testified against Mr. Massino at his trial last summer.Mr. Massino is far from the first high-ranking mob figure to cooperate with the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors: Luchese acting bosses Alphonse D'Arco and Joseph Defede both became government witnesses, as did the Gambino underboss, Salvatore Gravano, and the Luchese underboss, Anthony Casso. But Mr. Massino is the first official boss of New York's five crime families to do so, and is also, according to several experts on organized crime, the first high-ranking New York crime figure to secretly record one of his underlings.But the symbolic impact of a Mafia boss - let alone one like Mr. Massino, who held bloody sway over the Bonannos for 25 years, 10 of them as boss - cooperating with the government was not lost on those who investigate and prosecute mob figures, and those who defend them.Despite his skepticism, Mr. Breitbart, Mr. Massino's former lawyer, noted that the prosecutor had been successful finding mob witnesses: "Andres has turned everyone else. I'm the guy that cross-examined nine ex-friends of Joe Massino, from reputed soldiers to an underboss."Bruce Mouw, a retired F.B.I. supervisor who spent 18 of his 26 years in the bureau making cases against the mob, including the one that led to Mr. Gravano's cooperation and John J. Gotti's conviction, saw the development yesterday as a further sign of the deep decay of La Cosa Nostra, as the Mafia is known in the F.B.I."The big thing is Joe has been the boss for over 10 years, and he's always been considered a traditionalist - an L.C.N. loyalist and an old time boss," he said. "Some of these die-hards, they would die in jail before they betray La Cosa Nostra and their oath to omertà. This just shows you the state of organized crime - nothing is sacred. It's the rules of the jungle, every man for himself."The indictment unsealed yesterday did not charge Mr. Basciano in connection with the proposal to kill Mr. Andres. But it said that he saw Mr. Massino at the Brooklyn federal courthouse, where both men had cases pending against them, in late 2004, and "proposed the murder of a federal law enforcement official involved in investigating and prosecuting members of the Bonanno family, including Mr. Basciano."Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer who has represented Mr. Basciano in the past, said he was not handling the case unsealed yesterday or another pending case against him. Mr. Basciano has not yet been arraigned on the new charges and a lawyer for him could not be located yesterday.Mr. Massino's current lawyer, Ms. Edwards, in a letter sent Wednesday to the judge handling Mr. Massino's cases, said she sought to adjourn his sentencing date and complained she could not locate her client. Mr. Massino had been moved to a prison in Manhattan, possibly because prosecutors had planned to unseal the indictment yesterday.Diane Cardwell contributed reporting for this article.Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS Help Back to Top
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