I just came across this article.

Sources: NYC Mafia Don Turns Informant

Thu Jan 27,10:59 PM ET U.S. National - AP


By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Jailed Mafia boss Joseph Massino secretly recorded his successor plotting the assassination of a federal prosecutor, becoming the first head of a New York Mafia family known to have turned government informant, sources familiar with the case said Thursday.



A federal indictment unsealed Thursday, which charges acting Bonanno family head Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano with murder in another case, also contends he planned the killing of a top mob prosecutor in meetings with someone described as a "high-ranking member" of his crime family.


The FBI (news - web sites) recorded the conversations with the help of the high-ranking member, the indictment says.


Several sources familiar with the investigation identified Massino as the turncoat Mafioso. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because Massino had not been publicly identified as the informant.


Lawyers for Massino and Basciano declined to comment.


The alleged betrayal would rank as one of the most stunning violations of the Mafia code of silence in the history of American organized crime. It also would signal just how deeply the FBI has penetrated a crime family that nearly collapsed in the 1980s after undercover agent Joseph Pistone won its confidences posing as mobster Donnie Brasco.


Thursday's indictment charges Basciano — a beauty salon owner already jailed on murder, arson and other charges — in the slaying of mob associate Randolph "Randy" Pizzolo, who was found lying face down with four bullet wounds last year in an industrial section of Brooklyn.


"I thought this kid would have been a good wake-up call for everybody," Basciano was recorded saying, according to the indictment.


The indictment does not charge Basciano with the plot to slay the unidentified prosecutor, although it describes in detail how the two mobsters discussed it during a meeting last year in Brooklyn federal court and in two recorded conversations this month in a Brooklyn detention center.


The lead prosecutor in the Massino and Basciano cases, Greg Andres, was placed under armed guard earlier this month because of a threat that was not disclosed at the time.


A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, Robert Nardoza, declined to comment Thursday. An FBI spokesman also declined to comment.


The indictment also charges alleged Bonanno captain Dominick Cicale with participating in the Pizzolo murder. Cicale was ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty Thursday.


Massino was convicted of murder, racketeering and other crimes last summer based on the testimony of his brother-in-law, Bonanno underboss Salvatore "Good Lookin' Sal" Vitale, and a parade of lower-ranking turncoat mobsters.


Massino had been dubbed "The Last Don" for his ability to rebuild the family and avoid prison while the heads of New York's four other Mafia families were behind bars.


Full story

::sigh::

Whatre ya gonna do? Its never his fault, it'll always be someone elses, pretty soon everyone that guy ever came into contact with will all be in jial.

Yes, and the amazing thing is that there are people on these boards who actually think they'd like to be in the Mafia. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I hope they find way to get him...

this shit is such a dissapointment. Joseph Massino was supposed to be the last of a dying breed, and if sentenced to death he would have died with "honor" but even HE flipped now. there IS no more mafia in my eyes, shits been dead. And anyone who would wanna join is an idiot lol.

Anyone who would wanna join the Mafia period would be an idiot. I find it so odd that there are so many people on here that glamorize the Mafia. The whole "John Gotti must be rolling over in his grave" topic for Growing Up Gotti. If the Mafia is dead, the world is better off without it, it's that simple. There is nothing good about the Mafia, absolutely nothing. Sure, I'm a fan of the books and the films, but do I think the Mafia is good too? Absolutely not! And there is nothing honorable about being in the Mafia. It's not even subject to opinion. Its just the way it is.

i agree, i just think we all get caught up in the fantasy of it like the godfather and whatnot sometimes. if the mafia was what it was when it originally started out as protection for sicilians in italy or w/e from albanians then maybe id support it but its never really been that way and i guess its definately a good thing that its dying though its never personally affected me, its affected many others and their families. Big Joey basically displayed the TRUE death of la cosa nostra as we know it.