By Joe Anuta
Mafioso Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano was found guilty of murder Monday and could face the death penalty for ordering a hit on mob associate Randolph Pizzolo in 2004.
Basciano, the acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, will find out next week whether he will receive lethal injection or life in prison.
He was already serving a life sentence for a previous murder.
While he was in a Brooklyn prison in 2005, he had several conversations with Howard Beach crime boss Joseph “Big Joey” Massino.
Unbeknownst to Basciano, Massino was wearing a wire during those conversations and gave damning testimony in Brooklyn federal court.
Often referred to as “The Last Don,” Massino ran the La Cosa Nostra family like a business, employing a variety of members to carry out the day-to-day operations of the mob. Massino summed up his business model with this metaphor while on the stand: “It takes all kinds of meat to make a good sauce.”
Massino ran the mob from his Maspeth eatery, Casablanca Restaurant, at 62-15 60th Lane.
The recorded conversations between Massino and Basicano often bordered on the ridiculous as Massino had to painstakingly define mobster lingo to the court during the conversations about murder, rats, women and doing laundry.
The trial was also notable for Basciano’s impetuous behavior.
He complained about the prison food and received replacement food from the courthouse cafeteria. He complained about his attire until Judge Nicholas Garaufis lent him a Brooks Brothers tie.
Basciano’s fate will be decided next week, when the jury will possibly dole out the death sentence.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
