By Philip Newman
A notorious Gambino crime family chieftain was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 10 years Tuesday after being convicted of a series of crimes during a 40-year mafia career that included everything from loansharking to murdering two Woodhaven bar owners in a rage over a spilled drink.
Bartolomeo Vernace, 65, had been found guilty by a jury in Brooklyn federal court in a trial ending April 17, 2013.
Federal Judge Sandra Townes handed down the sentence Tuesday.
“After more than 33 years evading justice, Bartolomeo “Bobby Glasses” Vernace can hide no more,” said Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District.
The jury found Vernace took part in all nine racketeering acts alleged as part of a conspiracy, including the 1981 slaying of Richard Godkin and John D’Agnese, co-owners of a bar in Woodhaven; heroin trafficking; robbery; loansharking; and illegal gambling.
“For more than four decades, the defendant dedicated his life to committing crimes for the Mafia,” Lynch said. “Though they were taken from their families long ago, Richard Godkin and John D’Agnese — two businessmen who also ran the local Boys Club — have not been forgotten. We hope the victims’ families are able to take some measure of comfort from the fact that, with this life sentence, one of the killers has now been brought to justice.”
The federal prosecution said Vernace had a long career with organized crime starting in the early 1970s and culminating in his rise to the rank of captain, who served on the three-member ruling panel overseeing the Gambino family.
Among the crimes Vernace was charged with were a double murder on April 11, 1981, when he and two Gambino associates got into a dispute with others in the Shamrock Bar in Woodhaven over a spilled drink.
A Gambino associate left the bar but returned with Vernace and another associate. Gunfire erupted in a chaotic scene as bar patrons fled in terror. The owners of the bar, Godkin and D’Agnese, were fatally wounded. Vernace went into hiding, prosecutors said.
For more than two decades, Vernace operated what federal officials said was a café on Cooper Avenue in Glendale, where he oversaw a large crew of Queens gangsters.
In 1998 he was charged with the murder of the two bar owners in Queens Supreme Court, but he was acquitted in 2002. After walking free, the Sicilian-born Vernace moved up into the top ranks of the organized crime family.
Vernace was arrested again in a federal nationwide sweep of organized crime suspects Jan. 20, 2011.
During the federal trial in 2013, an eyewitness to the murders of the bar owners testified that he had lied in the state court trial about Vernace’s role in the slayings out of fear of retribution.
“Two men were dead over a spilled drink,” the witness told the federal court. “I think that was reason enough to be afraid.”
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
