Vincent Asaro a former captain in the Bonanno crime family is scheduled to begin his upcoming trial in October on various charges including having a part in the infamous Lufthansa Height. A new book written by author Daniel Simone with help from former mobster Henry Hill called The Lufthansa Heist: Behind the Six-Million-Dollar Cash Haul That Shook the World
Simone said he was shocked at the reports of Asaro’s arrest and charges linked to the 1978 heist because more then one source told him that Asaro had nothing to do with it. He claims he has spoken to several FBI agents and no one has ever mentioned Asaro as being a part of things and claimed the allegations of prosecution of Asaro collecting a $1.5 million share of the loot was inaccurate. According to the author he has been in contact with the defense attorney for Asaro and provided information that they never knew before which could be used as part of the mobsters defense, although these claims have not been confirmed.
Law enforcement sources back up their case and seem confident that claims made by Simone that Gotti had a hand in the heist and Asaro did not will be disproved at the upcoming trial. The book also claims that Gotti personally fired the shots that killed former Lucchese family associate Thomas DeSimone who was played by Joe Pesci in the mob film Goodfellas. Could Asaro really be cleared of the charges linking him to the infamous heist by this new book , well that seems doubtful at this point and many are skeptical of the claims being made in the new mafia book and by its author.
