Joseph Massino former boss of the Bonanno crime family was the first official American Mafia boss to publicly testify against his fellow wiseguys. His cooperation was a key tool used by the feds in a decade long effort to dismantle La Cosa Nostra. Massino turned rat and agreed to a cooperation deal after he was convicted in 2004 of racketeering charges which included eight mafia murders. He won over skeptical prosecutors right off by supplying information about a plot by his successor Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano to whack Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres a known mob buster. Massino testified at two mafia trials along with providing the feds with information and assistance that led to dozens of convictions of his fellow mobsters.
“Joseph Massino”
Now that Massino sang he is looking to collect for his cooperation. The feds on behalf of Massino are asking for his current life sentence to be reduced as a reward for all of his cooperation. This type of cooperation from a leading member of an organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra is unprecedented. A re-sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 10th of this year by federal judge Nicholas Garaufis. Massino has already served more then 10 years in prison since his last conviction. It will be interesting to see how big of a reward Massino receives for helping the feds and if this reward may somehow influence more leading members of the mafia to also become informants when they get in a pinch.
