Newly filed court documents alleged Bonanno crime family captain Vincent Asaro was supposedly caught on jailhouse recordings threatening to kill a federal prosecutor according to a NY Post report.
The 82-year-old mobster is behind bars at the Manhattan Detention Complex for a 2012 arson case and was trying to get out on bail. Prosecutors submitted a letter detailing threats made by Asaro toward one of the three federal prosecutors working on his case and his cousin Gaspare Valenti in an effort to keep him behind bars. Asaro was put on trial 18 months ago for his role in the notorious Lufthansa Heist at JFK Airport but beat the rap.
“Vincent Asaro”
According to court papers, the alleged New York mafia capo told a fellow inmate he needed to take care of his b—h prosecutor saying “We need to do something about this b —h,” allegedly referring to Assistant US Attorney Nicole Argentieri. He went on to say “We need to handle this, And not f–k up like Vinny.” Prosecutors claim Asaro was referring to former Bonanno family boss Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano who was sent to prison for life and also allegedly unsuccessfully plotted to take out a prosecutor. The elder mafia captain was also supposedly overheard saying he would whack his rat cousin Valenti if he ever saw him again. Valenti turned rat and became one of the key witnesses against Asaro in the Lufthansa case before going into witness protection.
The feds claim in his arson case that Asaro ordered mob associates including the namesake grandson of John Gotti to torch a car of a motorist that had previously cut him off. The recent developments would seem to make the elder mobsters release unlikely although no official word or ruling has been made. It may not be as easy for the Cosa Nostra wiseguy to beat the rap this time around.
Wow … not like he wasn’t in enough hot water! It seems like the feds are looking to completely bury this guy after he beat them in that Lufthansa trial.
I wonder who recorded him in jail? Seems like there are rats everywhere. It’s all over fellas, stay in school.
Hi Joey, long time huh??
I like the way people use the term “rat”. This guy is a criminal and murderer. HE’S the criminal but people blame the person that happens to report a conspiracy of murder and make THEM the bad guy. Nobody is looking to “bury this guy” just because he “beat them in that Lufthansa trial”. Besides, “he” didn’t beat them, New York Juries are biased when it comes to these guys. Believe me, I know. There are also cops with NYPD and Assistant DAs that are connected to these guys. There’s so many public officials and so many people in NYC that are connected to these people and it’s difficult to secure an impartial Jury.
Hopefully the USAO secures a change in venue in this case to prevent any biased jurors during voir dire or any form of jury tampering. For the better of New York City, it’s worth picking up the tab for relocation of the Judge, Attorneys, Defendants and Marshals if it means securing a conviction and getting this POS off NY’s streets for good! These guys don’t care if they take out a Judge or Prosecutor and as history has proven, this is all they know and it’s difficult to get an unbiased jury in these Mob cases when community-wide biases exist. There’s approximately 8.5 million people in NYC metro alone, about 3.5 of those are Italian. Although that absurd code of silence referred to as, “Omerta” has long been broken, there’s still more Italians that believe in that than not. As for the rest of the population, there’s a large majority of people who idolize these criminals. Most of them don’t know what these guys are capable of. Most of them have not been “on the inside” and haven’t seen what actually goes on in that life “from the inside”. Most have formed their opinions of organized crime after watching “Goodfellas” or “Casino”. The chance of getting any of these people on a Jury are too high to even chance it.
Although parasites like this guy have a long history of murder and other crimes, they somehow appeal to the public and claim they are either “no longer in the life” or they are “sick” and “ailing” or “poor and elderly” and just want to spend what little remaining time they have on this Earth with their grandchildren and playing with puppies or being “Mother Theresa”. I personally know several high-ranking members, from Boss down, who have used the same excuse to their advantage. One, in particular used the excuse of prior cardio bypass as an excuse for leniency. The Court bought it. What the Court didn’t know (or failed to see), was that he was committing crimes, shaking people down, threatening people and giving Orders even before he got out of jail. Asaro and his attorney are doing the same thing and whining about his so-called poor health. It’s a tool they use to seek leniency. That’s all it is, a “tool”. There is NO such thing as a Mobster or Wiseguy that is “too old” or “two sick” to commit a crime or to commit murder. That doesn’t exist!
I once heard a Wiseguy talk about his high-ranking Wiseguy/murderer/father to a group of church members. He mentioned his ailing father that was “blind” from age and poor health and that he was in jail and would be 100 yrs old when he got out of jail. Then I heard the church members sigh and “aw” and express their condolences. What the son failed to tell the congregation was that his father, at his old age, was still calling the shots and still giving orders and still shaking people down and threatening to kill people and still committing crimes although he was 93 and will continue to do so when he’s release in June of this year, 2017.
The public seems to feed on that and actually buy into that garbage but what they fail to see, what I have seen personally, is that after the “poor me” speech, these guys are passing messages to/from lockup, thru their families and friends. When their families visit, even their wives, grandparent and children, messages are passed. To clarify a long misconception, there isn’t a wife or girlfriend, or mother in existence in the Mob life that doesn’t or hasn’t known what her husband or boyfriend or son does for a living.
If a mobster orders a hit on a Federal Prosecutor or Judge or any person, that’s because they expect it to be carried out. In that “life” one does not “joke” about such things or even mention a “hit” on somebody ever in a joking manner. And for somebody as ruthless and evil as this person is in the article, being responsible for yet another person’s murder is nothing new. The worst case scenario is that he’ll face yet another Indictment and possibly another Trial for yet, another murder, but this time it’s a Federal Prosecutor. Then, he’ll go free again, after a Mistrial or Acquittal or because of something that was “mishandled” in his case or because a Federal Agent “lost” the evidence against him. The People have heard this to many times!
And he won’t care because these wiseguys always “give the order” to carry out a hit. Meaning, they don’t have the stones to do it themselves. They solicit others to do it for them. Then, they try to blame the hitman.
The New York Daily News and the New York Post will write about this Prosecutor for about a weak and then everybody will go on about their lives and people will forget all about this Prosecutor who was only doing her job – her duty! The families of these victims are the ones that seek but never receive closure, nor do they ever receive Justice. Our Prosecutors, whether on a county, state or federal level, have taken an Oath to protect the public and bring criminals like this man to justice. This is the second time that a mobster has ordered a hit on a Federal Prosecutor in the Eastern District, simply because they claim the Government is prosecuting them for no reason. As this murderer’s attorney has claimed, he blames the Prosecutor and the FBI for his being in jail. Nevermind the fact that he’s committed a federal crime that put him there and he’s a life criminal and a murder and he DESERVES to be locked up for the rest of his life.
As a person who knows and has seen what mobsters like Asaro are capable of, the best thing for New York City is to get him off the street for good. If holding a Trial in NYC means this man walking away with an Acquittal or Mistrial and the People of NYC not being safe simply because of a biased Jury, then a Change of Venue is a constitutionally adequate remedy for securing an impartial Jury to help make NYC safe! I’m happy to see that he wasn’t granted bail. Once these guys are cut loose on bail, pending Trial, they use that time to conspire with other wiseguys. And they know they’re being watched but that doesn’t stop them. They know they can’t consort with other known organized crime members (wiseguys) so they use somebody (a wiseguy) who doesn’t have a criminal record on file to pass info to other members. The use the “funeral” or “wake” or “sick mother or child” as an excuse to meet with other wiseguys and pass info. It’s much easier than doing it in jail and over the phone. Although they do that as well. I know Wiseguys that are still able to go to visit other Wiseguys (even Bosses) in prison and pass messages.
But they’re able to do it because they don’t have a record and so their name doesn’t trigger a red flag on a Wiseguys visitation list. Hopefully the Eastern District will take this threat seriously enough to NOT cut him any deals as they have done in the past. I hope the Judge will take it seriously enough to grant a Change of Venue so they can once and for all, get this POS of our streets. But mostly, hopefully this threat will be taken seriously enough to know that by the time the news has posted an article like this, a couple of other degenerates like him have probably already driven past their home or family member’s work or school and by the time a Prosecutor even gets wind of a hit on them, these guys already know where they live and how to reach their families.
Seems to me he could’ve been “forgiven” for wanting Cuz dead,since who hasn’t gotten mad at fam for something they’ve done to you? Now,he’s really screwed on the other threat b/c of her Job Title. She also should’ve gotten a pass b/c she’s a female,but i guess times have changed even for “alleged” Old Time Mobsters
A prosecutor is a prosecutor, mobsters don’t give a fuck about gender. In Italy they’ve killed judges, prosecutors, police, and priests. Hell in Mexico the cartels wipe out entire families, toddlers included. Everyone knows that one thing that makes La Cosa Nostra weak is their reluctance to kill whoever whenever. Funny thing is, I doubt that LCN even has any guys these days who are brazen enough to go after a prosecutor. More like run to the prosecutor to snitch on the person trying to have him/her whacked lol.
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