Vincent Asaro came away with an eight-year prison sentence from last years arson case and he isn’t happy about it.
The 83-year-old Bonanno crime family captain wants an appeals court judge to resentence him. He thinks the sentence given to him by Judge Allyne Ross was over the top for the charges he plead guilty too. Asaro ordered New York Mafia underlings to torch the car of a motorist that had cut him off. The aging mobster agreed to plead guilty last summer but claims he would have preferred to take his chances at trial if he knew his sentence was gonna be this lengthy. According to court documents, the eight-year sentence he received was about three times the federal guideline recommendations.
Asaro believes the overly stiff sentence he received was payback for his 2015 acquittal in the Lufthansa heist case. Defense attorney Richard Langone said, “the appearance of vengeful retaliation (or ‘payback’) for the 2015 acquittal was palpable from the government’s arguments during the sentencing on the arson.” Prosecutors were pushing for a 15-year sentence which his lawyer called a virtual death sentence for the aging and unhealthy Asaro. The feds certainly weren’t happy losing out in a case tied to such an infamous NY Mafia score.
Judge Allyne Ross also presided over the 2015 case said during sentencing in his arson case that she had given weight to some of the crimes Asaro had previously been acquitted of in the Lufthansa case. She said that even though he was acquitted she was firmly convinced that prosecutors had proven their case against him. She also believed that he remained dangerous to the public and that she had no illusions that this prison sentence would bring an end to his lifelong career in the Mafia.
In a letter to the Second Circuit Langone said “Even though the jury, by acquitting Mr. Asaro of all charges, flatly rejected the veracity and credibility of the government’s witnesses, Judge Ross nevertheless gave full credit to them” according to the New York Daily news report. It seems the Bonanno family capo thinks to issue a sentence partially based on charges that a jury has already deemed less than verifiable seems somewhat unfair.He may just be right about that although it is now in the hands of the appeals court to decide one way or another.
Vincent has certainly seen his share of court battles over the last couple of years so one more won’t hurt. Even if it’s somewhat of a longshot that an appeals court actually rules in the Bonanno family mobsters favor.
