Vincent Asaro was once a powerful captain in the Bonanno crime family of the New York mafia overseeing criminal enterprises in and around JFK Airport. Testimony at his ongoing racketeering trial has not only shed new light on the infamous 1978 Lufthansa robbery at JFK, but also on Asaro’s decline and the rigors of the mob lifestyle. Asaro’s own cousin and fellow mobster Gaspare Valenti decided to turn rat back in 2008 wearing a wire and recording hundreds of hours of conversations with Bonanno mobsters including Vincent. These tapes along with Valenti’s testimony as being used in an attempt to convict Asaro of racketeering, which include his part in Lufthansa heist, loan sharking, and even murder.
“Vincent Asaro”
According to sources Valenti’s desire to leave the mafia lifestyle and his horrible financial situation were his reasons for turning on his mob pals. His testimony has not only shed new light on the Lufthansa heist and other mafia crimes, but also on the hardships of the mob lifestyle. Asaro once a powerful mafia captain had seen his influence inside his own crime family deteriorate and the pitfalls on mob life take its toll leaving him in serious financial hardship. Secretly recorded conversations made by Valenti and played at the ongoing racketeering trial show exactly how far the mobsters had fallen.
Asaro can be heard on the tapes giving several examples of his deteriorating financial situation and mob status. In one conversation he talks about not even being welcomed at a social club in which he has been a long time member telling Valenti “People hate me in there; I don’t pay my dues.” He even goes on a rant about his own son Jerome Asaro in a separate conversation after asking for some financial help saying “Jerry’s for Jerry,” Asaro lamented on tape. “F______ greedy c—sucker…I lost my son. I lost my son when I made him a skipper. I lost my son when I put him there.” The duo even discuss other mob pals who have fallen on hard times just as they have.
According to the feds Asaro personally made off with between $500,000 and $750,000 from the airport robbery and was living the high life at the height of his mob power. But in recent years had sunk to pawning his own stuff and shaking down low level drug dealers and even family members to make ends meat. During one of the taped conversations Valenti says “What a shame. Look at what we come down to, eh,” and Asaro answers saying “It’s this life. We did it to ourselves. It’s a curse with this f—— gambling.” There was even a discussion between them about how difficult it has become to get food stamps with Valenti telling Asaro he would have a better chance if he told the social worker he had nothing to eat in the house.
Seems both men had outlived their usefulness in the mob and had been left out in the cold by their mob family. Valenti, however seems to have exercised his only remaining out which was turning on his former criminal organization.
Seems Asaro had really fallen out of favor with the Bonanno family i mean damn all way down to food stamps. For a former mob captain that is getting to the low of the low.
john he was never big to begin with the press made him seem more important he made decent money in the 70s and 80s but he was a degenerate and gambled everything away by the 90s he had been demoted and lost most infulence he is a nobody no one likes him
i mean its not like in the last 45years he has even done any time he has been on the streets he should have alot of money but no the guy gambled everything i mean the stupidity on his part is amazing a big mouth aswell
the cousin never had money ever he was just vinnys dog
Right i don’t think he was ever a real driving force with in the Bonanno family but he seemed to at least be somewhat of an earner at one point in the 70’s etc and its a pretty far fall from grace to go from being a captain and an earner to food stamps. Ouch !
i think in the 70s and 80s he made money defo his problem was his big mouth and is gambling problem.
Guys just got fed up with him his personally crazy how things changed but he should have invested his money properly he did not do any time from the 70s+ he had the luthfansa money he just wasted it gambling.
Joe Massimo did not like him he demoted him in the 90s vinny made money out of hijackings gambling and loansharking but he struggled to run these rackets because he gambled the profits its why he got demoted. He was never business minded he just gambled he was a drugs addict then he swapped it for an gambling addiction
he has no one to blame but himself he was always flashy but his gambling addiction is the reason he is broke others who have/still are in the same situation as him are rich
I know a whole crew , I read about , just got out after 30 years nobody handed any of them envelopes . They had 30k all the time , clothes , gold , cards , track , ,drugs , the bar all day everyday , that’s why their broke , very few have enough to buy , I mean lease a Caddy , because of the Payments , it happens to 80% of the Gangsters , you know I’m right , I seen it with my own eyes on tv …….lol
thats true alot of guys esp guys who are not made when they get out they get little.
difference with vinny though he has not been to prison for 45 years just a degenerate and very unlikable perosnailty i have no sympathy for him none
And if I had you alone in a basement you would realize that you didn’t have a clue of what having no sympathy really means.
sympathy for a scum bag
basement 😀 do my posts entertain you 😀 you seem to get a bit excited
last 10 years things have been great for me actually business never better
keep talking troll
what have i been saying for the last year guys vinny is a degenerate nobody has been a nobody for years. His own son is ten times the gangster he is. No one like vinny this is no suprise
he was never that important to begin with
Fact that he didn’t even know about the Sal hit shows he was pretty out of touch as to what was going on , and as he mentions he didn’t even know what was happening in his own neighborhood. Def was put out to pasture.
Listen Mr. mafia know it all, Do you realize that you sound like a clown and not to mention a cold stone coward. Say what you will on an anonymous message board, but we both know that you wouldn’t have the balls to even look at Vinny the wrong way and he’s 80 You and your ridiculous comments are the words of a frightened man, It’s actually pathetic that you need to pretend online that you’re a tough guy.But at some point you have to look in the mirror and face the reality that you’re nothing but a coward and a blatant fraud, stop trying to convince yourself that you’re something that you’re not. Face it my man you are a poor excuse for a man and obviously a complete jerk off to boot. To sum it up, you’re sickening!
when have i said i am a tough guy?
never said that you made that one up i am comfortable with my life. If your trying to say that i think i am a mobster your strongly mistaken i have been a legitimate guy my whole life and i am PROUD of it
” sound like a clown”
why do i entertain you i am making you laugh 😀
“trying to convice yourself something your not”
convince myself of what? i am very comfortable who i am nothing to prove to anyone why would.
“poor excuse for a man”
because i think vinny is a loser
“wouldent have the balls to say it to his face”
your right i wouldent he is a made guy even if i think he is a loser i would not mess with him even at his age still got connections
“coward and a blatant fraud”
😀 your a funny guy
“your sickening”
😀 your cracking me up what are you on
“anonymous message board”
well i am hardly going to start sharing my details to random people am i that would be a bit stupid
ok troll thats enough from you i know your the same guy from the other thread
So,Valenti,besides being scared turned Rat b/c he couldn’t get Food Stamps. What a sad state some are in. Then again they wouldn’t be there if they saved like some of the men they hate. Oh well,it was good while i t lasted right?
the cousin is garbage he flipped so the feds would pay him
vinny is a degenerate he gambled everything he has he has not even done prison time in the last 40 years he should be rich. Funny thing is that if he saved or invested some of his money right he would be wealthy now i mean by the 2000s he should have had money ready to retire not being 80 years old robbing a drug dealer for 2k with your also broke cousin who flipped so the feds can pay his gambling debts because you are so desperate for money and trying to get food stamps
no one likes him either his personality he said he does not even know what goes on in ozone park his own neighborhood.
Of course he did not say why his son did not give him money he knows vinny would gamble it all anything the guy has he gambles since the 90s he has become a joke. I have no sympathy