Mobster ‘Vinny Gorgeous’ gets life for murder
A Brooklyn jury had convicted Vincent Basciano in 2006 of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling, but was deadlocked over a murder charge for the killing of Frank Santoro. After a retrial, Basciano was convicted of the murder charge last July.
Basciano, who once owned the Hello Gorgeous salon in New York, killed Santoro because he believed he wanted to kidnap one of his sons, prosecutors said.
One of Basciano’s lawyers, Ephraim Savitt, said he planned to appeal and challenge prosecutors’ key witness, Dominick Cicale, a former Basciano protege, who said that he and Basciano gunned down Santoro.
The defence claims prosecutors built the case on untruthful testimony. Basciano became the acting boss of the Bonanno crime family after the arrest of Joseph Massino.
Massino was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison for orchestrating murders, racketeering and other crimes. He avoided a possible death sentence by providing evidence to the government against Basciano and other mobsters. While imprisoned together, Massino secretly recorded Basciano discussing a plot to kill a prosecutor, resulting in new charges against Basciano. If convicted,he could face the death penalty.
