ORGANIZED CRIME

Criminal activity carried out by an organized enterprise.

New York Crime Boss Convicted on Racketeering Charges

A federal jury in July 2004 convicted Joseph C. Massino of 11 racketeering charges that involved at least seven murders and a string of other crimes. One of the charges involved the murder of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, who introduced informant "Donnie Brasco" to Massino's crime family. Massino was the last of the "dons" of the organized crime families in New York to be sentenced to prison.

Massino once reportedly weighed 400 pounds and became known as "Big Joey" within the Bonanno crime family. An agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Joe Pistone, began to infiltrate the Bonanno family in 1976 after he was introduced by Napolitano. Pistone, known by the pseudonym "Donnie Brasco," posed as a jewel thief, and the family embraced him. His reports from 1976 to 1981 led to more than 120 convictions, which nearly collapsed the family. Napolitano was shot to death in August 1981 in Staten Island. Pistone's story became the basis for the 1997 movie entitled Donnie Brasco, starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp.

The federal government actively pursued the organized crime during the 1980s and 1990s. Massino was convicted during the 1980s on racketeering charges. Phillip Rastelli allegedly served as the boss of the Bonanno family from 1979 through 1991, though he also spent much of this time in prison. When Rastelli died in prison in 1991, Massino became his successor. Massino was released in 1992 at a time when the Bonanno family was nearly extinct.

Massino ran the crime syndicate from his Queens restaurant, named Casa Blanca. The organized crime in general has traditionally avoided prosecution of themselves and others by adhering to code of omerta, which is a vow of silence that prohibits one organized crime member from discussing an organization's business with anyone outside of the organization, including authorities. A rash of prosecutions during the 1990s, however, led to an erosion of this practice by members of the organized crime.

The Bonanno family is one of the so-called "five families" in New York City. By 2000, the heads of each of the other families had been arrested or sent to prison. As last surviving leader of the crime organizations, Massino became known as the "Last Don," and he continued to escape prosecution even though news reports had clearly identified him as the leader of the Bonanno family.

Federal authorities arrested Massino in January 2003 and charged him with a litany of offenses, including murder, loan-sharking, arson, illegal gambling, money laundering , sports betting, and extortion. Prosecutors said that the investigation into Massino's case was one of the most expansive in history and that it led to the arrest of more than 60 people. Many of those who were arrested pleaded guilty to charges. The FBI considered Massino to be the "most powerful mobster in the country" at the time of his arrest.

Massino, through his lawyer, David Breitbart, never denied that he controlled the Bonanno family. Instead, Breitbart's primary defense was that Massino ran the family in the peaceful manner. During the nine-week trial in 2004, prosecutors called more than 70 witnesses, including eight who were members of the Bonanno family. This was reportedly the first instance in which members of the Bonanno family had ever testified for the prosecution. Prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of a key witness, Massino's brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale. Another witness, former Bonanno captain Frank Lino, said that he had seen and spoken with Massino when the latter was involved in a series of murders during the early 1980s, including the killing of Napolitano.

The jury convicted Massino on July 30 after deliberating for five days. One prosecutor called the government's case the "most sustained assault against a single organized crime family in the history of organized crime investigations." Pistone, the FBI agent who posed as "Donnie Brasco," said that Massino was "the last of the real gangsters. It's the passing of the American Organized crime as we know it." Less than a week after the verdict was announced, the jury also determined that Massino should forfeit nearly $10.4 million and two restaurants, because these assets had been obtained as the fruits of his 25-year criminal career.

At the time of Massino's conviction, several of his subordinates were vying to become his acting successor in the family. One of these men, Vincent Basciano, emerged as the acting leader. However, authorities later arrested Basciano on a murder charge. Massino and Basciano were both held in a federal prison in Brooklyn by the end of 2004. In a surprising turn of events, Massino reportedly cooperated with federal authorities and allowed authorities to tape record a conversation that Massino had with Basciano in prison. Although many expressed disbelief that Massino would become an informant, news reports in February 2005 indicated that Massino had indeed become the first head of a New York family to violate the organized crime's code of silence and to cooperate with prosecutors.

Many experts said that if members of the organized crime no longer adhere to the code of omerta, organized crime syndicates will become dismantled. According to Ronald Goldstock, who formerly led the New York organized crime task force, "The organized crime as we know it is effectively over. If people in the lower orders didn't know that their bosses would sell them out, then they know it now."