Joseph "Big Joey" Massino secret recordings reveal delusions of grandeur
The Bonannos think they're the Corleone family, but not even Mario Puzo could have made up these clowns.
Based on recordings former boss-turned-rat Joseph "Big Joey" Massino made of his successor, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, while wearing a wire, the "Godfather" character he and his crew most resemble is not Vito or Michael. It's Fredo.
"[Anthony] Ace Aiello is like a Luca Brasi," Basciano said, comparing the Bonanno soldier to the Corleone's loyal hit man, on recordings played in Brooklyn federal court yesterday.
"He's your Luca Brasi," Basciano said.
After playing the 2005 recordings, prosecutors asked Massino -- who made history Tuesday by becoming the first mob boss to turn rat on the stand -- if he was familiar with "The Godfather" movies.
"Yes, I am," he replied. Asked to describe the significance of a Luca Brasi, the man known as "The Last Don" explained, "If they sent him out to kill someone, he'd do it."
Aiello did, in fact, plead guilty to the murder of Bonanno associate Randy Pizzolo, a mob hit Basciano allegedly ordered and for which he now faces the death penalty.
The Bonannos share one thing with the Corleones: a flair for the dramatic.
"Did your wife get the money, by the way?" Basciano asks on the recording. "I sent your wife money."
Massino replied that his wife, Josephine, received the tribute from Basciano, which was stuffed inside a bottle of champagne.
"A bottle of Dom Perignon. $50,000. It came from Vinny," Massino explained on the stand.
Prosecutors played the recordings Massino made in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to prove that Basciano ordered the hit.
Massino proved adept at drawing out evidence for the feds.
"Randy -- you OK'd it?" Massino asked Basciano.
"I gave the order," Basciano replies. "Randy was a f--king jerkoff."
Massino pushed further. "Did it warrant the clip?"
Basciano explained that Pizzolo went to meet a made man while carrying a pistol -- a major Mafia no-no.
Massino kept pushing Basciano to reveal more.
"I don't want people talking that 'we' clipped Randy. 'You' clipped Randy," Massino said.
Massino explained to the court that "we" means the family, while "you" means Vinny ordering it on his own.
"No, nobody knows that. 'We' didn't do it," Basciano answers.
"He's a f--king dangerous kid, who don't listen. He's just an annoying kid," Basciano said.
"These guys were out there doing whatever the f--k they want. I thought this kid would be a good wake-up call for everybody.
"People get killed every day. They gonna blame everybody in The Bronx on me?" Basciano said.
Basciano, along with his ex-wife Angela and two sons, showed little emotion as the recordings were played. But unlike everyone else in the room, he made a point of gingerly holding the earphones on the back of his head -- so as not to muss up his oh-so-carefully-coiffed hair -- instead of plopping the phones on top of his skull.
The full weight of Massino's betrayal is made clear in the loyalty Basciano showed on the recording.
"I'd go to hell and back. I made an oath to you," he told Massino.
Massino, who turned informant in 2005 after being convicted of seven murders and facing death-penalty charges on an eighth, complained Basciano didn't clear the hit with him first.
"Why didn't you ask me?" Massino asked.
"It was already in the works, bo [slang for boss]," Basciano said. "This kid though . . . this kid deserved it. This kid was a f--king thorn. He didn't listen to no f--king body."
Based on recordings former boss-turned-rat Joseph "Big Joey" Massino made of his successor, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, while wearing a wire, the "Godfather" character he and his crew most resemble is not Vito or Michael. It's Fredo.
"[Anthony] Ace Aiello is like a Luca Brasi," Basciano said, comparing the Bonanno soldier to the Corleone's loyal hit man, on recordings played in Brooklyn federal court yesterday.
"He's your Luca Brasi," Basciano said.
THE FAMILY: Angela Basciano and her two sons at ex-hubby Vincent Basciano's trial yesterday.
"Yes, I am," he replied. Asked to describe the significance of a Luca Brasi, the man known as "The Last Don" explained, "If they sent him out to kill someone, he'd do it."
Aiello did, in fact, plead guilty to the murder of Bonanno associate Randy Pizzolo, a mob hit Basciano allegedly ordered and for which he now faces the death penalty.
The Bonannos share one thing with the Corleones: a flair for the dramatic.
"Did your wife get the money, by the way?" Basciano asks on the recording. "I sent your wife money."
Massino replied that his wife, Josephine, received the tribute from Basciano, which was stuffed inside a bottle of champagne.
"A bottle of Dom Perignon. $50,000. It came from Vinny," Massino explained on the stand.
Prosecutors played the recordings Massino made in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to prove that Basciano ordered the hit.
Massino proved adept at drawing out evidence for the feds.
"Randy -- you OK'd it?" Massino asked Basciano.
"I gave the order," Basciano replies. "Randy was a f--king jerkoff."
Massino pushed further. "Did it warrant the clip?"
Basciano explained that Pizzolo went to meet a made man while carrying a pistol -- a major Mafia no-no.
Massino kept pushing Basciano to reveal more.
"I don't want people talking that 'we' clipped Randy. 'You' clipped Randy," Massino said.
Massino explained to the court that "we" means the family, while "you" means Vinny ordering it on his own.
"No, nobody knows that. 'We' didn't do it," Basciano answers.
"He's a f--king dangerous kid, who don't listen. He's just an annoying kid," Basciano said.
"These guys were out there doing whatever the f--k they want. I thought this kid would be a good wake-up call for everybody.
"People get killed every day. They gonna blame everybody in The Bronx on me?" Basciano said.
Basciano, along with his ex-wife Angela and two sons, showed little emotion as the recordings were played. But unlike everyone else in the room, he made a point of gingerly holding the earphones on the back of his head -- so as not to muss up his oh-so-carefully-coiffed hair -- instead of plopping the phones on top of his skull.
The full weight of Massino's betrayal is made clear in the loyalty Basciano showed on the recording.
"I'd go to hell and back. I made an oath to you," he told Massino.
Massino, who turned informant in 2005 after being convicted of seven murders and facing death-penalty charges on an eighth, complained Basciano didn't clear the hit with him first.
"Why didn't you ask me?" Massino asked.
"It was already in the works, bo [slang for boss]," Basciano said. "This kid though . . . this kid deserved it. This kid was a f--king thorn. He didn't listen to no f--king body."
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