Vinny Gorgeous Basciano sentenced to life in prison plus ten years at Supermax
Vinny 'Gorgeous' Basciano will spend the rest of his life at Colorado's Supermax prison with some of the nation's most notorious criminals.
Bloodthirsty ex-crime boss Vincent Basciano made a startling admission on Wednesday before he was dispatched to rot behind bars in America's toughest federal prison.
"I was done in by the tapes," the murderous mobster said in federal court, referring to damning jailhouse recordings secretly made by ex-Bonanno chief Joseph Massino.
Basciano - spared the death penalty last month by a Brooklyn jury - received a sentence of life plus 10 years from Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis.
"No punishment is sufficient to right his innumerable wrongs," said Garaufis, who prosecutors say was targeted for murder by Basciano, who is known as "Vinny Gorgeous."
"No words are strong enough to convey the depravity with which he lived his free life."
The 51-year-old gangster is already serving a life sentence for a previous murder. He strode into the courtroom smiling and carrying a carton filled with legal papers.
Asked if he wanted to make a statement about murder victim Randolph Pizzolo, Basciano instead whined about his woes.
"I'm broke, I have no money," he said during a rambling speech, griping that he was denied a fair trial and demanding a new lawyer so he could sue an inmate who snitched on him.
The Basciano jury cited Massino's bloodier past - including a dozen murders - in deciding on a life sentence rather than death for Vinny Gorgeous.
Basciano was convicted of capital murder for ordering a November 2004 mob hit against Bonanno associate Pizzolo. He was previously found guilty in the 2001 murder of Bronx junkie Frank Santoro.
He's headed for the super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colo., where he will join the worst of the worst inmates in Cell Block H.
Basciano's neighbors will include terrorists like World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and shoe-bomber Richard Reid.
Despite his claimed lack of cash, prosecutors said they intend to collect a $5 million forfeiture order from Basciano's prior trial - and repay the Pizzolo family $21,000 in funeral expenses.
The judge noted that Basciano is proof there is no glory in the Mafia. "Basciano stands here today, proof of its reality - a crumbling facade, beneath which lies a bleak, pathetic and ignorant life," Garaufis said.
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