Feds drop plans to charge Bonanno captain with trying to kill prosecutor
Brooklyn prosecutors say they're no longer trying to prove an aging gangster was planning a hit on a federal agent — but they still want the judge to throw the book at the wiseguy.
Lawyers acknowledged they're having doubts about the reliability of a jailhouse snitch, and that's made them ditch efforts to show Vincent Asaro was plotting to rub out a federal prosecutor.
They didn't elaborate Monday on what they've learned about the confidential source, but noted the tipster's information "was corroborated in significant part."
Still, prosecutors continued to insist Asaro, an 82-year capo in the Bonanno crime family, deserved to be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.
In May, prosecutors accused Asaro of the chilling execution scheme. They pointed to his alleged comments, which were relayed by a Metropolitan Detention Center confidential source with prior convictions for lying.
Asaro denied the plot and was never charged for it.
Asaro is awaiting sentencing by Judge Allyne Ross for ordering the successful 2012 arson of a car that cut him off. He pleaded guilty in June.
In 2015, jurors acquitted Asaro for his role in the notorious $6 million 1978 Lufthansa heist as well as other crimes, including a 1969 slaying.
While federal sentencing guidelines suggest Asaro should receive a roughly five- to six-year sentence for having the car torched, prosecutors said Ross could weigh other bad behavior — including crimes he was acquitted of.
They also initially argued the judge could consider the alleged threats on the prosecutor’s life, but conceded in a letter Monday that the judge should not rely on information from the jailhouse informant.
Still, prosecutors said Asaro deserves a long sentence given his "lifelong allegiance to a dangerous criminal organization and his participation in a litany of crimes."
His lawyer couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/prosecutors-ditch-effort-prove-vincent-asaro-murder-plot-article-1.3678969
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