Federal Prosecutors Disclose Dramatic Details of 1978 Lufthansa Robbery

The Lufthansa robbery and aftermath is one of the greatest crime stories of the 20th Century. The story was later dramatized in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, perhaps the greatest crime film ever made.

Now John Marzulli at the New York Daily News offers a piece on Vincent Asaro (seen in the above FBI mugshot), one of the suspects.  

The Bonanno gangster charged with the infamous 1978 Lufthansa robbery allegedly blew his nearly $1 million share of the loot gambling at the racetrack, the Daily News has learned.

Federal prosecutors, in their most detailed disclosure to date about evidence against reputed capo Vincent Asaro, have revealed stunning secrets in the long-unsolved airport heist.

The feds have lined up an impressive roster of rats with knowledge of Asaro’s participation in the Lufthansa heist — immortalized in the classic film “Goodfellas.”  

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/exclusive-feds-disclose-details-1978-lufthansa-heist-article-1.2239621

FBI Agent Testifying In Trial Of Accused Al Qaeda Terrorist Says He Saw Body Of Osama Bin Laden

John Marzulli and Doreh Gregorian at the New York Daily News report on the testimony of an FBI special agent who says he saw the dead body of the most wanted terrorist in the world, Osama bin Laden.

He saw the body of the devil himself.

Testifying at a Brooklyn terror trial on Wednesday, FBI special agent Alexander Otte recalled seeing the corpse of Osama bin Laden after the Navy SEALS daring 2011 raid on the terror mastermind's secret lair in Pakistan.

Otte secured the computer files that were seized by the SEALS. They were delivered to a military hangar in Afghanistan — along with a corpse.

"It was the body of Osama bin Laden. I knew who he was," Otte said. “I recognized him
immediately.”

The computer files outlined other planned plots against the U.S. by the architects of the Sept. 11th attacks.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fbi-agent-body-osama-bin-laden-article-1.2129500

New York Mobster John (Junior) Gotti Brags He Lied To Feds, Insists He's Not A 'Rat'

John Marzulli at the New York Daily News offers a piece on John "Junior" Gotti.

John (Junior) Gotti wants to make one thing perfectly clear — he’s not a rat.

In a sitdown with the Daily News, the mob scion and his lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman gave their most detailed explanation to date of Gotti’s stunning decision to sit down with federal prosecutors in 2005 for a proffer session where he discussed crimes of his own — and of other mobsters in the Gambino crime family.

But he insists the “rat” label is unfair, because he intentionally provided bad information to the feds he felt sick talking to.

“No one got indicted,” said Gotti, who recently published a memoir titled “Shadow of My Father.”

“No one suffered but me.”

Gotti acknowledged that his old-school father, the late Gambino boss John Gotti, would never have approved of the legal strategy. But Junior said he was in a bad place at the time.

He was facing trial on racketeering and stock fraud charges that could put him away for 100 years if he were convicted. Gotti was furious over the indictment because he thought federal prosecutors had given him coverage on those alleged charges from a prior plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office.

Gotti said he planned to give the feds information that was either useless or out-and-out false, and refused to ever testify against anyone. He hoped that prosecutors would give him a sweetheart plea deal while he would get two of his archenemies, reputed capo Daniel Marino and associate Joseph (Joe the German) Watts, jammed up with the feds.

The plan made no sense to anyone except Gotti — and got him excoriated as a “rat” by his ex-underling John Alite.

Alite cut a deal to get out of prison and somehow got ahold of the five-page summary of Gotti’s blabbing, and published the secret FBI report in his memoir, “Gotti’s Rules.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/exclusive-john-junior-gotti-brags-lied-feds-article-1.2118025

George Anastasia offers the documentation mentioned above in his book on John Alite and the Gotti family.

You can read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of Gotti's Rules via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2015/02/my-philadelphia-inquirer-review-of.html

Ex-Bonanno Crime Family Boss Joseph Massino Wins Release For Role As Informant

John Marzulli at the New York Daily News offers a piece on former Bonanno Cosa Nostra organized crime family boss.

Now he’s on his way to being a fat, free fella.

Ailing ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, the highest-ranking American Mafioso to turn rat, received his reward Wednesday for cooperating — two life sentences reduced to time served.
The pear-shaped Massino will walk out of a secret federal prison in 60 days — having served 10½ years for eight gangland murders — and into the witness protection program, where he will be relocated and given a new identity, according to lawyer Edward McDonald.

“The court is under no illusions about the motives for Mr. Massino’s cooperation,” said Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who resentenced the legendary gangster in Brooklyn Federal Court. “In helping the government, he has also helped himself, and his cooperation in no way excuses or justifies his life of crime.”

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-crime-boss-massino-wins-release-article-1.1396188

Former Bonanno Crime Family Boss Scheduled To Testify Against Successor

John Marzulli at The New York Daily News reports that former Bonanno Cosa Nostra crime family boss Joesph Massino will take the stand against his successor, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano.

Massino (seen in the above FBI mugshot is the highest-ranking Cosa Nostra member to cooperate with the government.

You can read the newspaper story via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2011/04/09/2011-04-09_mafia_legends_turning_in_graves_as_exbonanno_boss_to_rat_out_successor_at_trial_.html 

You can also read how the FBI's forensic accounting brought down Massino via the below link:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2005/november/massino_110205