Mobster found guilty of seven murders

NEW YORK – In a clean sweep for prosecutors, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino on Friday of seven gangland murders and other crimes in what officials said was a bloody run as the last of the big mob bosses.

Massino, 61, showed no emotion as the jury forewoman took 10 minutes to read off the guilty findings.

Massino, betrayed by numerous cronies who turned government witness, looked at his wife, Josephine, and shrugged as the verdict was announced.

She also showed no emotion as the guilty findings were reeled off, occasionally looking down at the floor or giving a look of disbelief at her daughter Adeline.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis set Oct. 12 for sentencing. Massino could be sentenced to life in prison. A second murder indictment, which is death-penalty eligible, is set for trial next year.

After a nine-week trial, the jury of 10 women and two men found Massino guilty of racketeering charges that included loan-sharking, extortion, gambling and money laundering.

“Massino’s conviction marks an important step in our fight against organized crime in New York,” U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said after the verdict.

Late Friday the jury was hearing evidence on the money Massino is believed to have earned from his illegal businesses, estimated to run from $6.9 million to $10.4 million.

The jury found that Massino engineered the murders of three Bonanno crime captains in 1981 who were part of a faction rivaling Philip Rastelli, then the family boss. Murdered in a Brooklyn social club on May 5, 1981, were Alphonse Indelicato, Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera.

Massino also was convicted of a role in the murder later that year of another Bonanno captain, Dominick Napolitano. Witnesses at the trial said Napolitano was killed after he unwittingly allowed FBI undercover agent Joseph Pistone, posing as gangster “Donnie Brasco,” to infiltrate the crime family.

Massino’s defense attorney David Breitbart conceded during the trial that his client was a member of the mob and may have been the boss.

But Breitbart asked the jury to disregard the testimony of eight government witnesses – including that of six members of the crime family – who implicated Massino in the murders.