Vincent John Basciano (; born November 14, 1959) is an American mobster who became

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

of the

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

after the arrest of boss

Joseph Massino Joseph Charles Massino (born January 10, 1943) is an American former mobster. He was a member of the Mafia and boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the Five Families in New York City to tu ...

. Basciano was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 2011.

Biography

Basciano is nicknamed "Vinny Gorgeous", due to owning a

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

beauty salon called "Hello Gorgeous", and for his fastidious grooming, hairstyle and looks. In 2011, reporters noted that despite being imprisoned in solitary confinement the past four years, Basciano still looked perfectly groomed in the courtroom. Arrested in 2004, after a lengthy trial, Basciano was convicted in a racketeering trial for running

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, c ...

and attempted murder on May 6, 2006. However, due to a

hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again. ...

, Basciano was not convicted of the 2001 murder of Frank Santoro. After Basciano's first murder trial, prosecutors retried him on those counts on which the jury hung in the first trial. On August 1, 2007, Basciano was convicted of murdering Santoro, who tried to kidnap Basciano's son. Previous Bonanno boss

turned state's evidence A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a witness for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or immunity from prosecution.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized C ...

in 2004 and reported that Basciano had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after Massino failed a

polygraph A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked an ...

test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when the acting boss Basciano met Massino in jail. Jurors heard one recording of Basciano boasting, "I'm a hoodlum. I'm a tough guy. Whatever happens happens. Let's go." In another, a wistful Massino mused about the demise of the family. "We was OK until I got pinched," he said. "We was on top of the world.". While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admitting to ordering the murder of associate Randolph "Randy" Pizzolo. On May 16, 2011, Basciano was convicted of ordering the 2004 murder of Pizzolo, On June 1, 2011, a jury rejected a prosecution request for the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and instead sentenced Basciano to life imprisonment. Basciano was initially serving his life sentence at the supermax prison

ADX Florence The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...

, but was transferred to the nearby

United States Penitentiary, Florence High The United States Penitentiary, Florence High (USP Florence High) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice ...

Florence, Colorado The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,822 at the 2020 United States Census. Florence is a part of the Cañon City, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area and the Front ...

for a time and is currently incarcerated at

USP Big Sandy The United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy (USP Big Sandy) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in unincorporated Martin County, Kentucky, near the city of Inez. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a divisi ...

. On March 6, 2014, Basciano's cousin and lawyer Stephen DiCarmine was indicted and charged with defrauding $250 million in bonds, while being the executive director of

white-shoe A white-shoe firm is an American term used to describe prestigious professional services firms that have traditionally been associated with the upper-class elite who graduated from Ivy League colleges. The term is most often used to describe leadi ...

law firm

Dewey & LeBoeuf Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP was a global law firm headquartered in New York City, United States. Some of the firm's leaders were indicted for fraud for their role in allegedly cooking the company's books to obtain loans while hiding the firm's financial ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basciano, Vincent American people convicted of murder Bosses of the Bonanno crime family

Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

Gangsters sentenced to life imprisonment People convicted of racketeering 1959 births Living people Inmates of ADX Florence American people of Italian descent

Biography

See also

References