Passage of the week: 'Ex-NY mob boss makes history with trial testimony'

Joseph "Big Joey" Massino.

Tony Hays recently wrote an interesting article for Yahoo! News about 68-year-old ex-mob boss, Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, who "made gangland history by becoming the highest-ranking member of [New York City's] five Italian organized crime families to break their sacred vow of silence and testify against one of their own" (Hays). 

Massino, who is serving two consecutive life terms for eight murders, agreed with authorities to wear a wire in 2005 and secretly recorded 50-year-old Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano admitting that he "ordered a hit on an associate who ran afoul of the secretive [Bonanno crime family]" (Hays).

Massino took the the witness stand at Basciano's Brooklyn trial on Tuesday and identified Basciano as the crime family's former acting boss. Basciano, who faces the death penalty if convicted of racketeering, murder, and other charges; just stared back at Massino and "steadily [chewed] on a piece of gum" (Hays).

Massino's  cooperation with police violated the sacred oath he took during an induction ceremony to protect the secret society in 1977, but "spared his wife from prosecution, allowed her to keep their home[,] and gave him a shot at a reduced sentence" (Hays).

This article was very informative, gave great insight into the history of the currently case being dealt with, and did so in an easily comprehensible way. The article is also about an interesting topic, organized crime, which makes it appealing.

Works Cited

Hays, Tony. "Ex-NY mob boss makes history with trial testimony." Yahoo! News. Yahoo! Inc, 12 April 2011. Web. 14 April 2011.