Vinny “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, former boss of the Bonanno crime family is facing the death penalty in his upcoming trial in the spring of 2011 and a move to a Supermax prison in Colorado. A judge is considering sending him to the Supermax facility to serve out his life sentence after his conviction in 2007 for racketeering and murder charges.
Basciano has been held in lockdown for the last 44 months after allegedly plotting to have a prosecutor, government witness and judge in his previous case killed. Basciano said “no thanks” to the possible move and said the Supermax facility is three times worse then solitary confinement in Brooklyn.
While in solitary Basciano has been able to charm his way through the prison system and has enjoyed many benefits like visits from his ex-wife, mistress and all five lawyers who are working on his case at the taxpayers’ expense. Basciano’s reign as boss over the Bonanno family was short lived and is an example of the constant turnover in leadership that most of today’s major Mafia families are facing.
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