Goodfellas gangster Vinny Asaro was fingered in $6M Lufthansa heist
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Mobster Vinny Asaro didn’t go down in a blaze of bullets on a New York Metropolis avenue.
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As a substitute, the infamous Bonanno crime household capo died quietly at his dwelling in Queens. He was 86.
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However Asaro’s lengthy lifetime of crime was something however quiet. He was fingered within the now infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK airport depicted within the iconic mob film, Goodfellas.
He beat the rap in 2015 however was later caged for an “unrelated highway rage arson conviction”, the New York Submit reported. He was launched from jail three years in the past due to his failing well being.
Asaro was the final surviving member of the crew that pulled off a $6 million theft. The others preceded him to the morgue through bullets or in the event that they have been fortunate, pure causes.
The profession felony was born into a lifetime of crime. Each his father and uncle have been members of the Bonanno crime household so it was becoming Asaro would comply with, changing into a capo within the mid-Seventies.
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Cops mentioned that Aasaro was a part of the Lufthansa caper that was the brainchild of felony mastermind, Lucchese affiliate James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke. His character was portrayed by Robert DeNiro in Goodfellas.
For weeks, the heist staff plotted and schemed at Burke’s Queens dive bar, Robert’s Lounge. The plotters hoped for a $2 million rating however as a substitute, the take was thrice that a lot.
The staff struck on Dec. 11, 1978, making off with a king’s ransom in money and jewels.
“We loaded 50 bins,” stool pigeon and Aasaro’s cousin Gaspare Valenti testified on the 2015 trial. “There have been burlap sacks of gold chains, crates of watches, metallic bins with three drawers in them — and every drawer had diamonds and emeralds in it.
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“And we loaded every little thing into the van. It was euphoria. We thought there was $2 million in money and there was $6 million. With out the gold. With out the German cash.”
On the 2015 trial, Asaro was acquitted of his function within the heist and the 1969 rubout of mob affiliate Paul Katz.
Nevertheless, in 2017, the previous mobster despatched thugs to torch the automotive of a driver who lower him off at a site visitors gentle — in 2012.
“I made preparations for somebody to care for it and it was accomplished,” Asaro instructed the choose.
He pleaded responsible and was sentenced to eight years in jail till he was sprung early due to his medical situation in 2020.
His funeral is on Friday in Queens. The precise explanation for demise is unknown presently.
bhunter@postmedia.com
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Goodfellas gangster Vinny Asaro was fingered in $6M Lufthansa heist Source link Goodfellas gangster Vinny Asaro was fingered in $6M Lufthansa heist
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