Witness: Alleged mobster Gioeli wanted out

Just before his arrest, alleged Colombo family leader Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli of Farmingdale had a come-to-Jesus moment, expressing a desire to leave the mob during a conversation in a church courtyard, a former henchman testified Tuesday.

The 59-year-old Gioeli, accused of six 1990s murders, and his top lieutenant, soldier Dino Calabro, confided in hit man and friend Joseph "Joey Caves" Competiello during a discussion of a flood of subpoenas in 2008 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in North Massapequa, Competiello testified in Brooklyn federal court.

"They said they -- Gioeli and Calabro -- wanted to give up their positions and get out of the life," Competiello said.

The three friends, who all lived in Farmingdale at one point, were charged with racketeering in June 2008. Competiello became an informant in late 2008, and Calabro began cooperating in 2010. In testimony last week, Calabro said Gioeli passed on an order to kill Colombo underboss William Cutolo in the same church garden in 1999.

Gioeli faces up to life in prison on murders that include Cutolo and the 1997 ambush of NYPD Officer Ralph Dols. He is accused of overseeing the burial of three bodies, including Cutolo's, in a mob graveyard in Farmingdale. Co-defendant Dino Saracino of Brooklyn is charged with participating in three murders as a member of Gioeli's crew.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan Tuesday warned Competiello -- who called Saracino "my friend" when he identified him in court -- and the two defendants to refrain from engaging in "hand signals" in court.

The judge didn't elaborate, but a lawyer involved in the case said a juror had complained that Gioeli and Competiello appeared to be exchanging secret gestures. "I am not saying there has been, but if there is there will be consequences," Cogan said.

Completing his second day on the stand, Competiello tied Gioeli to the murders of Dols, Cutolo and mob associate Richard Greaves. But the defense scored points when Competiello admitted that FBI notes of his initial 2008 debriefings did not mention Gioeli's role in the Greaves and Cutolo killings.