Ex-mob boss: If not for me, he'd be dead

The New York mob would have killed Vincent Basciano after he took over as acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, but his life was spared when the official family leader refused to sanction any murder attempt, according to testimony Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn.

Former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, who is testifying as a government witness, said a high-ranked member of the Genovese crime family asked whether Basciano should be killed because of the way he brazenly made himself acting boss and was causing dissension on the street.

A feeler about a potential hit on Basciano, testified Massino, was made by "Barney" who was part of the "West Side" or Genovese crime family. Massino may have been referring to a reputed high-ranking member of the Genovese clan. In testimony, though, Barney was not identified.

" 'He thinks he is John Gotti,' " Barney said in complaining about Basciano, according to Massino. Both Massino and Barney were in a federal detention facility at the time, approximately in 2004. "I gave him a pass," said Massino, meaning that he spared Basciano from being killed.

Basciano showed "disrespect" by usurping the reins of the crime family as acting boss in 2004 without approval and was angering many within his own crime family, Massino said. Basciano, a Bronx businessman, put off some in the mob by the way he emulated Gotti by wearing nice suits and also forcing some mobsters to submit to strip searches before gangland meetings to thwart secret tape recordings.

Ironically, Massino, 68, is a key prosecution witness in an attempt to convict Basciano of murder and get him the death penalty. Basciano, 50, is accused of ordering the murder of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo in late 2004.

Massino, the first official mob boss in New York to ever testify as a government witness, has been on the stand since Tuesday. Under cross-examination by defense attorney George Goltzer, Massino reiterated his life of crime and admitting playing a role in 10 homicides over the years. Questioned by Goltzer about his motivation for becoming a cooperating witness following his conviction in July 2004, Massino said he didn't care about old mob loyalties but switched sides to protect his wife, children and elderly mother by safeguarding some assets.

As part of his cooperation agreement, Massino turned over $12 million in assets to the government, including about 500 gold bars stored in the basement of his Howard Beach home, and $7 million in cash stored in the attic.

Under questioning by Goltzer, Massino admitted his wife retained interests under the deal in eight pieces of real estate that generate her an income -- money he thought would be his pension.

Testimony resumes Monday.