Massino: Boss Gotti plotted his killing

In La Cosa Nostra, it's your friends who can hurt you.

Turncoat Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino testified Monday that there was a plot in the 1990s to kill him by the late Gambino boss John Gotti, an old friend from Howard Beach, and another highly ranked Bonanno family member.

Massino said that he only learned of the plot after his arrest in January 2003, when a major Genovese crime family member identified as "Barney" told him of the secret plan while in jail.

But the purported plot between Gotti and Massino's brother-in-law and underboss Salvatore Vitale never came to fruition because Gotti himself was arrested in late 1990, said Massino.

"When I came out [of prison] John Gotti was in prison already, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here today," said Massino, 68, who is testifying as a government witness in the death penalty trial of Vincent Basciano, one of his former captains. The case is being heard before Judge Nicholas Garaufis in federal court in Brooklyn.

Massino's testimony about the plot came during his fourth day on the witness stand. During his cross-examination by defense attorney Richard Jasper, Massino related how mobsters lie to each other when it suits them. During taped conversations with Basciano in jail, Massino indicated both men told each other only part of the truth about crime family activity.

The defense is trying to show that Basciano was lying when he indicated to Massino that he knew of and approved the death of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo in late 2003.

In the mob world, Massino and Gotti were neighbors and friends in Howard Beach, although previous testimony in other cases indicated the Gambino mobster didn't think much of Massino. Both men committed crimes together. Vitale, who is the brother of Massino's wife, Josephine, has testified in other cases that he developed a hatred for Massino.

According to Massino, Vitale and Gotti were plotting against him and would have killed him when he came out of prison in 1993.

"If John was in the street, I believe John and my brother-in-law would have had me killed," testified Massino.

Gotti was arrested in December 1990 and was given a life sentence in 1992. He died in June 2002 in prison.

Vitale was a cooperating witness against Massino, who was convicted in July 2004 on federal racketeering charges.

The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday.