Vinny Gorgeous eludes death with a life sentence

Vinny Gorgeous is a Lucky Louie.

Mobster Vincent Basciano, who earned his nickname for his elegant haberdashery, silver-fox coif and stewardship of the Bronx “Hello Gorgeous” beauty parlor, was sentenced to life in prison yesterday yesterday instead of death by lethal injection.

New York has no death penalty, but prosecutors in Brooklyn U.S. District Court sought the death penalty under federal racketeering statutes. Basciano, convicted last month of ordering the 2004 hit on Randy Pizzolo, whom he perceived as insolent ,was already in prison serving a life term for a 2007 murder conviction.

Basciano, 51, is expected to be sent to the infamously strict Cell Block H at the Supermax Prison in Florence, Colo., where his neighbors will be convicted terrorists such as shoe bomber Richard Reid and 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, according to The Daily News. During the sentencing phase of the trial, his lawyers argued that Basciano could pose little threat to others in the highly secure and restrictive lock-up.

During the trial, former mob boss Joseph Massino – the highest-ranking Mafioso ever to turn informant - testified that Basciano had suggested murdering a U.S. attorney for his zealous efforts at prosecuting the Bonanno crime family members.