'Vinny Gorgeous' escapes death penalty

In a sharp rebuff to the Justice Department, a federal jury in Brooklyn took just 90 minutes Wednesday to reject the death penalty for mobster Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano and unanimously agree on a life sentence.

Basciano, 51, the charismatic former acting boss of the Bonanno family, waved to his ex-wife and sons, smiled and nodded at jurors, and unsuccessfully asked the judge to let him meet them. He will serve his sentence at a high-security federal prison in Colorado.

The anonymous jury, which convicted Basciano of the murder of mob associate Randy Pizzolo in the first phase of the trial, had to unanimously agree on death. Instead, it did the opposite -- unanimously voting for life in prison.

Jurors also rejected key parts of the government's death case in their answers on a detailed verdict sheet. Ten expressed skepticism about the deals given to other murderous mob figures -- such as former Bonanno boss Joe Massino -- who testified against Basciano.

"There are other members of organized crime that have admitted to an equal or greater number of serious crimes that are not facing the death penalty, much less incarcerated," those jurors wrote in as a factor weighing against death.

Basciano's lawyers said the verdict raised questions about Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to go ahead with the case after presiding U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis asked him to review it last year.

"We're extremely relieved," said defense attorney Richard Jasper. "We tried to convince the attorney general this was not a death case, and the jury confirmed that with a life sentence in less than two hours. The expense and the cost of this prosecution was enormous."

The Justice Department did not return a call, and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch declined to comment after the verdict. A spokesman later said, "We respect their verdict."

Basciano, whose power base was in the Bronx, briefly rose to prominence in the Bonanno family after Massino's arrest. But he has been in federal custody since 2004, and already faced one life sentence on his 2007 conviction for killing mob associate Frank Santoro.

The last execution of a significant mob figure occurred more than 50 years ago. But the government argued that seeking the death penalty was justified for Basciano because in addition to killing Pizzolo and Santoro, he hatched a plot in prison to kill a prosecutor.

Summations Wednesday focused on the Supermax prison in Florence, Colo., where Basciano will be housed.

Prosecutors argued he could still exercise mob power from behind bars. Jasper said Basciano would live out his days in isolation.