| Vincent Basciano | |
| Birth Name: | Vincent John Basciano |
| Birth Date: | 14 November 1959 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Alias: | Vinny Gorgeous Vinny from the Bronx Vinny B |
| Allegiance: | Bonanno crime family |
| Conviction: | Weapons possession (1987) Racketeering, conspiracy, illegal gambling, attempted murder (2006) Racketeering, conspiracy, murder, illegal gambling, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, solicitation of murder (2007) Racketeering, murder, conspiracy, firearms possession (2011) |
| Conviction Penalty: | One year imprisonment (1987) Life Imprisonment (2008) Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (2011) |
| Occupation: | Crime boss |
| Predecessor: | Joseph Massino |
| Successor: | Michael Mancuso |
Vincent John Basciano (pronounced as /it/; born November 14, 1959)[1] is an American mobster who became acting boss of the Bonanno crime family after the arrest of Joseph Massino.[2] Basciano was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 2011.
Basciano is nicknamed "Vinny Gorgeous", due to owning a Bronx beauty salon called "Hello Gorgeous", and for his fastidious grooming, hairstyle and looks. In 2011, reporters noted that despite being imprisoned in solitary confinement the past four years, Basciano still looked perfectly groomed in the courtroom.[3]
Arrested in 2004, after a lengthy trial, Basciano was convicted in a racketeering trial for running illegal gambling and attempted murder on May 6, 2006. However, due to a hung jury, Basciano was not convicted of the 2001 murder of Frank Santoro.[4] [5]
After Basciano's first murder trial, prosecutors retried him on those counts on which the jury hung in the first trial. On August 1, 2007, Basciano was convicted of murdering Santoro, who tried to kidnap Basciano's son.[6] [7]
Previous Bonanno boss Joseph Massino turned state's evidence in 2004 and reported that Basciano had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after Massino failed a polygraph test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when the acting boss Basciano met Massino in jail. Jurors heard one recording of Basciano boasting, "I'm a hoodlum. I'm a tough guy. Whatever happens happens. Let's go." In another, a wistful Massino mused about the demise of the family. "We was OK until I got pinched," he said. "We was on top of the world."[8] While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admitting to ordering the murder of associate Randolph "Randy" Pizzolo.[8] [9] On May 16, 2011, Basciano was convicted of ordering the 2004 murder of Pizzolo.[10] On June 1, 2011, a jury rejected a prosecution request for the death penalty and instead sentenced Basciano to life imprisonment.[11] [12] Basciano was initially serving his life sentence at the supermax prison ADX Florence, but was transferred to the nearby United States Penitentiary, Florence High in Florence, Colorado[13] [14] for a time, then USP Big Sandy, and is currently incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Coleman.[15]
On March 6, 2014, Basciano's cousin and lawyer Stephen DiCarmine was indicted and charged with defrauding $250 million in bonds, while being the executive director of white-shoe law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf.[16] [17]