File Photo
John j. Gotti (pictured) and Vincent Asaro were indicted in March.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Reputed Bonanno organized crime family captain Vincent Asaro and mob scion John J. Gotti will soon be sentenced in Brooklyn federal court, and according to a report published on Monday, prosecutors are looking to lock up the former for the rest of his days.
The New York Daily News has learned that the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York has recommended a 15-year prison term for the 82-year-old Asaro for his role in a five-year-old arson case for which he and Gotti were indicted back in March.
Both defendants have reached guilty-plea agreements with federal prosecutors.
According to the charges, in early April 2012, Asaro was traveling in a car in Howard Beach when he became enraged at another motorist who had cut him off at a traffic light. Asaro chased the other vehicle at a high rate of speed. Later, after obtaining the home address of the owner of the other vehicle, Asaro directed an associate of the Bonanno family to set fire to that vehicle. That associate then recruited Gotti and co-defendant Matthew “Fat Matt” Rullan to help him carry out the arson.
Gotti, the grandson of the late Gambino boss John Gotti, and Rullan drove in Gotti’s Jaguar sedan to a service station in the pre-dawn hours of April 4, 2012, where they filled a container with gasoline and proceeded to the residence of the owner of the other vehicle. The Bonanno associate doused the vehicle with gasoline, and Rullan ignited it. A City Police Department officer in an unmarked car observed the crime in progress and pursued the Jaguar on a high-speed chase through borough streets until he terminated the pursuit for safety reasons due to Gotti’s reckless driving.
The following day, the Bonanno associate told Asaro about the arson, and Asaro drove to the auto body shop where the burned vehicle had been towed to confirm that his order had been carried out.
In addition to the arson, Gotti has pleaded guilty to robbing the Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan Association on 69th Street in Maspeth along with two cohorts.
Gotti, 24, was taken into federal custody just weeks after he was sentenced to eight years in prison for admitting to selling massive amounts of prescription painkillers in Howard Beach and Ozone Park.
Several Gotti family members reportedly have written letters to the court on his behalf, imploring the judge to show leniency in sentencing.
