Facebook with Latestnigeriannews  Twieet with latestnigeriannews  RSS Page Feed
Home  |  All Headlines  |  Punch  |  Thisday  |  Daily Sun  |  Vanguard   |  Guardian  |  The Nation  |  Daily Times  |  Daily Trust  |  Daily Independent
World  |  Sports  |  Technology  |  Entertainment  |  Business  |  Politics  |  Tribune  |  Leadership  |  National Mirror  |  BusinessDay  |  More Channels...

Viewing Mode:

Archive:

  1.     Tool Tips    
  2.    Collapsible   
  3.    Collapsed     
Click to view all Entertainment headlines today

Click to view all Sports headlines today

N.Y. jurors urged to convict accused mobster for 'Goodfellas' heist

Published by Business Insider on Fri, 06 Nov 2015


By Joseph AxNEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors urged a New York jury on Friday to convict an octogenarian mobster for his role in an infamous 1978 airport heist that helped inspire the movie "Goodfellas."Vincent Asaro, 80, is a third-generation mobster who spent his entire adult life immersed in organized crime as a member of the Bonanno crime family, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicyn Cooley told jurors in Brooklyn federal court at the end of a three-week trial."He lived by and personally enforced the Mafia's code: 'Death before dishonor,'" she said, noting that Asaro has that phrase tattooed on his arm.Asaro's defense lawyers are expected to give their closing argument later on Friday.Asaro was one of several armed men who stole $6 million in cash and jewelry from a Lufthansa Airlines cargo building at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in December 1978, according to prosecutors.The heist, which remained one of the country's most notorious unsolved crimes until Asaro's arrest in January 2014, provided a key plot point for "Goodfellas," Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning 1990 film.Asaro was closely associated with Jimmy Burke, long thought to be the mastermind of the Lufthansa heist and the inspiration for Robert DeNiro's character in the classic mob movie.Asaro is accused of a laundry list of mob-related crimes, including murder, racketeering and extortion. In 1969, prosecutors say, he and Burke strangled a suspected informant to death with a dog chain before burying the body underneath a house in Queens.That murder, Cooley said, came at a time when Asaro was "desperate" to prove himself as an up-and-coming mobster.The three-week trial saw a parade of former Mafia members who agreed to cooperate with the government testify about murders, retribution and thefts, giving jurors a rare inside look at life in the mob.The key witness, Asaro's cousin Gaspare Valenti, secretly recorded the defendant for years, including conversations in which Asaro complained he did not get his share of the Lufthansa heist.The defense has sought to undermine the credibility of the witnesses, arguing they are liars seeking to avoid prison.(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Lambert)Join the conversation about this story
Click here to read full news..

All Channels Nigerian Dailies: Punch  |  Vanguard   |  The Nation  |  Thisday  |  Daily Sun  |  Guardian  |  Daily Times  |  Daily Trust  |  Daily Independent  |   The Herald  |  Tribune  |  Leadership  |  National Mirror  |  BusinessDay  |  New Telegraph  |  Peoples Daily  |  Blueprint  |  Nigerian Pilot  |  Sahara Reporters  |  Premium Times  |  The Cable  |  PM News  |  APO Africa Newsroom

Categories Today: World  |  Sports  |  Technology  |  Entertainment  |  Business  |  Politics  |  Columns  |  All Headlines Today

Entertainment (Local): Linda Ikeji  |  Bella Naija  |  Tori  |  Pulse  |  The NET  |  DailyPost  |  Information Nigeria  |  Gistlover  |  Lailas Blog  |  Miss Petite  |  Olufamous  |  Stella Dimoko Korkus Blog  |  Ynaija  |  All Entertainment News Today

Entertainment (World): TMZ  |  Daily Mail  |  Huffington Post

Sports: Goal  |  African Football  |  Bleacher Report  |  FTBpro  |  Kickoff  |  All Sports Headlines Today

Business & Finance: Nairametrics  |  Nigerian Tenders  |  Business Insider  |  Forbes  |  Entrepreneur  |  The Economist  |  BusinessTech  |  Financial Watch  |  BusinessDay  |  All Business News Headlines Today

Technology (Local): Techpoint  |  TechMoran  |  TechCity  |  Innovation Village  |  IT News Africa  |  Technology Times  |  Technext  |  Techcabal  |  All Technology News Headlines Today

Technology (World): Techcrunch  |  Techmeme  |  Slashdot  |  Wired  |  Hackers News  |  Engadget  |  Pocket Lint  |  The Verge

International Networks:   |  CNN  |  BBC  |  Al Jazeera  |  Yahoo

Forum:   |  Nairaland  |  Naij

Other Links: Home   |  Nigerian Jobs