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- Vincent Basciano has spent 11 years in solitary confinement “under conditions usually reserved for terrorists”
- Transfer made from the supermax prison in Florence, Colo to federal penitentiary in eastern Kentucky described as a “cleaner version of Hell”
- Basciano has been awaiting trial on racketeering and murder charges
- Prosecutors in 2006 feared Basciano was maintaining a “hit list”
The former mob boss of the Bonanno crime family, Vincent “Gorgeous” Basciano, has been transferred to a new prison described as a “cleaner version of Hell”.
According to the New York Daily News, Basciano, 56, has spent 11 years in solitary confinement “under conditions usually reserved for terrorists” while awaiting trial in a New York City racketeering, illegal gambling and murder case. The transfer was made from the supermax prison in Florence, Colo to a federal penitentiary in eastern Kentucky called Big Sandy.
From the Daily News:
Basciano’s dangerousness was attributed to a handwritten slip of paper that he passed to another inmate in 2006 which contained the names of a federal judge, federal prosecutor and cooperating witnesses.
Prosecutors feared it was a hit list, while Basciano maintained he simply wanted the inmate to put a Santeria hex on his adversaries before his trial.
Basciano has a new lawyer, Mathew Mari, who calls the “hit list” claim bogus, claiming the feds made up the story to break down his client’s spirit.
“The reason Vinny survived so many years in solitary is because he is a man,” Mari told The Daily News.
“That might sound trite, but Vinny has a personal code of conduct. It’s not about ‘omerta,’ and it’s not about loyalty, it’s just about being a man. Vinny is not a rat.”
The Daily News, in its exclusive report, also noted that Basciano did not socialize with the infamous terrorists hold in the Colorado supermax prison such as Ramzi Yousef, Eric Rudolph or the Unabomber, during recreation hour, although they were separated in cages.
“He got to see all of them and he said they were a bunch of pathetic psychotics,” Mari said.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
