Mobster In 'Goodfellas' Case, Grandson Of John Gotti Arrested On Arson Charges
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An aging mobster who two years ago beat charges in the legendary 1978 Lufthansa heist retold in the film "Goodfellas" has been rearrested.
Vincent Asaro, a third generation member of the secretive Bonanno crime family, is expect to be arraigned Wednesday on arson charges. Also charged in the arson and in an unrelated bank robbery was John J. Gotti, the namesake grandson of the notorious Gambino crime family boss John "Dapper Don" Gotti.
The defendants "are charged with committing an assortment of violent crimes -- arson to exact punishment for a perceived slight and robberies to unjustly enrich themselves," acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde said in a statement announcing the arrests.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that in April 2012, Asaro set fire to a vehicle in Howard Beach after the owner of the vehicle had cut him off at a traffic light and angered him on the roadway.
Prosecutors allege Asaro recruited Gotti to help carry out the Howard Beach arson and provided Gotti with the address to the home of the driver. The alleged arsonists fled in a Jaguar sedan driven by Gotti that briefly led a police car on a high-speed chase before officers "terminated the pursuit for safety reasons due to Gotti's reckless driving," prosecutors said.
Gotti is also charged with allegedly aiding in the robbery of the Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan Association several weeks after the incident.
Five other suspects believed to be connected to the Bonanno organized crime family were also arrested on various charges.
Asaro's attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 23-year-old Gotti pleaded guilty last month for his role in a Queens drug ring. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
In 2015, a Brooklyn jury found the 82-year-old Asaro not guilty of charges he orchestrated the Lufthansa robbery with James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke. A turncoat mob associate testified that Asaro and Burke killed a suspected informant with a dog chain. The defense argued Asaro was framed.
Asaro later survived a bloodbath portrayed in "Goodfellas," with De Niro's character going ballistic over fellow mobsters' purchases of flashy cars and furs and, fearing they would attract law enforcement attention, having them whacked. Prosecutors -- relying on the testimony of turncoat mobsters who came forward decades later -- claimed Asaro collected at least $500,000 from the score but had a gambling problem and squandered it away at the racetrack.
If convicted on the federal charges, Asaro and Gotti face terms of up to 20 years.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
