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| In this courtroom sketch, Vincent Asaro, 80, third from left, sits flanked by his defense attorneys during opening arguments, Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, at federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York, in his federal racketeering conspiracy trial for his role in the $6 million, 1978 Lufthansa cargo heist at John F. Kennedy airport. The dramatic robbery was immortalized in the film “Goodfellas.” Asaro is charged, along with his son, Jerome, and three other defendants, in a wide-ranging indictment alleging murder, robbery, extortion, arson and other crimes from the late 1960s through 2013. |
NEW YORK
(AP) -- The robbery crew that pulled off one of the biggest heists in
U.S. history - the $6 million Lufthansa theft immortalized in
"Goodfellas" - was elated at first, but became fearful of being robbed
itself, a turncoat mobster testified Tuesday at the trial of his former
Mafia boss.
The defendant, Vincent Asaro, was
"very happy, really euphoric" when he learned about the mountain of $100
bills scored in the armed holdup in 1978, Gaspare Valenti told a jury
in Brooklyn federal court. "We thought there was going to be $2 million
in cash and there was $6 million."
But Valenti
testified that the joy quickly evaporated when Asaro warned him, "We've
got to be real careful now. They'll look to rob us. They'll look to
kill us. It could be anyone who hears of the score."
The
testimony marked the first time Valenti, who is Asaro's cousin, has
publicly given his blow-by-blow account of the heist. Prosecutors say he
voluntarily came forward in 2008, implicated Asaro and agreed to
testify against him in violation of the Mafia's once-sacred vow of
silence.
After taking the witness stand
Tuesday, Valenti, 68, was asked to point out Asaro in the courtroom and
describe an article of clothing he was wearing - a blue V-neck sweater.
He then described how he started committing robberies, arson and other
crimes for the 80-year-old defendant in the 1960s as an obedient
Bonanno
organized crime family associate.
"I was very close with him. ... We had, like, a bond," he said.
Valenti
testified that his involvement in the heist orchestrated by James
"Jimmy the Gent" Burke - played by Robert De Niro in the movie - began
when Asaro told him, "Jimmy Burke has a big score at the airport coming
up, and you're invited to go."
The plan called
for Valenti and another robber to take a stolen black van to the
airport terminal and use bolt cutters to break into a side entrance, he
said. Once inside the terminal, they teamed up with other armed and
masked bandits who were holding several workers hostage in a lunch room,
he said.
The crew forced one of the workers
to open a safe, where they discovered dozens of boxes containing packets
holding $125,000 each, bags of gold chains and containers with precious
gems that they threw into the van, he said. They then fled and
rendezvoused with Asaro and Burke, who were in a car about a mile away,
he said.
Asked if the crew had an escape plan,
Valenti responded, "No. It's amazing - a robbery that big and nothing
was discussed about where to go afterward."
Asaro
and Burke decided the haul should be put in the basement of Valenti's
Brooklyn home before it was moved to various stash houses, the witness
said. Burke "gave very little money out at the beginning," he said, and
when he did, it was with a caveat: Don't spend it in a lavish way that
would draw the attention of law enforcement.
Still,
he said, Asaro used it to buy a second home, a boat and a Bill Blass
designer edition of a Lincoln Continental. Prosecutors have said Asaro
also gambled away a big chunk of his $750,000 cut at the racetrack.
Valenti
testified that as years passed, his own gambling habit put him deeper
and deeper in debt and at odds with Asaro. He was expected to resume
testifying on Wednesday.
The defense has
accused Valenti and other admitted mobsters expected to testify at the
trial of framing Asaro to win leniency in their own cases. If convicted
of racketeering conspiracy and other charges, he faces a maximum
sentence of life in prison.
