Gasper Valenti testimony notes (Asaro Trial)

[B.]

Gasper "Gary" Valenti is a well-known name given he is Vincent Asaro's younger cousin who participated directly in the Lufthansa Heist and cooperated against his cousin, wearing a wire and testifying in recent years. Valenti never became a made member, though he was proposed alongside Jerry Asaro in the 1980s. Due to gambling debts and general irresponsibility he was never made. Asaro relative Giacomo Bonventre offered to propose Valenti for membership again at Valenti's insistence in the 2010s while he was cooperating, but like much of Valenti's underworld career, it never panned out.

Vincent Asaro has long been of interest to me, as he fits into a large, enduring mafia clan that goes back to the earliest days of the Bonanno family and Castellammare Del Golfo, even connecting to the Montreal decina. While Valenti was never made and often suffered humiliation at the hands of Asaro, he was also Asaro's constant companion and confidant and Asaro spoke openly about the mafia with him, including membership and protocol, some of which was captured on tape. Valenti gives us a great glimpse into the sprawling Asaro mafia clan and he also fits into mafia pop culture via the Lufthansa connection.

As the central witness in the Asaro trial, Valenti provided decades of information plus analysis of the tapes he recorded during his years of cooperation. Most of this post is going to be background info from his first couple of decades associating with the Bonanno family, though I hope to add future notes on some of his other testimony as time allows.

Background with the Asaro Clan and Mafia Association

- Vincent Asaro's mother was the sister of Gasper Valenti's father. As a kid, Valenti became aware of Vincent's father Jerry Asaro's membership in the mafia based on the respect the elder Asaro was given. Later Vincent Asaro told Valenti that his father Jerry was a member. Valenti's own father was not associated with the mafia.

- The relation between some of the Asaro clan is explained by Valenti as follows:
* Gasper Valenti's father Anthony was the brother of Vincent Asaro's mother.
* Vincent Asaro's sister married Richie Giallanzo, and two of her sons are current Bonanno member Ronnie Giallanzo and associate Bobby Giallanzo.
* Valenti's father Anthony also had a sister with a son named Gasper "Gary" Ferreri Sr., who in turn had a son Gasper "Gary" Ferreri Jr.
* The court had a family tree chart showing the connections and though they didn't list all of the names, they said there were many different relatives named Gasper/Gaspare who used the nickname "Gary".

- Valenti first began committing crimes as a teenager with his cousin Gaspare Asaro, described as the brother of Vincent. When Valenti was in his early 20s, the elder Jerry Asaro recruited him to commit a robbery with two other associates of Asaro, Frank "Roto" (ph) and Marco Leonetti. The target was a newspaper press on Long Island. Due to a miscommunication, Valenti showed up to the robbery dressed up in a suit and ended up committing the robbery with a pellet gun, netting $63.

- Following the above robbery, the elder Jerry Asaro asked Valenti if he wanted to continue with "this life" and Valenti agreed. At this time Valenti was officially put "on record" as a Bonanno associate with soldier Jerry Asaro. Asaro told Valenti to act like a gentleman and told him to shave the mustache he had.

- In the 1960s, Valenti lived across the street from Vincent Asaro in "the Hole" neighborhood (same area where the three Bonanno captains were buried). Many mafia figures lived and hung out near "the Hole." In Valenti's opinion he and Asaro were closer than cousins, with a very strong "bond".

- Valenti first became criminally involved with Vincent Asaro when the two men began selling pornography supplied by Asaro's uncle, Bonanno captain Mickey Zaffarano. Zaffarano owned the Pussycat Theater and is notorious for his involvement in the national pornography industry. Asaro supplied Valenti with individual film reels to sell and warned Valenti that they belonged to "Uncle Mickey" and if he "screwed up" he (Valenti) would be killed. Valenti gave 100% of the profits from these sales to Asaro, who told Valenti they would first give the money to Zaffarano before splitting it up but Valenti was never given his share.

- As Valenti become more directly involved in committing crimes with Vincent Asaro, both Asaro and Valenti were officially associates of Jerry Asaro, but Valenti was more or less reporting to Vincent even though both men were associates.

- Another early crime given to Valenti by his uncle the elder Jerry Asaro was the robbery of a bowling alley that had a catering hall inside of it. The hall was used for weddings and the company's earnings from these weddings was taken to a certain bank after each event. Valenti dressed as a woman, wearing a wig, red boots, and a woman's coat, and waited with associate Joseph Bulger. While they were waiting, a carload of men started harassing Valenti because he was dressed like a woman but had a beard. Bulger pulled a pistol on the guys to defend Valenti's "honor" (Valenti's words), but Valenti told him to leave it alone given they were waiting to commit a robbery. The robbery was successful and a few thousand dollars were split between his uncle Jerry, Vincent Asaro, Bulger, and Valenti. Valenti says he received very little of the money.

- The first of Vincent Asaro's loanshark customers Valenti worked with was a neighborhood drunk named Bobby Marshall who had taken out a $100 loan and owed $10 in interest each week. Marshall would pay Valenti, but then Asaro would approach Marshall when he was drunk on the weekend and tell him he hadn't paid and Marshall would pay again. Valenti says this went on "forever" and Marshall paid off his loan multiple times over without knowing. Valenti received none of the profits. Later he learned that Asaro's loansharking operation was funded by a loan from Jimmy Burke's loan operation.

- Valenti believes Vincent Asaro became a made member in 1977 or 1978. Valenti drove Asaro to a Brooklyn diner and dropped him off but did not pick him up and later Asaro told Valenti he had been "straightened out" in the mausoleum of a cemetery. According to Valenti, Asaro was sponsored for membership by both his father Jerry Asaro and uncle Mickey Zaffarano.

- Upon Vincent Asaro's induction, Valenti was officially placed on record with Vincent Asaro instead of his father Jerry. He knew Vincent Asaro to be under captain Mickey Zaffarano. Along with Vincent's father Jerry, Valenti knew that Vincent's grandfather (Vincenzo) had been a member. Valenti didn't mention it, but Vincent Asaro's great-grandfather Girolamo appears to have been a mafia figure in Castellammare Del Golfo and early NYC, but he died in a fire in 1911 so he may not have been as familiar to the younger generations. Again it isn't mentioned by Valenti, but Vincent's uncle Joseph Asaro was also a made member of the Bonanno family who moved to Montreal and worked for capodecina Vic Cotroni.

Involvement with the "Goodfellas" Crowd

- Valenti sold "swag" for Asaro, which Asaro obtained from hijacking trucks with Jimmy Burke. Valenti would later commit crimes with Jimmy Burke himself. Valenti respected Burke as Burke was good at generating money and had a reputation for being quick to kill people.

- Among those who Valenti remembers hanging out at Robert's Lounge were Vinnie Asaro, Jimmy Santos, John Savino, Tony Desimone, Henry Hill, Joe Buddha Manri, Danny Rizzo, Angelo Sepe, Anthony Rodriguez, Louie Cafora, and "Frenchie". He says the lounge was owned by Burke, Vincent Asaro, Jimmy Santos, and John Savino. Valenti described Asaro and Burke as "partners in crime."

- Asaro and Valenti were also involved in a credit card scam. Valenti received stolen credit cards from Henry Hill and used them to buy items for Vinnie Asaro, which would later be sold. For whatever reason, Valenti bought "a lot of boots" for Asaro.

- Valenti says Daniel Rizzo, who participated in the Lufthansa heist with him, was an associate of the Lucchese family who was later made. He continued to meet with Rizzo in the 2010s during his cooperation.

- Following the Lufthansa heist, some of the score (which was initially stored at Valenti's home) was taken to the Persico property upstate by Colombo associate Angelo Sepe.

- Associates on record with the elder Jerry Asaro helped store some of the Lufthansa loot, including Dominic Ginero, "Johnny Tag", Frank Roder, and "Ronnie" LNU. Some or all of these names might be phonetic.

- Captains Mickey Zaffarano and Paul Vario each received $100k from the Lufthansa score. Peter Vario also received a cut, though Valenti was confused as Peter had no involvement in the score (it doesn't specify which Peter Vario). Later when Asaro was assigned to Joe Massino he gave Massino some of the jewelry as a tribute. Some of the money and jewlery was distributed to the surviving participants from the robbery over a period of time afterward and Valenti says both he and Asaro received their full share of $750k each, with Asaro buying a home, cars, and a boat, as well as gambling away some of the money. Valenti gambled away much of his end. They also used money from the score to expand their loansharking operations.

- Tribute from Lufthansa was also given to John Gotti to "keep the peace", as it would deter his people from trying to rob the participants in the Lufthansa score. Tony Lee Guerrieri was used to fence the stolen gold through his store.

Paul Katz Murder

- Paul Katz's Ozone Park warehouse is where hijacked trucks were taken and unloaded. Valenti had been sent to the warehouse a number of times to help with hijacked loads. Others who used the warehouse were Jimmy Burke and his crew, which Valenti lists as Jimmy Santos, Tommy Desimone, Henry Hill, and Vincent Asaro. Others who unloaded trucks at the warehouse were Billy Budd, Karl Santos (Jimmy's brother), and "Howie" LNU. Both Karl Santos and Howie also worked at Robert's Lounge.

- Burke, Asaro, and others were arrested at the Katz warehouse in 1968. Burke and the others had a detective on their payroll who helped them get out, but Asaro remained in jail. One of the detective was Detective Kelly of the NYPD. Valenti reported to Jerry Asaro that Vincent was still in jail and that the others had basically abandoned him. Vincent got out of jail and was upset at the others for this reason. Paul Katz disappeared a short time later.

- When Gasper Valenti's father died in the late 1960s, he inherited some houses Valenti's father (a contractor) was building. Some time later, Asaro asked Valenti to use one of the under construction houses to have a secret meeting with Jimmy Burke. The next day, Asaro and Burke showed up with Paul Katz's body and brought a sledgehammer, shovel, and breaking bar to get through the concrete and rebar in the house's basement. Valenti kept watch outside for three hours while Burke and Asaro buried Katz. After Burke left, Asaro and Valenti went out to get a truck with concrete that would be used to fill the hole. Asaro told Valenti that he did most of the digging because Burke injured his hand when he killed Katz, which was done by strangulation with a dog chain. Asaro told Valenti that Katz had been a "rat". When they returned, they covered the body with lime and Valenti filled the hole directy with concrete without filling it with any dirt.

- A few days after the burial of Katz, Valenti was taken by Vincent Asaro to meet with the elder Jerry Asaro at a nearby diner. Jerry Asaro apologized and said that Valenti shouldn't have been involved in the Katz murder, saying this would be the only time they ever discuss the murder. Valenti asked Jerry Asaro who else was involved in the murder aside from Burke and Vincent Asaro, and Jerry Asaro said just him (Jerry) and Paul Vario.

- Burke ended up purchasing the home where the body was buried, using his associate Jerry "Moo Moo" LNU as a front for the purchase. "Moo Moo" owned a dress shop next to Robert's Lounge.

- Later in the 1980s, Burke began to get "delusions" in prison and wanted the Katz body moved. The body was moved by Valenti and Vincent Asaro's son Jerry, again with the use of sledgehammer, breaking bar, and shovel. They took Katz's remains to the Asaro fence company in cardboard boxes and the younger Jerry Asaro said he would put them in paint cans filled with cement and dispose of them at property he had upstate. The property was a hunting lodge Asaro had with Frank LaPetina. LaPetina was an associate who Valenti periodically committed crimes with.

Afters Nightclub, Another Murder, and A Close call

- Richard Eaton was a drug dealer connected to Jimmy Burke who was murdered by Burke following a visit to their nightclub, Afters. Asaro asked his son Jerry and Valenti to dig a hole. Because it was winter, they used fuel to try and soften the ground but it was still too frozen to dig. Burke came to the scene with an associate named John Monteleone and informed Valenti to dig near salt water next time, as proximity to salt water makes it difficult for the ground to freeze.

- Eaton's body was left in an abandoned trailer in "the Hole" neighborhood near Valenti's mother's house. The trailer had been previously stolen by Valenti and other associates, having contained hijacked items. The following day a police officer came to Valenti's house and said the victim of a mafia hit had been found on Valenti's mother's property. Not in the testimony, but a woman who grew up in "the Hole" told the media that when she was growing up a mafia victim was found in a trailer by children playing and that the victim had his tongue cut out. It's possible this was Eaton's body, though Valenti said nothing about the tongue and that could have just been neighborhood lore.

- Among those who hung out at Afters nightclub were Jimmy Burke, Angelo Sepe, Vic Amuso, Jerry Asaro, Vincent Asaro, Daniel Rizzo, and Henry Hill.

- Colombo soldier Dominic Cataldo owned a restaurant near Asaro's fence company and the Afters nightclub. An associate of Cataldo named Mickey Brown had a nephew whose wife worked for Vincent Asaro in the office of the fence company and they accused Asaro of having an affair with the wife. When Asaro was confronted with this, he pulled out a gun and began firing it in the air and arguing with them. Brown's nephew began to move toward Asaro and Valenti grabbed him to hold him back, at which point Jerry Asaro hit the nephew with the gun and it went off, hitting the nephew.

- Brown took his nephew to the hospital and Asaro contacted Jimmy Burke in case anything more happened, meaning Burke was there in case more violence was needed. Burke brought someone called "Mitch" to the fence company with a satchel full of guns. There was blood on the carpet from the accidental shooting of Brown's nephew, so Burke took a knife and cut that patch of the carpet out. Burke had the Asaros leave and stayed at the fence office with Valenti, with a plan to shoot Brown and his people if they returned to retaliate. They never came, so eventually Burke and Valenti confronted Mickey Brown at his car lot and Burke warned Brown he would kill him on the spot if he had any plans to retaliate, so Brown dropped the matter.

- The Afters nightclub closed down due to heat from the Lufthansa heist and ensuing murders, then it was rented to black people who turned it into a black nightclub. Dominic Cataldo who owned the nearby restaurant was bothered by this, as he felt it didn't belong in a white neighborhood. As a result, Cataldo reached out to Vinnie Asaro, who had Valenti and his son Jerry Asaro torch the nightclub. Valenti and Jerry Asaro poured gasoline throughout the club, then lit a tennis ball on fire and threw it into the building so that it would bounce around igniting the gasoline in different places. Cataldo thanked them after it burned down.

Abusing John the Beerman

- In the 1970s, an associate of Asaro's named John who owned the Ozone Bar was asked to supply beer for a neighborhood 4th of July party after they already ran out. After supplying the beer, John asked to be paid for supplying the beer. Asaro instructed Valenti to "pay" John by taking him around the corner and assaulting him. Valenti struck John and another Asaro associate named "Ray" shoved a beer bottle in John's mouth. Asaro wanted them to teach John "respect".

- After reporting back to Asaro, Asaro instructed Valenti, Bobby Giallanzo, a "Charlie", an unspecified father and son, and Patty DelloRusso to go to John's Ozone Bar and wreck it. Asaro told them not to take anything or hurt anyone. The crew ended up destroying literally everything in the bar, including mirrors, pinball machines, and all of the alcohol bottles. This was all done because Asaro felt that John, as an associate, was out of line in asking to be paid for supplying beer, as Asaro had done favors for and helped John. It turned out that "Charlie" had stolen money from John's bar when they destroyed it, which caused Vincent Asaro to fly off the handle and break Charlie's jaw at the 4th of July party. Quite a celebration.

Exploiting Mickey Zaffarano's Son

- One of Asaro and Valenti's loan customers was John Zaffarano, son of the deceased Mickey and a cousin of Vincent Asaro. In addition to the $100k in tribute given to Mickey Zaffarano after Lufthansa, there was an additional $100k issued to Zaffarano as a loan which he paid back before his death. However, after Zaffarano's funeral, Vinnie Asaro lied to Zaffarano's son John and told him Mickey still owed $100k at his time off death. John agreed to take on the loan and paid the weekly interest of two points, $2000.

- John Zaffarano also took out additional loans for himself, mainly to help with the Pussycat Theater, which he had inherited from his father. Valenti says Zaffarano also took over his father's interests in the porn industry under the supervision of Vincent Asaro. Asaro sent Valenti with John Zaffarano to California at one point to settle an issue with porn star Marilyn Chambers, who had been under contract to do ten movies for Mickey Zaffarano but she had begun working with other producers. Valenti and Zaffarano sat down with two Gambino associates in the porn industry, "Dino" and Stu Siegel, and they agreed to "release" Chambers back to the Bonannos so that she could fulfill her contract. However, Zaffarano ultimately decided to stop working with Chambers.

- Around the mid-1980s, John Zaffarano sold the Pussycat Theater and moved to Florida. Valenti says the theater had an adult book store and peep shows inside of it and one peep show/store inside of the theater was owned by Matty Ianniello of the Genovese family, described by Valenti as a captain. Ianniello took issue with the sale and asked for a million dollars, as he claimed that is what he would lose by no longer having his peep show/store. Asaro agreed with Ianniello. Valenti and a former associate of Mickey Zaffarano named Al Altruda met with Ianniello, who was upset Asaro didn't attend the meeting and felt disrespected that Asaro violated protocol by sending two associates instead. Asaro resolved that issue, but ultimately Zaffarano was forced to pay Ianniello the million dollars given that Ianniello had done business at the Pussycat for so long.

- Inspired by the Ianniello situation, Vincent Asaro approached John Zaffarano and told him that he (Asaro) also deserved a million dollars from the sale of the Pussycat property, as Asaro had done many favors for Zaffarano and his father Mickey over the years. Valenti believes Zaffarano sold the property for $20 million. Zaffarano thought Asaro was joking and laughed it off, but a couple of months later Asaro sent Valenti to Florida (where Zaffarano and his relatives had moved) to collect the money.

- Zaffarano owned a restaurant in Florida, another building that rented to bars, and a yacht that Valenti said looked "like a viking ship." During Valenti's visit, Zaffarano agreed to pay half the total requested, $500k, which Valenti took back to Asaro in NYC. Asaro however still wanted the other half and Zaffarano met with Asaro and Valenti in NYC where Zaffarano asked for more time to pay the rest, which he later did.

The Joe Marsala Conflict, Bonventre, and Rastelli

- Valenti describes the same story told by Sal Vitale in his testimony, about an associate of Asaro's named Joe Marsala who ran gas stations and car businesses in the 1980s. In Valenti's account, Marsala used to give Vinnie Asaro free gas and let him lease a car for free. However, Marsala began to complain about not being repaid for all he was doing for Asaro, which led Asaro to start abusing him and labeling him a potential rat.

- Valenti says Marsala ran into Sal Vitale and complained, who told Asaro to back off. Because Vitale was still only an associate, Asaro took offense to this. A difference in Vitale's testimony is he claims he only carried a message from Asaro's captain Joe Massino (then on the lam in PA) to back off, but it's clear from both Vitale and Valenti's testimony that Asaro blamed Vitale for meddling in the issue regardless of Massino's role.

- As a result of the Marsala situation, a sitdown was held between "the boss" (Rastelli), Asaro, Cesare Bonventre, and Baldo Amato. Valenti says at this time Bonventre was "on the committee". According to Valenti, Rastelli sided against Asaro and wanted to assign Joe Marsala to another member. However, during the meeting Asaro spoke Sicilian to Bonventre and Amato but "the boss" couldn't speak Italian so he didn't know what they were saying. After the meeting, Asaro, Bonventre, and Amato picked up Valenti and drove out to Long Island in the middle of the night. Valenti was scared for his life because he thought Asaro, Bonventre, and Amato were going against the decision of "the boss" (to kill Marsala? It isn't specified) but they only ended up looking at a boat they wanted to buy.

- I wish they would have broken this story down more, as it is very suspicious and Valenti gave the impression that Bonventre and Amato secretly went against Rastelli's decision and openly disrespected Rastelli by talking with Asaro in Sicilian during the sitdown. He doesn't say why the three of them decided to check out a boat in the middle of the night, either. You have to figure this was not long before Bonventre was murdered for another act of disrespect toward Rastelli, so this may have been part of ongoing tension that led up to the Bonventre murder. Asaro was of Castellammarese heritage, like Bonventre and Amato, and Asaro was also a relative of other Bonventres, though we don't know if or how they connect to Cesare.

- Valenti and Asaro visited Cesare Bonventre's social club in Brooklyn one time and Valenti said it was on a second floor and "all marble and granite." When he arrived, Cesare Bonventre was there wearing a yellow sweater. He recalls Baldo Amato may have been there as well. Valenti says Bonventre dressed "very sharp."

Valenti's Debts and Troubles with Asaro

- Around Christmas 1983, Asaro was at Valenti's home and asked him to bring him some of the Lufthansa heist money that Frank Burke had given them. The money was stored in Valenti's basement. Upon retrieval, Asaro became very upset when he saw that there was $80,000 instead of the $120,000 he expected. He accused Valenti of stealing $40k, but Valenti says he "only" stole $20,000. Around this time, Valenti had also built up debts with other mafia figures, including an associate of JoJo Corozzo. A sitdown was held between Corozzo and Asaro, where they found that a Corozzo associate called "Joe Balls" owed the younger Jerry Asaro the same amount that Valenti owed. To settle it, they swapped the loans so that "Balls" would pay Corozzo while Valenti would pay Jerry Asaro. Valenti had also developed other debts to Vincent Asaro and had a serious gambling addiction.

- One night Asaro told Valenti to meet him at the fence company in the middle of the night but Valenti didn't go, believing he would be killed, and fled to Las Vegas instead. He stayed there gambling for around five months and returned to New York City. When he returned to NYC he hid out at his mother's house to avoid Asaro. Burke associate Jimmy Santos invited Valenti to go on a score that would help him repay his debts. Santos took Valenti to see Asaro, who greeted him warmly and invited him to go on the score with Santos, but said all of his debts must get paid. Vincent's son Jerry Asaro was cold to Valenti but his father scolded him for acting that way toward his cousin and Jerry relented by hugging Valenti.

- The above score had been attempted by Lufthansa co-conspirator Daniel Rizzo, who Valenti says was a made Lucchese member by this time. It was a robbery of something called "gold salt", which was a white powder resembling laundry detergent made up of the chemical components of gold. According to Valenti, when "gold salt" was mixed with cyanide and other poisons, it turned into real gold bars. Rizzo couldn't do it, so Santos, Valenti, Colombo soldier Dom Cataldo, and Cataldo associate Bobby Joyce took part. Cataldo was also in trouble over debts he owed at this time. The younger Jerry Asaro was supposed to participate, but he was replaced by a Colombo member called "Funzi" who also owed a lot of money and because of his member status "Funzi" was included in order to help him out. Vinnie Asaro wasn't happy about this, as having Jerry and Valenti both involved would have meant Vinnie Asaro would receive two "ends". Pretty funny this score was set up entirely to help several guys with their debts. After committing the robbery and the "gold salt" was turned into gold, Valenti received almost $200,000, of which Asaro received half. Valenti believed the score netted a total of $2.2 million

- Around the time of the above robbery, Asaro asked for an additional $5000 from Valenti so that he (Asaro) could give Joe Massino a total of $10,000. Instead of paying off his debts, Valenti used the robbery money to gamble and buy a house in Baldwin.

- Valenti continued to have gambling debts after the "gold salt" robbery and ended up losing his house. Regardless, Vincent Asaro proposed Valenti for membership along with his son Jerry Asaro in the 1980s. The proposed member list with Valenti and Jerry Asaro on it went around to the different families and ended up with Matty the Horse Ianniello, but he was arrested shortly thereafter which stopped the list from circulating. Genovese member Ciro Perrone spoke to Valenti about this twice, first congratulating him on being proposed, then to tell him about the situation with Ianniello and the list. After this, the books were closed again and Valenti was never made, though younger relatives Jerry Asaro, Ronald Giallanzo, Jack Bonventre, and even Valenti's own son Anthony "Sammy" would all eventually be made along with other Asaro associates.

More Problems with Relatives

- Valenti/Asaro cousin Gasper "Gary" Ferreri Sr. was associated with the mafia to some degree but Ferreri Jr. was not. However, Ferreri Jr. assisted Bobby Giallanzo in a boat insurance scam and Valenti informed Asaro, who was very upset at Giallanzo for using a relative in the scam. Ferreri Jr. told his mother about it as well and she reported it to the local police, resulting in Bobby Giallanzo's arrest.

- Both Gary Ferreri Jr. and his mother testified against Giallanzo in the insurance case and he was sent to prison. Naturally Asaro was very upset about this and considered them "stool pigeons." The younger Jerry Asaro wanted to kill Ferreri Jr., but his father Vincent told him to cool down, as Ferreri was their cousin despite being a "rat", and said they should wait and see what happens. Vincent Asaro and Valenti saw Ferreri Jr. some time after this but did not speak with him.

- Vincent's son Jerry Asaro continued to push for Ferreri Jr. to be murdered and Vincent started to lean this way, believing something had to be done. Valenti reached out to Gary Ferreri Sr. and told him to get his son out of town, as Valenti felt Ferreri Jr. would be killed and "it's going to come through me," meaning Valenti would be involved in the murder. Valenti says he warned the Ferreris because he felt he couldn't kill someone, especially a cousin. Ferrari Sr. died of cancer soon after and on his deathbed asked Valenti to talk to Vincent Asaro so that Asaro would protect Ferreri Jr. Nothing more appears to have come of it.

Other Robberies and Valenti's Troubles

- Sal Polisi tipped Vincent Asaro off to a score, robbing a guy in the watch business and stealing valuable watches. Valenti and Bulger robbed the guy and took around fifteen gold watches, which were then given to Vincent Asaro. Asaro never gave Valenti a cut of the earnings.

- The younger Jerry Asaro and Valenti committed an armored truck robbery on Halloween where they wore Halloween masks. This was done with "Frankie Lap" LaPetina, a Gambino associate who owned a hunting lodge upstate with Jerry Asaro, and an associate of Lap's named Jimmy. The robbery failed when a door to the truck was unexpectedly locked. Valenti avoided Vincent Asaro that night so that he wouldn't be yelled at, and the next day when he saw him Asaro said, "You can't do nothing right" and spoke down to Valenti. Vincent's son Jerry Asaro however sided with Valenti.

- Valenti committed a half-successful robbery a short time later with Frankie Lap and his associate Jimmy. They received a tip from "Billy Bud", the brother of Jimmy Santos, whose wife worked for a company that dealt in mink coats. They believed they were robbing a trailer of mink coats, but it turned out to be a "mixed load" of random low-end merchandise, not fur. Asaro was upset, saying Valenti messed up again.

- Jerry Asaro and Valenti were again tipped off by "Billy Bud", who told them about an auto part store owner who would be picking up his payroll money from a bank. Valenti and Asaro kidnapped a man at the bank who resembled the payroll guy and had a similar car, but it ended up being the wrong person and he had no money. When Valenti reported this to Asaro at a Gambino social club, Asaro verbally abused Valenti in front of other wiseguys, including "Fonzy" TNU ("Funzi"?). Jerry Asaro arrived however and asked his father why he was "screaming like a maniac" and defended Valenti. Valenti walked home from the club and didn't speak to Vincent Asaro for a significant period, more than a few months.

- When Valenti began speaking to Asaro again, Asaro opened his restaurant "the Great In-Pasta" on Long Island and Valenti began working there as bartender. Asaro and Valenti's loanshark customers also dropped off payments at the restaurant. Valenti estimates that Asaro's loansharking business earned around $4000 to $5000 each week.

- Asaro had previously borrowed money from Jimmy Burke that he used for his own loan operation, though later Asaro was borrowing the money for his operation from Anthony Spero. Vincent Asaro gave Valenti a $20,000 payment and instructed him to take it to Spero, but Valenti gambled it away instead and lied, saying he left the money with a random guy at Spero's Bensonhurst club. After telling Asaro the story, Spero and Asaro arranged for Valenti to go to Spero's club and try to point out the guy he left the money with (who didn't exist). Valenti hung out at Spero's club and pretended to keep an eye out for the guy he lent the money with. This accusation caused quite a stir with the Spero crowd and at one point someone came in and said he believed Valenti was lying. Valenti told this guy it was none of his business. This turned out to be Frank DeCicco of the Gambino family, so this would have been pre-1986.

- After Valenti returned from Spero's club, Asaro accused Valenti of lying and told him that "they" (Spero's people) want to kill him (Valenti). Asaro said he should kill Valenti himself for what he did. Valenti however stuck to his fake story about giving the money to a random guy at Spero's club. At this time Valenti left NYC, as he also owed money to Bobby and Vic Amuso. Valenti again fled to Las Vegas.

Misc. Information

- During his testimony, it was observed that Valenti's leg was bleeding leading the court to take a short break. Valenti had an abscess on his leg that was provoked by his compression socks which led to the bleeding. They continued with his testimony but there were initially concerns about him visibly bleeding in the courtroom.

- Valenti was with Vincent Asaro when they learned that Peter Zuccaro had killed one of the dogs at the auto body shop owned by Zuccaro and Bobby Giallanzo (brother of Ronnie). Valenti says Asaro was upset because Asaro loves dogs and is a big "animal lover". More on this in the Zuccaro testimony thread posted a while back, who described how Asaro and Jimmy Burke accosted him and threatened to kill him for what happened to the dog.

- Sandro Aiosa was an associate of Mickey Zaffarano while Zaffarano was still alive. Zaffarano set Asaro up with Aiosa in a Queens social club in the 1970s where they ran a lucrative poker game for about six months. Later Aiosa was placed on record with Vincent Asaro and eventually made into the Bonanno family.

- Valenti says Asaro was promoted to captain in the late 1980s or early 1990s (we know from Vitale it was around 1993). However, during this time Asaro was forced to shut down his restaurant as he had fallen out of favor with his Bonanno superiors and owed too much money. Around this time Asaro also closed his old social club and opened a new one due to too much LE heat at the previous location. Valenti says Bonanno members who came to this new club were Joe Massino, Sal Vitale, Louie DeCicco, Tony Urso, Anthony Spero, and Jimmy Galante.

- A Bonanno family meeting was held at Asaro's new social club and attended by 25 to 30 men who met outside. At this meeting Jimmy Galante told the attendees that Bonanno members needed to starting paying $100 a month to fulfill their duty as members of the organization. Galante's position isn't stated, but from other info we know he was an acting captain for Sal Vitale at some point previous. It's not clear if Valenti attended the actual meeting, simply overheard it, or was told by Asaro, but Valenti understood that this money would go to the boss to be used as a legal fund. Vincent Asaro was very angry and felt they were "playing kid's games" by charging people to be mafia members. We know from the high-level Bonanno sources that the family did set up a fund like this.

[The Greek]

Great post!

[B.]

Thanks, Greek.

--

Former Bonanno captain Mickey Zaffarano's son John, referenced above, also testified during the Asaro trial, though he was reluctant. His information more or less corroborated Valenti's testimony, though he provided more details and made himself out to be less of a victim than in Valenti's account. John Zaffarano has passed away since the trial.

- Zaffarano believed the loan Asaro had given his father Mickey before his passing was for $250,000, not the $100,000 alleged by Valenti. Valenti said Asaro tricked John Zaffarano into repaying the entire loan plus interest so it's likely Asaro convinced John Zaffarano that the original loan had been for $250,000. Zaffarano's account also matches with Valenti's, as he says he paid back $2000 per week. Zaffarano doesn't remember how many years he spent paying back the loan, as he says he had a bad "substance abuse" problem back then and was "in a big white cloud."

- Zaffarano would get a weekly call from Asaro to see if he was going to pay each week. When Zaffarano would say no, Asaro "yelled and jumped up and down a little bit" in anger.

- He also confirms Valenti's account of borrowing additional money for renovations on the Pussycat Theater. He says the theater was sold in 1986 for $18.5 million, not far from Valenti's estimate of $20 million.

- Zaffarano says he had to negotiate payouts with many of the tenants, which included multiple movie theaters, a topless bar, a gay bath house, and sex toy stores. He confirms that one of these tenants was Matthew Ianniello and that Asaro arranged for Zaffarano to meet with Ianniello at a Little Italy restaurant called SPQR. He says nobody made any introductions and that Ianniello was there with an attorney. Umberto "Al" Altruda, who attended, was described by Zaffarano as a "very, very, very close friend" of his father Mickey.

- Ianniello had a topless bar in the theater and due to a pending RICO case, the federal government froze his assets which complicated the sale of the Pussycat property and Zaffarano's ability to pay out Ianniello. Zaffarano was able to get the federal government to release their lock on the topless bar so that Zaffarano could sell the property and he in turn paid Ianniello. Zaffarano says Ianniello wanted a million dollars, like Valenti said, but Zaffarano negotiated it to $750k.

- Zaffarano also admits he gave Asaro money, though he says ot was between $300k to $400k and not the million alleged by Valenti. He says he gave money to his entire family and in particular gave money to Asaro because he helped him with negotiations and he just "wanted" to give Asaro the money. He doesn't say anything to imply it was the full-fledged extortion described by Valenti. In previous testimony Zaffarano admitted he paid the money so that he could go to Florida and be left alone. He also admitted to meeting with Asaro and Valenti in Florida, giving Asaro $250k.

- John Zaffarano moved to Florida with his cousin Matthew Costa. Might be a coincidence, but Vincent Asaro's great-grandfather Girolamo was accused of ordering the murder of a Giuseppe Costa in Castellammare Del Golfo before coming to the US.

- The boat Zaffarano had in Florida was called "Top Secret" and he allowed people to book it for weddings or parties. The boat was hand-carved to look like a viking ship, like Valenti said.

- During his testimony, Zaffarano began "forgetting" the arrangement he had to pay Asaro for the sale of the Pussycat and the judge described Zaffarano as a "hostile witness", so it appears there was a tone to Zaffarano's responses. It's clear that he was not looking to outright cooperate against Asaro, only provide neutral testimony.

- John Zaffarano's mother was Vincent Asaro's godmother in addition to being Vincent's aunt.

- At the time of his testimony, Zaffarano hadn't seen Asaro for over twenty years, "before the millennium."

- Zaffarano described Asaro as "charming and funny" and that the two had a "lot of laughs" together.

- Zaffarano says both he and Asaro borrowed money from each other and "nobody kept score". He again mentions his "serious" cocaine addiction during this period. He says Asaro never threatened him to repay money.

- When Asaro approached Zaffarano at his father's wake and told him about the loan he had given to his father (which as Valenti mentioned had been paid back prior to Mickey Zaffarano's death), Zaffarano went to his mother and she told him to pay it because she felt "her Godson" would "never lie" to her.

- When Zaffarano paid Ianniello for losing his business at the Pussycat Theater, he also paid other tenants who would be losing their space and had negotiations with all of them. He says he paid Ianniello by check. While Valenti implied Ianniello was strong-arming Zaffarano, Zaffarano is suggesting it was expected that he pay long-time tenants a percentage of the sale.

- Zaffarano provided the court with a doctor's note saying he had memory and health issues, however the judge investigated it and felt the doctor's notes were not reliable. Again, it's clear Zaffarano did not want to implicate his cousin Asaro in any wrongdoing.

[axx]

Thanks B., will have to go through this later. Anything Asaro involved is a must-read .

[axx]

Valenti and Jerry Asaro poured gasoline throughout the club, then lit a tennis ball on fire and threw it into the building so that it would bounce around igniting the gasoline in different places.

Brilliant

[Ed]

Love these summaries with your added notes. Asaro was a devious son of a gun. A guy you didn't want to know.

[Clark]

Thanks so much for the write-up. I always love reading about this time period. It is easy to forget how many of these street-level guys were such brokesters.

[Hired_Goonz]

Great thread, thanks for breaking it all down. Man Asaro is just a total scumbag and a complete hothead, but this Valenti is obviously a complete POS as well and he must have come off that way to the jury. I almost got the vibe that the verdict was an act of jury nullification.

Jimmy Burke was clearly a man among men, even as hyped up as he has been because of the book and the movie when you see what some of these guys who were actually there were saying it becomes clear that he was the real deal, a feared and respected gangster with status approaching that of a made man. Something that jumped off the screen for me was that when Asaro thought he might have trouble with some street guys he doesn't run to the Bonanno family that he's a member of but rather to Jimmy the Gent, whose reputation and threats seemed to be enough to squash the beef.

[B.]

Vincent Asaro had the most hilarious, cartoon-level anger of any gangster I've ever heard about it. Every witness in the trial had their own story about him flying off the handle at the smallest provocation.

What stood out to me is that Valenti says Asaro was made in the mausoleum of a cemetery. Can't think of any other mafia inductions with that much... gravity. Doesn't matter that they stopped doing the traditional ceremony if they held one in a cemetery. However, that same year they held an induction in a crowded barroom with "Happy Birthday" playing on the jukebox, go figure.

More to come sometime soon, re: Asaro.

[Hired_Goonz]

Btw Jerry Asaro was just released last month:

JEROME ASARO
Register Number: 04641-748
Age: 62
Race: White
Sex: Male
Released On: 06/15/2020

I wonder how long he's on supervised release and what exact role he will play in the family. I assume he will be captain of his old crew but if he can't meet guys for a couple years that will certainly complicate things.

[B.]

Btw Jerry Asaro was just released last month:

JEROME ASARO
Register Number: 04641-748
Age: 62
Race: White
Sex: Male
Released On: 06/15/2020

I wonder how long he's on supervised release and what exact role he will play in the family. I assume he will be captain of his old crew but if he can't meet guys for a couple years that will certainly complicate things.

Jerry Asaro was one of Massino's top choices for the ruling panel in early 2005 along with Joe Cammarano Jr., though it didn't pan out. Thought that was interesting. 5th generation mafia member in direct father-son succession -- are there any other known examples of that?

Also interesting that his cousin / acting captain Jack Bonventre was DiFiore's choice for consigliere.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Great info B

[Eld]

Really interesting summary B, I haven't come across this testimony before.

Jerry Moo Moo was Jerome Vitta.

Billy Budd was William Santa.

[richard_belding]

Valenti didn't mention it, but Vincent Asaro's great-grandfather Girolamo appears to have been a mafia figure in Castellammare Del Golfo and early NYC, but he died in a fire in 1911 so he may not have been as familiar to the younger generations.

After some digging it appears a Girolamo Asaro had been found and arrested in New York in 1909 after fleeing and being tried for a murder committed in Italy years prior. I cant say for certain if it is the great grandfather in question, but the info I have has his alias as a Vincenzo Fudero, and the timeline does make sense. The case in Italy was described as a 'Black Hand' case. Dealt with extradition issues but I believe he wasnt prosecuted as the US courts reversed his order to surrender for some odd reason. Please let me know if you have any findings on him, if it is indeed Asaro's great grandfather.

Jerry Asaro was one of Massino's top choices for the ruling panel in early 2005 along with Joe Cammarano Jr., though it didn't pan out. Thought that was interesting. 5th generation mafia member in direct father-son succession -- are there any other known examples of that?

Also interesting that his cousin / acting captain Jack Bonventre was DiFiore's choice for consigliere.

Also worth noting that the Asaro clan could've stayed in the administration through a good portion of the early '80's as Zaffarano himself had been on a 3 man panel for a short time post Galante- with Frank Lupo and Phil Giaccone. Obviously his death changed things, and so did the climate of the crime family in general

[B.]

I have a lot on the Asaro clan I will be sharing in the near future. It goes deep.

Thanks for the replies and additions!