 | Its 2017, and wise guy Vincent Asaro has been found guilty. For nearly 50 years mobster Vincent Asaro has escaped conviction on a huge array of criminal charges, having been accused — and then acquitted — of, among other things, strangling a man with a dog chain and taking part in the infamous Lufthansa heist in 1978. Now age 87, Asaro was sentenced to eight years in prison for what may be the pettiest allegation he ever faced: ordering his underlings to set fire to the car of a motorist who cut him off in traffic in Queens. |  |
 Vincent Asaro, center, with John Gotti. | Asaro held various positions in the Bonanno crime family, and he was a killer, but also involved in bookmaking, loan-sharking, extortion and robbing delivery trucks. He largely managed to avoid ever being punished. Asaro was acquitted at the Lufthansa trial. Judge Ross noted that, despite the jury’s verdict, she was “firmly convinced” that the feds had proved its case. |  |
 | Gene Borrello was lauded by prosecutors as a reason they were able to nail Bonanno captain Asaro for arson. John J. Gotti, the grandson of the late Gambino boss, pleaded guilty to being the getaway driver.  |  |
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A federal judge granted Vincent Asaro's release in April 2020. His was a compassionate release from prison due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Asaro’s age and his deteriorating health were “extraordinary and compelling” reasons for his release. |  John J. Gotti robbed a bank weeks later and pulled 5 years. |
