Vincent Asaro has been acquitted of all federal racketeering charges charges including the 1978 Lufthansa Heist, and capital murder.    The Lufthansa heist was the backdrop within the Hollywood movie “Goodfellas.”

Today a New York City jury found Asaro not guilty which is a huge embarrassment for the DOJ which has spent millions prosecuting him.   Five members of the Bonanno organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the Bonanno family) were charged with racketeering conspiracy, including predicate acts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to murder, robbery and extortion.  They were arrested in 2014 in Brooklyn.

(New York) The 80-year-old Bonanno crime family member had remained in the shadows for decades after a $6 million armed robbery that was called the largest in U.S. history. But prosecutors charged him in 2014 after his cousin came forward to implicate him in the heist, a mob hit and other crimes.

The government’s evidence included secret recordings of Asaro complaining he didn’t get his fair share of the Lufthansa score.

Asaro’s lawyers argued that he was framed by mob turncoats angling for leniency in their own cases. (link)