Reputed Bonanno crime family boss Vincent “Vinny TV” Badalamenti has agreed to a plea deal where he will plead guilty to nonviolent collection of a unlawful debt and prosecutors will drop the extortion and racketeering charges against him. Badalamenti and some other Bonanno family cohorts were all indicted earlier this year for racketeering and other various crimes. Although lawyers for Badalamenti were pushing for a trial the offer the government made was on he couldn’t refuse.
“Vincent Badalamenti on Left”
Badalamenti and co-defendants were indicted largely due to tapes made by mob associate turned rat Hector Pagan. Pagan is the ex-husband of “Mob Wives” reality show star Rene Graziano and even recorded conversations with his former father in law and Bonanno capo Anthony “TG” Graziano. Graziano is also expected to plead guilty along with Badalamenti.
The feds being willing to cut deals with many of the other co-defendants in the case and now Badalamenti signal that they may not have been comfortable with putting Pagan on the witness stand to testify. The deal accepted by Badalamenti will also benefit some of his other mob cohorts as they will earn additional time off their sentencing guidelines since so far everyone listed in the current indictment has agreed to plea deals. Badalamenti now faces about two years in prison once sentenced but it is considerably less then the possible ten years he would of faced going to trial.
Pagan who is known to have murdered James Donovan a Lucchese crime family associate may end up with the best deal of all especially now that he may never actually have to testify and play the role of rat.
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