By ELIZABETH COLUCCIO
An ailing mob boss of the infamous Bonanno family was sentenced to 21 months in jail, one of a number of aging Mafiosi seeking gentler punishments on account of their many maladies.
Thomas (Tommy D) DiFiore, 71, was charged with federal unlawful debt-collection conspiracy. In addition to less than two years in jail, DiFiore will pay $7,500 and have three years of supervised release with six months of curfew.
The added jail time dashed the hopes of defense lawyers that the judge would show leniency and sentence him to time served because of DiFiore’s list of ailments. He has been in jail for 14 months after his conviction on the strong-arm charge, giving him seven more moths behind bars.
If he makes it that far, defense arguments implied.
Defense attorney Sally Butler updated DiFiore’s ailments: high blood sugar aggravating Type 2 diabetes. swelling of skin and kidneys, poor vision and other ailments. Butler charged that the physician’s assistant at the detention center forgets to give DiFiore his insulin shot on time, and that her client needs medical testing, including a CAT scan for his lung problems and an eye exam with particular attention to his diabetes.
“His needs can be met greater in the private sector,” Butler said.
However, when Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Allyne Ross gave permission for DiFiore to pass his sentence in a medical facility, co- defense attorney Steve Zissou announced that his client would prefer to remain at the detention facility, citing the “stress” of the move to be too difficult.
DiFiore is one of a number of mobsters whose crimes have been brought to court recently, some for crimes from even decades ago.
Fellow Bonanno leader Vincent Asaro, 80, has been charged with his cooperation in the notorious Lufthansa heist in 1978, which netted $6 million in cash and jewelry, and for the murder of Paul Katz in 1968. Asaro wascapoCao expected to go on trial in the fall.
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