Wiseguy in hurry
Trial now, before I die, says fiery capo
A LONGTIME WISEGUY pushed Monday for a speedier trial, saying jail is taking a toll on his health while he waits.
It’s been less than two months since the feds wrangled 82-year-old Bonanno crime family capo Vincent Asaro and six others — including the grandson of the late John Gotti — in a sprawling case involving arson, armed robbery and other crimes.
Authorities threw the senior citizen into a special unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he’s been on 24-hour lockdown, allowed only to see his lawyer and family.
Asaro is accused of ordering the arson of a car that cut into his lane at a Howard Beach, Queens, traffic light.
In 2015, in a more glamorous move, he beat the case against him in the notorious 1978 Lufthansa heist — the theft of $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry from the airline’s terminal at Kennedy Airport.
Asaro’s lawyer on Monday said he has been suffering from high blood pressure and dehydration and is “completely disoriented” behind bars.
He fell in the shower two weeks ago and needed to be hospitalized for a few days, Elizabeth Macedonio told Brooklyn Federal Judge Allyne Ross. Macedonio said her client wasn’t getting the treatment, food and exercise he needs to survive on the inside at the Sunset Park complex.
There was “some indication” prison authorities would be moving Asaro to the general population as soon as Monday, but still Macedonio said, she’d be acting fast to try bailing out Asaro.
The sides scheduled an Aug. 21 trial, which will mark about five months since the indictment was filed.
That puts the case on track to reach a resolution in a much quicker time frame than most cases in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The median time between the filing of a criminal case and its resolution is just over two years in that court.
Most of the discovery in the case has already been turned over to the defense, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Argentieri said.
Outside court, Macedonio said Asaro’s health is a big factor in her push for a speedy trial.
“I have an 82-year-old client. There’s no reason for delay. The government brought these charges and now it’s their job to prove them,” said the lawyer, who also wants Asaro to be tried separately from the other defendants.