Bonannos slip grip of feds at trial

The reputed head of the Bonanno crime family and his consigliere were acquitted Wednesday following a twoweek racketeering trial that featured testimony from two mob rats.

Accused Mafia boss Joseph (Joe C) Cammarano and alleged lieutenant John (Porky) Zancocchio were all smiles as they left Manhattan Federal Court. The men hugged their legal teams and other supporters but declined to comment.

The jury deliberated for less than a day before acquitting them of racketeering conspiracy. Zancocchio (photo) was also found not guilty of conspiracy to commit extortion.

The reputed gangsters argued the feds wrongly targeted them because of their Italian heritage. The government’s case relied heavily on two cooperating witnesses — Peter Lovaglio and Stephen Sabella — who seemed more loathsome than the men on trial. Lovaglio, whose nickname is “Petey BS,” testified he hit a retired police officer with a glass in Staten Island, partially blinding him. Sabella confessed to posting racial and homophobic comments on Zancocchio’s granddaughter’s Facebook page weeks before the trial began.

“The government brought a case that should never have been brought,” Cammarano lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio said. “There was thin evidence, and clearly the jury quickly saw its way to the only true verdict.”

Prosecutors promised details about Cammarano and Zancocchio shaking down a demolition company, construction firm and workers at a Staten Island dump. But testimony revealed few details about their alleged involvement in what prosecutors had described as a “sophisticated crime organization.”

A spokeswoman for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

“The government did not meet their burden,” Zancocchio lawyer John Meringolo said.