NEW YORK (AP) β A federal prosecutor says an aging mobster embraced a life of crime that culminated in the $6 million heist that was retold in the Mafia movie “Goodfellas.”
In closing arguments Friday at the racketeering trial of Vincent Asaro, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicyn Cooley told jurors that the defendant was a third-generation gangster who was willing to steal and kill for the mob.
Asaro was arrested in 2014 after his crime-family cousin came forward to tell authorities that the defendant helped plan the 1978 robbery of a Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy Airport. At the time, it was called one of the biggest heists in U.S. history.
The 80-year-old Asaro has pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges. His lawyer was to give her closing later Friday.
