Former Bonanno crime family leader Nicholas (Nicky Cigars) Santora has passed away while awaiting a re-trial.
The 76-year-old mobster was wheelchair bound and has been in declining health for some time now according to reports. After being released on bail back in 2016 the generic wiseguy took a nasty fall adding to his already troubling health problems. Santora was indicted back in 2013 with eight other Bonanno family mobsters on various charges including racketeering. According to prosecutors he controlled old school rackets like loansharking, gambling, among others for the New York Mafia family.
“Nicholas Santora”
The veteran Cosa Nostra wiseguy was caught on a wiretap berating a younger Mafia associate for acting like a clown. He was telling Vito Badamo that he was set to “take over the neighborhood” and he needed to conduct himself a certain way. He went on to say “You gotta act like you’re supposed to act. You understand?” Prosecutors used the recording at trial in an effort to prove Santora’s role within the crime family. But after deliberating for eight days the jury had a problem and the case came to a halt.
A hearing-impaired juror reported that he was having problems hearing some of the audio evidence and complained other jurors who had already settled on a guilty verdict were ganging up on him. There was supposed to be a re-trial scheduled but the mobster’s health problems caused further delays. Santora ultimately beat out his potential racketeering wrap by passing away on October 27th according to the NY Daily News report. Santora’s case was officially closed when his death certificate was presented to the court by prosecutors.
The rest of his Bonanno family co-defended ended up agreeing to plea deals with most of them getting multiple years behind bars. Prosecutor Gary Galperin said, “The judgments of conviction against the other eight defendants shall stand for all time, an official testament to how old-school mobsters were overcome by old-time justice.” Nicholas Santora was an old-school mobster and they don’t make many like that anymore. Santora was portrayed as “Nicky” in the hit 1997 Mafia movie Donnie Brasco. He made his way through the ranks of the organized crime family all way into one of the families top spots.
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