NEW YORK _ The reputed head of the Bonanno crime family and his consigliere were acquitted Wednesday following a two-week trial racketeering that featured testimony from two mob rats.
Accused mafia boss Joseph "Joe C" Cammarano and his 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 full day before acquitting them of racketeering conspiracy. Zancocchio 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 attorney 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 company and employees of a Staten Island dump site. But testimony revealed few details about the pair's alleged involvement in what prosecutors had described as a "sophisticated crime organization."
A spokeswoman for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
