A mobster involved in the legendary 'Goodfellas' heist has revealed he eventually came forward and ratted on his own cousin as a paid informant because a gambling problem had left him destitute.
Testifying in a case accusing his gangster cousin of helping plan the $6million Lufthansa robbery at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, Gaspare Valenti also said he had grown 'tired' of the Mafia.
'I was just tired of that life,' Valenti, who signed up to become a paid government informant three decades after the infamous heist, said at the trial in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old added: 'I was having nightmares about things I had experienced.'
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Ratting on his own cousin: Gaspare Valenti (center), 68, is seen testifying against his older cousin, Vincent Asaro (left), at a trial over the legendary 'Goodfellas' heist at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport in 1978
Cousins: Valenti (left, in an old Justice Department photo) said he eventually came forward and ratted on Asaro (right) because a gambling problem had left him destitute and he had grown 'tired' of the Mafia
In exchange for the government covering his living expenses, Valenti agreed to wear a wire to record conversations with Vincent Asaro, a former captain in the Bonanno organized crime family.
Asaro, who was the star witness's mob boss as well as cousin, made statements implicating himself for the first time in one of the biggest armed robberies in U.S. history, according to prosecutors.
The 80-year-old denies charges of extortion, murder and countless acts of violence.
During Wednesday's hearing, Valenti - who faced Asaro in the courtroom - testified that his gambling habit had put him in such deep debt that it had estranged him from his older cousin.
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Share 13 sharesAfter they were reunited in 2008, Asaro reminded Valenti that he had always tried to shield him from law enforcement, according to one tape heard by jurors.
'All this time you were with me, and I never got you pinched,' Asaro told his relative.
Earlier this week, Valenti had described how a Mafia crew planned and executed the notorious heist on December 11, 1978, which later provided the plot to Martin Scorsese's 1990 film.
Taking to the stand: 'I was just tired of that life,' Valenti (above, in court), who signed up to become a paid government informant three decades after the infamous heist, said at the trial in federal court in Brooklyn
'Mobsters': The 68-year-old added: 'I was having nightmares about things I had experienced.' Above, this old Justice Department snap shows Valenti (background) and Asaro (foreground) relaxing on a sofa decades ago
The turncoat told an anonymous jury how how he had been a mob associate when Asaro had asked him to join a robbery crew for an armed holdup at a cargo terminal at Kennedy Airport.
He testified that it was believed there was $2 million at the terminal. He said when the bandits ended up with $6million in US currency alone - as well as German cash and gold - there was elation.
But this joy turned to fear that they would be robbed themselves once word got out about the score.
Valenti testified that he and Asaro each got a $750,000 cut of the fortune.
He laid out his evidence in a low, gravelled voice as his own son, Anthony 'Fat Sammy' Valenti glared at him from the public gallery, angry that his father had turned on his alleged accomplices.
Accused: Asaro (pictured being escorted by FBI agents in January 2014) is accused of being involved in the robbery on December 11, 1978
Speaking to the New York Daily News, 'Fat Sammy' said: 'I'm here for Vinny.' Of his father he added: 'I could care less about him'
His father, Valenti, told the court he was first told about the planned Lufthansa score by Asparo and joined a crew of 12 selected for the job.
His role, set out in at least two planning meetings, was to use bolt cutters to allow the crew's van to drive up the Lufthansa hanger, he said.
'There were supposed to be 10 to 14 people working there, in a lunch room area, taking lunch at the time,' he said. 'Six or seven would go in to the front of the building, capture them, hold them at bay with guns.
On the night of the robbery, he said he drove with Asaro to the home of Jimmy 'The Gent' Burke – a Luchese mobster portrayed in 'Goodfellas' by actor Robert De Niro.
Everyone was dressed in black, he said, their faces covered by ski masks.
They piled into a stolen, black Ford van and drove to the airport.
'I was the first one out,' said Valenti. 'I went out the back doors and cut the lock on the gate.'
The van pulled through the gate and around to the back of the hangar. Valenti waited with Frankie Burke – Jimmy's son - while the other men went inside the building to subdue the staff.
He described seeing a security guard making his rounds. 'Then he spotted the van and started walking towards the van,' he said.
'So I got out of the van and Frankie got out. He must have surmised that something was up and he started running towards the door of the building.'
They chased him, hit him in the head with a handgun, he said, before putting the guard in the van. Shortly afterwards, a man emerged from the building asking what had happened.
Burke pointed his handgun at the man. 'I said just relax, no-one's going to get hurt,' said Valenti.
Movie version: Actor Robert de Niro (left) played Jimmy 'the gent' Burke in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed version of the events surrounding the Lufthansa heist. Right, Chuck Low depicts Morris 'Morrie' Kessler
Betrayal: Anthony 'Fat Sammy' Valenti is seen arriving in court on Tuesday. He later expressed his fury with his father for allegedly breaking the reputed omerta of silence that members of the Mafia allegedly take
With all the staff accounted for, he headed to the hangar's vault which was opened by a worker.
Tommy 'Two Guns' DeSimone entered first and stood on a wooden box to reach higher shelves.
As he did so, hundred dollar bills spilled out.
'This is it, this is it,' he shouted, according to Valenti's testimony.
They found burlap sacks filled with gold chains, crates of cash and a metal chest of draws stuffed with emeralds, diamonds and rubies.
In this 1979 file photo, James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke is led handcuffed from a law enforcement vehicle in New York. Burke is believed to have masterminded and executed the Lufthansa heist
The van was filled and they drove off, he said, to meet Burke and Asaro, who had been stationed a few blocks away in a decoy 'crash car'.
Its role was to crash into a police car if they needed to make a getaway.
Following the heist, Asaro used his portion of the cash to buy a second home, a boat and a Bill Blass designer edition of a Lincoln Continental, Valenti told the court.
Prosecutors claim Asaro also gambled away a big chunk of his $750,000 cut at the racetrack.
In opening statements, a defense attorney accused Valenti and other turncoat Bonanno family members of framing Asaro to save themselves from long prison terms.
Police long ago closed their investigation into the robbery, fearing the Mafia's code of silence made convictions impossible. Most of the other suspects disappeared, were killed or died.
The story, however, is retold in Goodfellas and participants are bumped off one by one after they are warned their extravagant spending would invite police attention.
The only man ever convicted for the infamous heist was Louis Werner, a cargo agent and the inside man. Werner passed along the idea for the robbery in order to settle gambling debts.
Asaro was arrested in January last year Valenti recorded hundreds of hours of conversations with a hidden wire.
His testimony offered a rare insight into the Mafia world, with descriptions of associates such as Snakes Rodriguez, the illegal bookmaking trade and the shy – or Shylock – business.
Asaro sat quietly throughout, glaring at his cousin, and with his famous 'death before dishonor' tattoo hidden beneath a black sweater.
Valenti is to return to the witness stand Thursday.
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