Who was the last guy who testified at a mob trial and ended up whacked afterwards?

Was it Joe Barboza in 1976?

George Yudzevich was whacked in California in 1988 after testifying against the Gambinos and LA families, but the feds aren't sure if it was a Gambino hit, an LA family hit, or a power struggle over a strip club he ran in LA.

Big George Yudzevich Hit

By contrast, Mr. Yudzevich's testimony at the Brooklyn trial was considered critical in obtaining convictions last December of the Gambino underboss, Joseph Armone, 70 years old, and two co-defendants, Anthony Vitta and Salvatore Migliorisi, both 49, according to Edward A. McDonald, chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn. 'Kept That Agreement'

Also convicted with them was Joseph N. Gallo, 76, the group's former consiglieri. Mr. Armone, Mr. Gallo and Mr. Vitta were convicted of racketeering conspiracy and other charges. Mr. Migliorisi was convicted of extortion and obstruction.

Frank lagano who got whacked back in 07

The whole point is to kill a guy before he testifies. After he testifies the damage is already done. There's very little upside in killing a rat at that point, and the smarter bosses realize this.

If a high profile rat (like Massino or Gravano) ever got hit, the Feds would rain down on these guys like you can't possibly imagine. Crimes that were barely prosecuted before (small gambling operations, etc.) would become primary targets for law enforcement. And forget about "sending a message." This ain't Sicily (or even Canada). Law enforcement won't allow it in this country.

Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson come to mind.

Dipetro in philly definatly the most recent, he might not have been killed for being a rat or maybe he was. Either way he was a rat that got killed.

about a year or 2 ago some rat was killed outside a nightclub. mite of been a genovese associate who ratted. sure someone else remembers here?

Yes feds out with film rolling thinking just maybe,,,,so glad the smart ones hold back.

haha its funny you say barboza, the guy who clipped him, his son posts on this board... and last rat to get killed.. theres too many to name.

Mario Imbesi, who was found beaten to death in his apartment back in March 2012.

Mario Imbesi I thought was killed over drugs

He was. But he just happened to be a rat to boot.

got ya, thought Ivy was saying he got killed because of being a rat

Drugs it was. He was told to lay off the whip(cutting agent) because it was driving customers away.

Is this the guy who robbed some guy under patsy?

I was just clarifying who streetbossliborio was referring to.

Yeah, the stupid bastard.

Well Nicky Skins whacked himself out….

Now I agree with you PizzaBoy that if an informant were murdered and dumped on the footsteps of 1 Police Plaza with a dead rat shoved in his mouth (pause to think about that Daily News headline) there would be hell to pay. But what if a guy disappears? I mean for all the Feds know he lammed it.

I'm talking about people who were killed for ratting. Vito Arena was killed after ratting, but it was in a gas station robbery.

Willie Boy Johnson didn't testify in court.

Who testified in court and was killed due to testifying?

Peter gotti tried to take out gravano, its one of the reasons hes gonna die in prison, and i expect the same result for anybody else dumb enought to try and whack a govt witness. To reiterate PB, damage is already done after they testify, it serves no purpose.

Of course you try to kill him before he testifies, but that is impossible as the witness would be under protection of the US Marshalls 24x7 until the trial starts.

The purpose of killing rats after the trial is to let them know they can't rat and live like normal afterwards. If a guy can rat and go back to the old neighborhood and live a normal life, then there will be no fear of ratting on the mob anytime a person is arrested.

Yes thats a good point about making an example outta somebody and its one way of looking at it, another way is that taking out a govt witness is gonna bring down a lot of heat which is gonna lead to more arrests which might lead to more people ratting.

They had a lot of heat on them anyway, and if they had been successful in killing Gravano in Arizona, it might have discouraged others who followed him. I think at least a few would have chosen prison over flipping if they seen witness protection was not foolproof.

Wasnt barboza the 1st person in wpp?didnt end to well 4him huh

He got whacked bc he didnt follow the rules and tried to get his own thing started out in cali. I dont think theres every been someone killed in witsec who just lived quietly and follow the rules.

You don't actually think that that's JR Russo's son on this board do you? Because if so, I've got some land in the Berkshires for you to buy, it's a great deal....

If a rat testified at trial, chances our he is in witness protection under a different name. Hard to tell at that point, probably more than the feds care to disclose for fear of taking cred from WPP.

can't believe gravano doesn't get hit in prion....they know where he is.

Through a corrupt FBI agent, named Doug McCane, Anthony Casso had 14-15 government witnesses whacked before trial. I believe the majority of these people were ratting on LCN, not necessarily Casso or the Lucchese family. It was simple: he'd get the names of the rats, and they would be murdered quickly.

The one instance where the rat received a pass, was when Casso gave the name of Peter Savino to Chin Gigante. The Chin didn't act quick enough. Even after Chin was warned, Savino proceeded to wear a wire and obtain damaging recordings.

Ironically, despite having McCane in his pocket, Gaspipe got nailed in the Windows case with Peter Savino doing the most damage. Chin, too.

Littleman,

Wow. That is a staggering amount of witnesses to get killed. Did the feds just think thie informant were getting killed because of thier line of work (not being an informant)?

The feds knew there was a leak. They just didn't know who or where. Plus, both Gas and Vic skipped town right before the big bust went down.

When Casso finally admitted who the leak was after he flipped, his government handlers freaked out and demanded that he never mentioned it again. The feds were ok hearing about Eppolito and Carracappa, but not fellow agents.

Casso, through other members in the Lucchese family also had two Suffolk County cops on his payroll.