Weren't they trying to give Massino the death penalty before he flipped? So the government felt his crimes were so bad that he should be killed, but then thinks those same crimes aren't so bad and he should walk free.
Maybe the death penalty was only a bargaining chip all along.
It most likely was, but it doesn't look good for the pro-death penalty argument.
"I die outside; I die in jail. It don't matter to me," -John Franzese