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80 years in mob rubout case

By FRANCES ANN BURNS

NEWARK, N.J. -- The third-ranking leader of the Genovese organized crime family was sentenced Tuesday to 80 years in prison for ordering the death of a mob-connected businessman and plotting unsuccessfully to kill the powerful head of a rival Mafia family.

Louis 'Bobby' Manna, 60, identified by authorities as the Genovese family 'consigliere' and chieftain of the crime clan's New Jersey faction, will not be eligible for release for more than 60 years.

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Two of his top associates, convicted with him in June of racketeering and murder conspiracy, also received sentences of at least three-quarters of a century each in prison.

Manna's sentencing puts another leading member of the Genovese family hierarchy in prison for what amounts to a life sentence.

The family's former boss, Anthony 'Fat Tony' Salerno, is serving more than a century following his conviction in New York as a member of the Mafia's ruling Commission. Reputed caporegime Matty 'the Horse' Ianniello is serving time for a New York conviction for a construction shakedown racket.

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'This office and other offices have made great strides in attacking the core of the leadership of the Genovese family, including some very experienced and some very dangerous criminals,' said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoff, who prosecuted both Manna and Salerno.

'Our hope is not that we're going to eliminate the family tomorrow, but (that) we're going to reduce its effectiveness, because it will no longer have that pool of experience and accumulated criminal background to draw upon,' he added.

Manna and his alleged top aides -- Hoboken restaurant owner Martin 'Motts' Casella, 72, and mob enforcer Richard 'Bocci' DeSciscio, 47, of Bayonne -- were all convicted of arranging the murder of Irwin 'Fat Man' Schiff, who was gunned down in a Manhattan restaurant in August 1987 as he dined with a female companion dubbed in the New York press as the 'mysterious blonde.'

The three men and Frank 'Dipsy' Daniello, 68, a former Hoboken police officer, were also found guilty of unsuccessfully planning to murder alleged Gambino family boss John Gotti -- reputedly America's most powerful mobster -- and his brother, Gene Gotti, outside a New York social club.

Manna and his associates were arrested in June 1988 and charged with operating a labor racketeering and illegal gambling operation that used violence, murder and threats of violence in the course of business. Manna and DeSciscio have been held without bail since their arrest.

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The evidence in the four-month trial 'fairly shrieked of guilt,' U.S. District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry said.

She noted that the foreman of the jury in the case -- the first anonymous jury in New Jersey history -- was so nervous 'after hearing evidence of cold-blooded murder and conspiracies to murder' that two of his fellow jurors held his hands to support him as he delivered the verdict.

Barry sentenced Casella to 80 years and DeSciscio to 75 years.

Daniello received a 48-month term, while the judge gave Rocco J. Napoli, business manager of a Laborers International Union local in Jersey City, 75 months for taking payoffs from construction companies.

Manna, who sat handcuffed and shackled next to his lawyers, refused to speak before the judge imposed sentence.

'My client is innocent,' lawyer Raymond A. Brown said. 'He pleaded innocent, and maintains his innocence and believes he will be vindicated in the future.'

Manna became one of the Genovese family's top leaders a decade ago, mob turncoat Vincent 'the Fish' Cafaro testified during the trial.

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