Anthony Casso - Informant

Informant

Casso was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City pending trial. Facing charges that would have all but assured he would die in prison, Casso nearly walked out of jail, but was thwarted at the last minute. He was making plans for a second escape attempt, including an elaborate plan to assassinate the judge slated to preside over his trial. However, all of this came undone when Amuso, who believed Casso was responsible for his capture, effectively banished him from the family.

Shortly before his trial commenced, Casso offered to turn state's evidence. He finalized a deal at a hearing on March 1, 1994, where he pled guilty to all 72 counts he had been indicted on, now including 15 murders.

Casso disclosed that two retired NYPD detectives had been on the Lucchese payroll. These detectives were later determined to be Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, who committed eight of the eleven murders Casso had ordered. Carracappa and Eppolito had also given Casso information which led to many others as well, revealing the names of potential informants. They were subsequently found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life in prison. However, when Casso revealed the similar corruption of FBI agent Doug MacCane, federal prosecutors ordered him to keep quiet. Casso further enraged the federal government by accusing Gambino turncoat Sammy Gravano of committing multiple felonies which he had later denied on the witness stand.

Casso claimed to have sold large amounts of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana to Gravano over two decades. Once again, no one was interested. However, Casso was vindicated to some extent in 2000 when Gravano pleaded guilty to operating a massive narcotics ring.

In 1997, Casso was thrown out of the Witness Protection Program. Prosecutors alleged numerous infractions, including bribing guards, assaulting other inmates and making "false statements" about federal witnesses Gravano and D'Arco. Casso's attorney tried to get federal judge Frederic Block to overrule the prosecutors in July 1998, but Block refused to do so. Shortly afterward, Block sentenced Casso to 13 consecutive terms of life in prison plus 455 years. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole at the Supermax ADX Florence prison in Florence, Colorado.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, in March 2009 Anthony Casso was transferred to the Federal Medical Center (FMC) at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner in North Carolina for the treatment of prostate cancer. However, by July 2009, he had been returned to ADX Florence.