Government Witness
Facing serious charges and possible capital offenses, Vinny decided to become a government witness. He confessed to killing Weiss and mobster Louis LaRasso and to planning the murders of John D'Amato, Joseph Masella, Charles Majuri, Frank D'Amato and Tom Salvata, the manager at his strip club. Palermo also implicated other DeCavalcante family members in various crimes.
After testifying for the government, Vincent Palermo and his family entered the federal Witness Protection Program. However, prosecutors later discovered that Vincent allegedly gave his son Michael Palermo $1 million in cash, possibly jeopardizing his status as a protected witness.
Read more about this topic: Vincent Palermo
Famous quotes containing the words government and/or witness:
“In using the strong hand, as now compelled to do, the government has a difficult duty to perform. At the very best, it will by turns do both too little and too much. It can properly have no motive of revenge, no purpose to punish merely for punishment’s sake. While we must, by all available means, prevent the overthrow of the government, we should avoid planting and cultivating too many thorns in the bosom of society.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“It is the witness still of excellency
To put a strange face on his own perfection.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)