The Bonanno soldier and two other gun-wielding cohorts smoked Galante as he enjoyed an after-dinner cigar on the patio of a Bushwick, Brooklyn restaurant 22 years ago.

Black and white photos of detectives on a hot July day standing over the bloodied Galante lying flat on his back, still clenching an expensive stogie between his teeth, came to symbolize the chilling irony and brutality of the mob.

Indelicato was convicted of murdering Galante in the historic Commission case in 1986. He served 12 years in federal prison, where he met and married Cathy Burke, daughter of legendary Queens gangster James (Jimmy The Gent) Burke, the celebrated mastermind of the daring $6 million Lufthansa Airlines robbery immortalized in "Goodfellas," the movie based on Nick Pileggi's incredibly detailed book, "Wiseguy."

Indelicato, 54, and Cathy Burke met while he and her father were serving time together in Lewisberg (Pa.) Federal Penitentiary in 1985. They married in 1992 when he was Terre Haute. They have lived in Howard Beach, Queens, since his release in 1998.

At least they did until last week, when Indelicato was busted for violating his

Indelicato got snared by investigators for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. They kept running into him with targets of their mob gambling probe. "Indelicato was observed during the course of the investigation at regular and frequent business meetings with Basciano and the leader of the gambling ring," said Brown.

He was spotted visiting with wiseguys at the Friars Club, the St. Regis Hotel,  the Manhattan Grille, the Metropolitan Café, and talking to them outside the Peninsula Hotel. Now, that would appear to be a classic example of associating (and dining well) with known criminals, a no-no for someone on parole for a serious crime.

Until his arrest, Indelicato doubled as a member of a Bonanno crew headed by his uncle, Joseph (J.B.) Indelicato, and as a salesman for a New Jersey garment industry company, authorities said.

But things still look bleak for the long time Gambino family powerhouse and onetime close associate of jailed-for-life boss John Gotti.

Watts completed a six-year term for murder in February but remained in prison awaiting trial. He faces five more years on the tax charge and a retrial on the money washing charges that could mean another 40 years.

You never would have guessed that if you were in Brooklyn Federal Court when the jury convicted him of fraud and announced it was deadlocked on the other counts.

"The prosecutors cannot be happy with this result,” said defense lawyer Gerald Shargel as a smiling Watts was led out of the courtroom and back to

Assistant U.S. attorneys Daniel Dorsky and Andrew Genser weren't jumping up and down, exchanging high fives, but they couldn’t have been too unhappy since the only verdict the jury reached was guilty.

"This case demonstrates that no matter how hard somebody tries to hide his
income, no matter how many people they use to deceive the U.S. government and fellow taxpayers, we will catch them," said Dorsky.

"After having obtained this conviction, we look forward to retrying him on
the additional counts ... and obtaining additional convictions," Genser told
Staten Island Advance reporter Kati Cornell Smith.

When a case ends in a mistrial, the prosecution has a big edge at the retrial. Having seen the full scope of the defense strategy, prosecutors fine tune and

almost always improve their strategy. Watts is with charged pouring some $2.5 million in profits from a lucrative loansharking business into a luxurious beachfront hideaway in Florida in the Gulf of Mexico in the mid 1990s. (right)

“The government made such a mess of its money laundering case," Shargell said, "that I don’t think it can be cleaned up. Some stains don’t come out.”

Watts also has excellent grounds to reverse the tax count conviction, said Shargel, because it was a late, added starter to the money laundering case that was unfair because it made it extremely difficult to prepare a defense.

Hope always springs eternal. But it’s going to be very tough for Watts and his defense team to best turncoat Gambino soldier Dominic (Fat Dom) Borghese and his handlers the second time around.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Mafia boss Joseph (Skinny Joe) Merlino also claimed victory at his racketeering and murder trial despite being  convicted on racketeering charges of gambling and extortion.

In his case, and those of his six codefendants, however, the victory claims were more valid than Watts'.

Merlino's Philadelphia jury voted “not guilty” or “not proven” on all the most serious crimes that all seven defendants faced -- murder and attempted murder -- and acquitted Merlino of drug dealing. Instead of life, they face about seven years, according to sentencing guidelines.

Award-winning Philadelphia Inquirer reporter George Anastasia noted that the verdict was a stinging rebuke to the federal prosecutors and their stable of turncoat witnesses, led by former boss Ralph Natale, (right) the first American Mafia boss to testify against his men.

"In a nutshell, we won," said Merlino's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr. "This is what we asked the jury to do in March. . . . The jury rejected the government's case."