Agnello, a millionaire mobster and scrap metal magnate, has agreed to a plea bargain that will cost him about $11 million in fines, restitution and back taxes and keep him in prison until early 2008.

A volatile mobster who suffers from a bipolar disorder commonly known as manic depression, Agnello, 41, can still back out but informed sources say he and his codefendants will all take plea deals, as early as today.

Gotti, who predicted his son-in-law would be indicted and end up forfeiting cash to the feds, has ridiculed Agnello's mental acuity and made fun of his mental illness in jailhouse visits with daughter Victoria, now estranged from Agnello.

The Dapper Don, who reportedly was happy when he heard last year that Agnello and daughter Victoria were breaking up, called Agnello an

"So what's the story with Carmine?" asked Gotti, about eight months before he was first diagnosed with head and neck cancer.

"What do you mean, what's the story with him?" she asked.

"Is he feeling good? Is he not feeling good? Is his medication increased? Decreased? Is it up? Down? Does he get in the backseat of the car and think someone has stolen the steering wheel?"

According to the deal worked out by prosecutors and his lawyers, Agnello will receive a nine year sentence. With mandatory time off, and credit for the time he has been detained without bail, Agnello should be released in the Spring of 2008.

Prosecutors Bridget Rohde, Andrew Genser, Susan Riley and Gregory Pavlides hammered out a deal with defense lawyers Ben Brafman, Robert

Gershon decided prosecutors could play tapes of Agnello telling an informer how to torch Stadium Scrap, a police operated junkyard, and she ruled Agnello could not claim that mental illness diminished his capacity to comprehend that his actions were criminal.

In court papers, defense lawyers said they wanted the option to argue at trial that Agnello, who takes mood stabilizers to maintain an even keel, may not have been all there during some key moments.

Gershon ruled against them, but suppose she hadn't. Could the defense really argue that perhaps Agnello didn't take his meds when he promised a cooperating witness $2000 to "buy glass bottles (and) and fill them up (with gasoline) and throw them all around the truck" of a competitor?

Or that maybe Agnello took too much, or too little when he told undercover

It's difficult to comprehend how those arguments could fly when Agnello was overheard threatening cops and offering witnesses money to burn out his competitors on several occasions.

If Agnello had opted for trial next month, he would have faced more than 20 years in prison, the forfeiture of $21 million, and up to $42 million in fines if convicted of racketeering, extortion, arson and tax evasion charges. Judge Gershon has to approve the deal.

Back in January 1998, when Gotti ended his discussion about Agnello by asking if he were better or worse, Victoria said it was a "day by day" thing. "Some days, he's really good, some days he's not."

Agnello may not have had a good day when he agreed to take the plea deal, or when he pleads guilty in court, but when you consider the case the feds have against him, it was the only smart move he could make. 

Prison officials refuse to discuss the reason for Gotti's sudden, unscheduled transfer but Kasman and others say Gotti suffered an irregular heart and that  the private hospital has more sophisticated facilities to treat him.

Gotti was convicted of racketeering and murder in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison. Housed at the federal prison in Marion, he was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in the fall of 1998. Gotti underwent surgery but the cancer returned last year and has reportedly spread aggressively.