A couple of Gambino gangsters who forced a family bookie to do the right thing and pay off a winning bettor, did right by their crime family the other day -- with some prodding from a federal judge.

The wiseguys, who had agreed to plead guilty to collecting an unlawful debt, changed their minds when the judge insisted they own up to doing it as associates of the Gambino family, as the indictment charged.

In the end, capo Dominick (Skinny Dom) Pizzonia, 59, (right) a long time buddy of boss John Gotti, and soldier John (Johnny Beano) Setaro, 52, opted to plead guilty to extortion charges that will mean a longer prison stretch for each.

It was a comical, almost farcical episode, in which Pizzonia said he was affiliated with the Gambinos, then took it back, claiming he was hard of hearing and hadn't heard what the judge was saying.

In reality, the younger and lower-ranked Setaro showed Pizzonia the way.

Both went before Brooklyn Judge I. Leo Glasser ready to plead guilty to   collecting an unlawful debt -- $19,000 they got for a gambler who had complained to them that he had been stiffed by a family bookie. Pizzonia would get 18 to 24 months, and Setaro, who also was disposing of another

case, would receive 37 to 46 months, according to deals they worked out with prosecutors Paul Weinstein and Ruth Nordenbrook.

After both said they were guilty, Glasser, who presided over Gotti's 1992 racketeering and murder trial and knows a little about the Gambinos, detailed the family structure and asked if Pizzonia "participated in its activities in some meaningful way?"

Pizzonia only has a fifth grade education, but he knew enough to say, "I don't belong to the Gambino family."

Under further questioning, however, Pizzonia conceded he knew members of the family. Then he violated Gotti's cardinal rule against admitting a crime in connection with the activities of the Gambino family.

"The allegation here," said Glasser, "is that you were associated in some way; is that true?"

"Yes," said Pizzonia, a loanshark/bookmaker from Ozone Park, Queens.

"Mr. Setaro," continued Glasser, "If I asked you the same question what

would your answer be?"

"No," said Setaro, who made it to senior year of high school and obviously was more versed in Gotti's rules. Setaro emphatically restated "No. No" when Glasser pressed him further.

Lawyer Ronald Rubenstein said Setaro (left) would admit being part of a racketeering enterprise so long as it was not identified as the Gambino family, but the judge rejected that suggestion.

"Let me continue with Mr. Pizzonia," said Glasser.

Pizzonia's lawyer Jonathan Marks called a time out, conferred with his client, and announced that Pizzonia wished to withdraw his guilty plea.

The wiseguys returned later and pleaded guilty to extortion, a count in the indictment that did not mention the Gambino family. Pizzonia now faces 21 to 27 months; Setaro 41 to 51 months.

During the later session, Pizzonia apparently felt a need to explain away his earlier remarks and told the judge loud enough for all to hear:   "I'm deaf in one ear."

We're too old and too sick to go to jail, cried Bonanno soldier John (Johnny Green) Faraci (left) and associates Anthony (Old Tony) Geraci (right) and Rudy Casale. Each faced between two and three years when they showed for sentencing by Brooklyn Federal Judge Reena Raggi.

Faraci, 79, Geraci, 76, and Casale, 74, had collected about $5,000 in interest on a $15,000 loan they gave to a businessman in a scheme that ended early this year.

"I got a nice baseball in my trunk; bust your legs up," Casale had told their jammed up victim in a conversation taped by the FBI. "Yesterday, I got hold

Raggi gave Faraci and Geraci six months. Casale, (left) who had spent a month in prison following his arrest, then suffered a stroke when he got out, was given time served plus nine months home detention.

Anthony (Young Tony) Errante, (right) who the septuagenarians called on for muscle late in their scheme, received two years for his role.

The feds still have one more shot pending against Faraci, who was nabbed on labor racketeering charges in the same undercover investigation that snared Pizzonia and Setaro.

Joseph (Joe Butch) Corrao, a Gambino capo who was a confidante of family bosses Paul Castellano and John Gotti, died yesterday of kidney failure. He was 64.

Corrao suffered from diabetes for over 30 years. While serving five years for bribery in the mid-1990's, he lost several toes to what his lawyers described as poor medical care.

A Little Italy native who inherited his father's rackets, Corrao was a member of Castellano's inner circle in the early 1980's. He had no role in Castellano's execution but quickly threw in with Gotti and hosted a goodbye luncheon for the Dapper Don when his bail was revoked in 1986 before his first federal racketeering trial.

Since his release from prison in 1998, Corrao relinquished his family affairs to his son Vincent, who has long served as an acting capo for his ailing father.