fight,” Bonner testified. But, promising to be on his best behavior, Gotti had gotten permission from the owner to return that night.

When Gotti told him the ban had been lifted, Bonner testified, he decided to have a few drinks at the Silver Fox with his girlfriend before getting a late dinner.

“We all went in there, and everything was okay. So, we’re having a nice time, and everything was all right, and, uh, this kid came up to Junior, and he kept wanting to talk to him,” said Bonner, recalling that “Junior didn’t want to talk to him.”

But the antagonist – “he was a little drunk… kept going at him insistently,” and eventually Junior punched the guy, knocked him down and “beat the guy up bad” in what Bonner described as a “one-on-one fight” in the middle of a circle of cheering patrons “near the juke box.” 

“Next thing I know,” said Bonner, “I got hit in the face with a glass, and all hell broke loose. Everybody was fighting. When I opened my eyes, when I could see clearly, I mean, I seen between the lights and everything, I seen this kid had been stabbed.  He had been stabbed. I seen Junior stab the guy.” 

They fled in several cars to a Gotti pal’s house near the

Brooklyn-Queens border, Bonner testified.

At the house, Gotti “really didn’t say nothing,” Bonner testified. “He, uh – he went into the bathroom and got himself cleaned up, came back out and, uh, I made a joke, could I go eat now? And that was it. I left.” 

That night, another witness, John Cennamo, told police he saw Junior and Caputo “punching and stabbing” the victim, Danny Silva, 24. But within days, Cennamo was found hanged, and Junior was never charged. 

Gotti, who has admitted being in the bar during the brawl, denies any role in Silva’s death. But in 2005, Junior told the feds that a gangster buddy of his father had told him that friends of the late mob boss had taken care of Cennamo and made his death appear to be a suicide to ensure that Gotti would not be charged in the slaying. 

Reached yesterday by Gang Land, his lawyer Charles Carnesi declined to comment about Bonner’s account, or reports by law enforcement sources that the FBI and prosecutors in Brooklyn and Tampa are looking to make the Silva killing part of a racketeering-murder case against Gotti.

Ten years ago, when the feds hit John (Jackie Nose) D’Amico with extortion and racketeering in the same case that landed Junior a 77-month prison stint, they could only convict D’Amico of illegal gambling, for which he later spent 17 months behind bars. 

While the case dragged through the courts, however, D’Amico remained free on bail, even though he allegedly served as a prominent member of the committee of family capos that helped Gotti run the family during the mid 1990s. 

D’Amico, 71, is once again charged with extortion and racketeering. This time, even though the feds have not lodged any specific allegations of violence against him, he has been detained as a danger to the community. 

The reason: Brooklyn federal prosecutors Roger Burlingame and Mitra Hormozi say that The Nose is now the acting boss of the crime family. 

At his bail hearing, D’Amico’s lawyer Robert Blossner argued that talk was cheap. The attorney asked them to prove it, or at least disclose some evidence to back it up. Any evidence – a tape recording or a witness – would do, argued Blossner. Burlingame refused, saying he didn’t have to. 

The prosecutor asserted that his mere accusation was enough to detain Jackie Nose. Apparently he was right, because

Magistrate Judge Kiyo Matsumoto agreed, keeping Jackie Nose behind bars. 

In court, a frustrated Blossner said the proceeding was a scary process that reminded him of an old Abbot and Costello movie. It was the one, said Blossner, “where the sergeant says, ‘You’re nothing and I’m the sergeant. I’m the boss. You understand that?’ And Costello says, ‘Yes. You’re the boss over nothing.’” 

Blossner told Gang Land that he is weighing his options, adding that he is “distressed” over the similarities between D’Amico’s current plight and the fate of legendary Genovese mobster Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno. (left)

“Twenty years ago, I was a lawyer in the Commission case. I heard a federal judge sentence another gambler to 100 years in prison and hope that he never got out of prison because he was the boss of a crime family. Well, Judge (Richard) Owen got his wish. Fat Tony died in prison. And then the government said, ‘Oops. Sorry about that. Fat Tony wasn’t really the boss. Some other guy named Chin was the real boss.’” 

Note to Gang Land readers in need of a Mafia 101 refresher: Years after Salerno’s death, the government admitted that Vincent (Chin) Gigante (right) was the real boss of the Genovese family. Salerno was the “up front” boss – someone who took the heat while Gigante tried to stay below the feds’ radar.