This Week In Gang Land
Bobby Blossner, A Colorful Lawyer, And Great Mentor, Takes Down His Shingle. For Good
He
was a colorful lawyer who once cited Abbot & Costello in an effort
to win bail for an acting mob boss. Robert Blossner, a quick-witted
barrister who won the only acquittal at the federal murder trial of eight
members and associates of the Westies after he jumped up onto the defense
table to make a point to the jury during his summation, has lost a battle
with the Grim Reaper.
Blossner, who was co-counsel of high-powered defense attorneys in several major mob trials during the 1980s, and who represented two acting mob bosses during this millennium, has died following a brief battle with brain cancer. He was laid to rest in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing last month. He was 82.
In the historic Commission case, Blossner defended Bonanno soldier Anthony (Bruno) Indelicato, the one mobster who was not sentenced to 100 years. "It wasn't because of any great work that I did for him," he told Gang Land years later. On sentencing day in 1987, he said, 40 years was the longest prison term Indelicato could have gotten for being found guilty of two predicate acts involving the 1979 murder of Carmine (Lilo) Galante.
Did He Or Didn't He? Wiseguy's Lawyer Says His Client Never Snitched; Gang Land's Sources Insist He Did
His
lawyer still insists he "never" cooperated. But law enforcement and other
sources tell Gang Land that Colombo capo Richard Ferrara wore a wire for the
government and tape recorded a Russian gangster who had been a former
business partner. His undercover work helped the feds convict his ex-partner
of lying to the FBI about the suspicious death of a patron at a Brooklyn bar
back in 2009.
It Was A Peaceful And Enjoyable Labor Day Weekend In Gang Land
Unlike
last year, when a drunk and disorderly Gambino capo Joseph (Joe Brooklyn)
Lanni allegedly assaulted the husband and wife owners of a Jersey Shore
restaurant and threatened to burn the place down on the Friday night of
Labor Day weekend, the holiday weekend that honors the working men and women
of the country was a relatively quiet one in Gang Land.
