Mobsters are safe (for now) as judge declares mistrial

A Manhattan judge declared a mistrial Tuesday after a disgruntled juror refused to continue deliberations against reputed Bonanno capo Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora and three alleged members of his crew.

Juror No. 9 told Justice Mark Dwyer that the other panelists were trying to bully the holdouts into a guilty verdict.

“It’s not guilty until proven innocent. It’s innocent until proven guilty and I believe in a just verdict,” the juror fumed. As a result, Dwyer declared a mistrial.

The 12-member panel had deliberated a little over a week after sitting through the three-month enterprise corruption trial of Santora and co-defendants Anthony “Skinny” Santoro, Vito Badamo and Ernest Aiello.

The rogue juror was especially outraged that several jurors had sent an afternoon note to the judge complaining that Juror No. 1 had a hearing problem.

Juror No. 1 was dismissed and replaced with the only remaining alternate over the defenses’ objection.

But Juror No. 9 told the court that Juror No. 1 could hear just fine and the other panelists were simply miffed he hadn’t agreed with them.

The Manhattan DA’s office said in a statement that they intend to retry the case. “The inability of one juror to continue deliberating is not a reflection on the overall strength of the case,” said DA spokeswoman Joan Vollero.

Santora’s defense lawyer Michael Alber insisted that the prosecution’s case was woefully short on evidence: “We have said from day one that this indictment rests on speculation and conjecture.”

Badamo’s lawyer Joseph Donatelli added, “The defense is not happy with a mistrial, but it’s better than a wrongful conviction.”

Prosecutors argued at trial that Santora, who inspired the character played by the late Bruno Kirby in the film “Donnie Brasco” oversaw an online gambling operation, the sale of prescription drugs, and a loansharking scheme from 2010 to 2012.

“These crimes and these defendants are real and you’ll hear that, far from being dormant, the Bonanno organized crime family was alive and well, and the old guard was training the new members to take over their reins,” argued ADA David Stuart.

The defendants weren’t acting individually but as a group that shared a common criminal purpose under Santora’s leadership, insisted ADA Gary Galperin

He urged jurors in his summation to find the defendants “guilty of enterprise corruption and announce to this captain and his crew that their ship will set sail no more.”

Defense lawyers insisted that the men are not mobsters but simply close friends who grew up together and dabbled in light criminal activity.

“When young people of color get together or are seen together, they call them a gang,” argued Aiello’s lawyer Stacey Richman. “When Italians get together, they call them the Mafia. These people are [just] friends.”

The attorneys also attacked the credibility of the prosecution’s cooperating witness, Bonanno capo-turned-canary James Tartaglione, who spent more than two days telling jurors about the inner workings of the mob.

“[He] was involved in 6 murders and 2 attempted murders,” said Santoro’s lawyer Adam Konta. “This guy is a multi-millionaire, multi-murdering, tax evading, prison evading hired gun.”

The reformed wiseguy, who conceded he had no direct knowledge of any of the charged crimes, has been in witness protection since 2003, the lawyer said.

Prosecutors played wiretap conversations to demonstrate that Mr. Santora was calling the shots and that the group had a penchant for violence.

In one call, Santoro barks about a kid who allegedly owes a gambling debt, “I’m gonna split his f—king head open with a hatchet, to be honest with you.”

The wise guy groused, “I’ll put two holes in his fucking forehead, I’ll double tap his forehead right now….He’ll be one dead young punk, ill leave him in the street right now. I’ll shoot him right now, right this minute. I’ll take a shower and shave just to go shoot him.”

But Konta insisted Santoro was just bloviating and none of the defendants are charged with violent crimes.