Convicted mob boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante is faking mental illness and can be sentenced to prison rather than a mental hospital, a federal judge ruled.
"Defendant has been consistently feigning insanity for many years and is still doing so in a shrewd attempt to avoid punishment for his crimes," U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein said Monday.The 69-year-old Gigante, longtime chief of New York's powerful Genovese crime family, was convicted in July of murder conspiracy and racketeering. He could receive as much as 27 years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 18.
Although in a "near catatonic" state during his trial, tapes and testimony showed Gigante sometimes behaving normally around family members and at unguarded moments.