Judge refuses release for Las Vegas man charged in New York mob murder case

A federal judge Wednesday refused to release a Las Vegas man facing federal charges in New York in the killing of a rival mob associate more than a decade ago.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bill Hoffman ordered Gennaro Bruno, suspected of being a hit man, to remain in custody and be taken by federal marshals to Brooklyn to face murder and racketeering charges.

Hoffman said Bruno posed a danger to the community and cited his lengthy criminal history — six felony and four misdemeanor convictions since the early 1990s— in refusing to set him free.

Bruno, 47, who took up residence with his new wife in Las Vegas less than two months ago, was arrested by FBI agents here Tuesday on the New York charges. He was taken into custody at the office of his federal probation officer.

A 15-count federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Brooklyn identifies Bruno as an associate of the Gambino organized crime family. The indictment describes him as a member of the “Young Guns” crew tied to the Gambino syndicate in the 1990s.

Bruno is alleged to have killed the rival, Martin Bosshart, in 2002 in a marijuana trafficking dispute.

Kristin Mace, an assistant U.S. attorney from Brooklyn, told the judge that Bruno shot Bosshart in the back of the head at “point blank range.”

She argued that he has been in and out of prison the past 20 years on mostly violent crimes, including extortion, armed robbery and obstruction of justice.

He became an associate of the Gambino crime family in 2000 after he got out of prison in New York, Mace said.

Bruno has spent most of the past 11 years in federal prison for a federal racketeering conviction in Florida that involved a kidnapping and a series of armed bank robberies.

But that didn’t stop his court-appointed lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Elisa Vasquez, from seeking his release on his own recognizance.

Vasquez said Bruno has made all of his appointments with his probation officers since being released from prison in June 2013 and is preparing to face the New York charges.

“He wants to go back and fight this case with all his heart,” Vasquez said.

But Mace argued that Bruno faces the rest of his life behind bars if convicted in New York, and she said she considered him a serious flight risk.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.