But on Thursday, the 69-year-old Gigante entered the Brooklyn courtroom well dressed, and without the wheelchair he had used during his four-week July trial. Knowing the Chin, the 21st century could find him jogging in Central Park.
Chin Music's Over for Gigante
NEW YORK: Vincent "Chin" Gigante will trade in his bathrobe and slippers
for 12 years in prison duds, U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein
ruled Thursday. Having already decided that the "Oddfather" had been
faking his mental illness, Weinstein imposed a fine of $1.2 million and
brushed off pleas from Gigante's lawyer and family (not "family") that
the mobster be allowed to spend "his final days" under house detention.
Gigante has a host of physical maladies; the judge allowed for his early
release if he becomes terminally ill.