Infamous Mafia turncoat Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano will likely wait until the end of this year to receive a sentence for his role in an Arizona crime syndicate which dealt exclusively in Ecstasy.
A telephone "status hearing" was held Oct. 26 in Maricopa County Superior Court to determine the status of federal proceedings against Gravano in New York, where he is currently awaiting sentencing with his son, Gerard Gravano.
Federal prosecutors in New York have yet to set a sentencing date for the Gravanos, who both pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges May 25.
Judge Steven Sheldon set Nov. 30 as a date for the next status hearing in Arizona, since state prosecutors have to wait for the Gravanos to receive a federal sentence before they can levy their own.
"Obviously this won't be resolved in the near future," Sheldon said.
Both father and son were due to receive sentences in New York on Sept. 11, but the terrorist attacks delayed proceedings.
Sheldon spoke with attorneys over the phone, including defense attorney Alex Gonzalez, who represents Gerard Gravano.
Gonzalez seemed confused when Sheldon asked him about the status of current federal proceedings.
"Sentencing will take place at the end of November…or December, we don't know," Gonzalez said. "As I understand, it will take place at the end of next month."
Salvatore Gravano, 55, and Gerard Gravano, 24, face up to 15 ½ years in prison. They are currently awaiting sentencing in the same courthouse where the elder Gravano testified against notorious Mafia boss, John "Dapper Don" Gotti ten years ago.
Gotti, the former Gambino crime family boss, is currently serving a life sentence in a federal prison.
Gravano's ratting out Gotti and Vincent "The Chin" Gigante - former boss of the Genovese crime family - led to the arrests of 36 New York mobsters.
Though he admitted murdering 19 people as a Mafia hit man, Gravano served only five years in prison because he received leniency for helping investigations. After prison, he moved to Phoenix under the witness protection program.
Gravano left the program in 1997, shed his alias "Jimmy Moran" and remained in Arizona.
Prosecutors say Gravano overtook his son's drug business in 1998. Both Gravanos are accused of buying thousands of Ecstasy pills in Brooklyn, N.Y. and then selling them in Arizona.
