USA: Ex-mobster behind Goodfellas film is sent back to prison

A former mobster whose experiences inspired the gangland film Goodfellas is back in jail after a drugs conviction in Nebraska.

Henry Hill, 62, now a chef, was sentenced to 180 days for attempted possession of methamphetamine after tests on glass phials found in his luggage at an airport showed residue from the drug, with traces of cocaine.

Brooklyn-born Hill, portrayed by Ray Liotta in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film, was stopped at the North Platte regional airport, Nebraska, in August last year and charged with possessing the drugs. Last month the former cocaine dealer admitted the lesser charge of attempted possession but was arrested after violating a plea agreement under which he could avoid jail if he completed an alcohol treatment programme.

Hill attended a pre-sentence meeting with a probation officer with a blood-alcohol level of 0.343 per cent, well above Nebraska's legal driving limit of 0.08 per cent. Police said he allegedly left the scene of an accident.

Hill fell in with the Lucchese family in New York, one of the most powerful organised crime families. He ran errands for the mob boss Paul Vario before graduating to crimes such as hijacking lorries but was never a fully-fledged mafioso as, although his mother was Italian, his father was Irish. In 1972 he was convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder.

He served four and a half years of a 10-years sentence but developed drug contacts that enabled him to start a narcotics operation. He began using cocaine but escaped prison by testifying against his former mob bosses.

In 1980 he entered the FBI's witness programme and wrote Wiseguy about his Mafia experiences, the basis for Goodfellas.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org/amphetablog.html
Pubdate: Wed, 28th September 2005
Source: The Telegraph (UK)
Author: Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles
Email: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk
Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Copyright: 2005 The Telegraph