A former inmate who served time with notorious Lucchese crime family underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso has described what life was like inside the cellblock with one of the most feared mobsters in New York history. The account comes from an interview in which the individual, who was locked up with Casso, recalled that the two spent time together both during his first year of incarceration and later in protective custody. Casso, who died in 2020 while serving multiple life sentences, was known for his brutal reputation and willingness to cooperate with prosecutors after his 1993 arrest. His cooperation led to testimony that helped convict numerous mob figures, but his violent past remained a defining part of his legacy.
The former cellmate described Casso as a lifelong hoodlum, saying he had been that way “probably from when he was in kindergarten. ”
To illustrate the point, he recounted an incident in which Casso became enraged over a tomato and threatened to stab another man over it. Rather than escalate the situation, the former inmate said he offered to help, telling Casso that he worked in the kitchen and could bring him tomatoes so he would not have to worry about it. Casso eventually calmed down.
Reflecting on the episode, the man said some people are simply vicious and petty by nature. He noted that he remained neutral toward Casso, neither disliking him nor liking him because of behavior like the tomato incident. “I just said, ‘What are you going to do? Let’s just get this over with.
I don’t want to start another war over a tomato,’” he recalled. The anecdote is included in his book, a memoir of his time spent alongside some of organized crime’s most dangerous figures.