Arthur Nigro and Henchmen Found Guilty of Murder

A former boss of New York's Genovese crime family and two henchmen were found guilty of murder and other crimes in the latest blow to the Big Apple mafia.

Arthur Nigro, a former acting boss of the Genovese, was found guilty following a three-week trial in New York.

Nigro and two other defendants were convicted in the 2003 murder of a mob rival who had made contact with the FBI. Nigro's two associates were also convicted in a second slaying that year.

The three also were found guilty of a slew of other crimes, including attempted murder, murder conspiracies, racketeering and extortion. They all face mandatory life sentences.

"The jury's swift verdict in this case takes some very dangerous men off the streets -- men who clearly did not think twice about killing anyone who got in their way," Preet Bharara, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. "Today's verdict makes it clear that those who so flagrantly and repeatedly violate the law will be punished."

La Cosa Nostra in New York has been severely weakened since the widespread breaking of the previously solid code of silence, with mobsters repeatedly informing on former comrades in exchange for leniency.