Reputed Mobster Will Testify Against Associates, Court Told

A reputed high-ranking mobster who survived a murder attempt has turned government witness and will take the stand next week in a federal trial against nine former associates, a prosecutor said Friday.

Defense attorneys were stunned by prosecutor Charles Rose’s announcement that Peter Chiodo, 40, an alleged captain in the Lucchese crime family, had decided to testify in a racketeering case involving a multimillion-dollar bid-rigging scandal in New York’s construction industry.

The 380-pound Chiodo was hit in the stomach, chest, legs and arms by a dozen bullets while peering under the hood of his car at a Staten Island service station on May 8.

Published reports said that Chiodo had initially refused to talk to authorities but changed his mind after the attempt on his life.

He pleaded guilty last September to charges stemming from a state racketeering case. Police sources have speculated that the shooting resulted from an intra-family dispute.

Rose said in court Thursday that Chiodo was expected to implicate each of the nine defendants in the scheme, which drove up the price of replacement windows installed in city housing projects.

One of the nine on trial in the so-called “Windows” case is Peter Gotti, the brother of reputed Gambino crime family boss John Gotti.