crew committing armed robberies. As noted above, at the time of the Chemical Bank robbery, Polito owed several hundred thousand dollars in loansharking and gambling debts and participated in the robbery to get money to pay down some of his debts.
Following the bank robbery, Polito began spending more time with members of Malangone's crew. According to D'Urso, Polito did this so that he could participate in more significant crimes, repay his outstanding gambling debts, and eventually become a "made" member of the Genovese Family. Lombardi became angry at Polito upon learning that Polito was hanging out with Malangone's crew. But when Lombardi tried to stop Polito from hanging out with Malangone's crew, Lombardi was reprimanded by Malangone, who told Lombardi that he had no authority to tell Polito what to do because Lombardi was not a made member of the Genovese Family. Lombardi then complained to Zito, who called Malangone. Zito told Malangone that he didn't want Polito hanging out with Malangone's crew; Malangone deferred, agreeing "that he [would] stop it."
IV. The Shootings of Lombardi and D'Urso
At some point during 1994, Polito and his cousin Imbrieco, an associate of the Bonnano Crime Family, asked another one of their cousins, Cerasulo, to kill D'Urso and Lombardi. According to Cerasulo, Polito told him that D'Urso and Lombardi had previously "set [Polito] up" for a robbery,1 that Polito owed them a lot of money, and that they were "pieces of shit" who "had to go." Cerasulo testified that he agreed to participate in the murder because he "wanted to get a reputation" and that Polito had promised him that Fortunato and others would pay Cerasulo to commit the murder. Cerasulo also testified that he asked Polito if he had received permission from higher-ups in the Genovese Family to kill two Genovese associates; Cerosulo never testified as to what Polito's response was, if any. Cerasulo did testify that Fortunato provided him with one of Polito's guns to commit the murder. Cerasulo and Imbrieco later went to Lombardi's house to ambush Lombardi and D'Urso, but Cerasulo got cold feet at the last minute and aborted the mission.
Polito subsequently asked Cerasulo to find someone else to commit the murders, so Cerasulo recruited Bruno, who was a close friend of both Cerasulo and Imbrieco and, according to the Government, an "aspiring mobster." Bruno agreed to kill D'Urso and Lombardi to enhance his standing with "connected" people - i.e., Polito and Imbrieco, whom Bruno knew to be associated with organized crime. With Bruno in on the scheme, the plan was that he and Imbrieco would do the shooting, and Cerasulo would drive the getaway car. Bruno also got cold feet, however, and when he had the opportunity, he failed to shoot Lombardi and D'Urso.
By the end of November 1994, Polito owed Lombardi about $50,000 and D'Urso about $10,000. Polito explained to his cohorts that he wanted the murders to be committed before late November to avoid repaying those debts. Three days before Polito's