Joseph 'Big Joey' Massino - the last don of the New York mafia, who broke his own sacred code of silence to avoid the death penalty - was today jailed for life after admitting his involvement in the last of eight mob murder allegations.

Massino, the 62-year-old boss of the Bonanno family, became the first mafioso boss ever to violate the bloody code of omerta, the vow of silence that has lain behind the success of the brotherhood's brutal criminal empire of organised crime.

He received two life sentences after he admitted to ordering the slaying of Bonanno family captain Gerlando 'George from Canada' Sciascia in 1999.

Drawn, grey and speaking in a husky whisper, Massino told a federal court judge: "As the boss of the Bonanno family I gave the order."

"And what order was that?" the judge asked.

"Kill George from Canada," he replied.

The dramatic courtroom scene, chillingly reminiscent of a scene from a mob movie, marks the biggest blow to the cosa nostra in its history.

Massino, who once tipped the scales at 400lb and ruled with a rod of iron from the dining room of his Queens Restaurant in Casablanca, was known as the Last Don for his strict enforcement of discipline.

Despite being infiltrated by FBI investigator Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, in the 1970s, Massino's allegiance to the code of omerta ensured that his firm survived while the other New York mob families were brought to their knees

However, in January 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted on multiple charges, including ordering seven murders. After a trial that included damning testimony from several Mafia turncoats, including his own brother-in-law, 'Good looking' Sal Vitali, Massino was convicted of seven murders and racketeering.

Vitale, once 'underboss' of the Bonanno family, pleaded guilty to 11 murders in July last year. To save his own skin, he betrayed his childhood friend, telling a Brooklyn court: "I did many murders for Mr Massino...Every dollar I made me would split with him."

Today, Massino pleaded guilty to ordering the eighth murder.

This, however, is unlikely to be the final chapter for Massino who has been co-operating with the authorities to unravel the remains of the underworld brotherhood which once held the city in its brutal grip.

'The mafia as we know it is effectively over,' said Ronald Goldstock, former head of New York's organised crime task force. 'If people in the lower orders didn't know that their bosses would sell them out, then they know it now.'

Since the news emerged that Massino was informing on his comrades there have been reports of a huge crisis in the other mafia families. Some senior figures are reported to have fled New York.

'It is the end of an era. Some of these people will continue to be involved in crime but the old-style mafia does not really exist any more,' said Goldstock.

Now it seems the Last Don, who was lauded for his obedience to the omerta code throughout his career, has simply followed suit.

'In the end I am not surprised by anyone in the mafia co-operating. It is what they do now,' Goldstock added.

Times Recommends

• UN may halt 400-year-old 'freedom of the seas'
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone
• Gas deal on hold, but Ukraine may pay in the end