Court reinstates convicted mobster’s 40-year sentence

NEW YORK (AP) – A New York federal appeals court has reinstated the full 40-year prison sentence of a convicted mobster credited with providing the FBI information about hidden explosives in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing plot.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that U.S. District Judge Edward Korman overstepped his authority when he reduced Gregory Scarpa Jr.’s sentence for racketeering by 10 years.

A message left with Scarpa’s lawyer was not immediately returned.

The Colombo crime family soldier and Terry Nichols were serving time together in 2005 when Scarpa told the FBI there was a secret cache of explosives still available to Nichols’ associates.

Nichols is serving a life sentence for planning the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building with Timothy McVeigh. The bombing killed 168 people. McVeigh was executed.