in jewelry (equivalent to $ million in ). Return to prison and death On February 9, 1984, Vario was convicted of defrauding the federal government. Now a government witness, Hill testified that Vario had arranged a fictitious restaurant job for Hill so that Hill could be released from federal prison. Vario was convicted and on April 3, 1984, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison and fined $10,000. On February 21, 1985, while serving his prison sentence, Vario was indicted in a racketeering conspiracy that involved extortion. He and co-conspirators were charged with extorting over $350,000 from air cargo companies at JFK airport, threatening them with labor problems if they did not pay. Convicted again with the help of Hill's testimony, he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for extortion. Vario died on May 3, 1988, aged 73, from lung failure as a result of lung cancer while incarcerated at Fort Worth Federal Prison in Fort Worth, Texas. He is buried at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York. Cultural depictions of Vario Vario has been portrayed in several media productions. In director Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas, Paul Vario Sr. is depicted as the character Paul Cicero, portrayed by actor Paul Sorvino. In the 2001 Canada-American TV movie The Big Heist, Paul Vario is portrayed by actor Gino Marrocco. References Further reading Pileggi, Nicholas, Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family, Corgi (1987) Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. External links Paul Vario at Find-A-Grave 1914 births 1988 deaths American people who died in prison custody Burials at St. John's Cemetery (Queens) Consiglieri Criminals from New York City Lucchese crime family Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention Vario Crew