Mafia boss Carmine (Junior) Persico joked about his 100 year sentence a few months ago when he wrote Gang Land, but he's taken a different tack in recent correspondence to Federal Judge John Keenan.

Persico, 55, claims Keenan, federal prosecutors and his own attorney teamed up to deny him a fair trial in an effort to protect defense lawyer Stanley Meyer.

His problems arose, said Persico, because a key witness against him, Fred DeChristopher, claimed Meyer had delivered evidence to Persico while he was a fugitive.

Prosecutors suggested that Meyer's name be excised from DeChristopher's testimony because he represented another figure in the case, and Persico said his lawyer, Frank Lopez, agreed "to protect his associate, friend, and former law partner."

"Lopez and Meyer reacted to the situation much like ostriches, who, when danger approaches, hide their heads in the sand," said Persico, and it prejudiced him in two important ways.

One, Meyer was not called as a witness to rebut the allegation, which Meyer now swears was false, and two, the jury had to believe trial lawyer Lopez was the unnamed attorney involved in the shady activity.

"Carmine Persico got an entirely fair trial," said Aaron Marcu, assistant Manhattan U.S. attorney who tried the case and said his office expects to "prevail on the merits."