Lana Zancocchio and her three children, who have lived with mobsters all their lives, will go it alone together due to a belated, unexpected and controversial Mother's Day gift they got this week from a maverick federal judge.

Brooklyn Judge Jack Weinstein, who has never been afraid to rock the boat, gave Zancocchio probation for a tax evasion conviction that calls for a 10 to 16 month term, according to strict federal sentencing guidelines.

the court and Rabin's position was like the old saw about "the man who murders his parents and then begs the court for for mercy because he is an orphan."

Zancocchio "brought (this hardship on) her children," said the prosecutor. "She raised them knowingly in a criminal milieu" and to give her probation "would be rewarding Mrs. Zancocchio for coming from a family of people who make their living by crime, often violent crime," said Nordenbrook.

In addition, the prosecutor said, Zancocchio should get no leniency now because prosecutors let her walk 12 years ago in a deal which saw her husband, Bonanno soldier John (Porky) Zancocchio, (right) and her father, capo Anthony (T.G.) Graziano, plead guilty and go to jail.

Before we go on, Gang Land owes an apology to Zancocchio -- Porky, not Lana -- for labeling him in an earlier column as a cad who declined to take the weight for his wife in this battle with the feds over her tax problems. He did offer to take a heavier prison term if his wife could get another free pass. (More about Porky & Lana later.)

This time the government said no because Lana "had a former experience" and should have learned her lesson. "Perhaps," Nordenbrook said, "if she sees the inside of a jail for the relatively short period of time under the guide-

probation -- while refusing to split the mother from her children, Weinstein fined her $100,000 and ordered her to pay $100,000 in restitution within six months -- was a "downward departure" of four levels, highly unusual in the era of sentencing guidelines.

In court, Rabin argued that in addition to her children's plight, his client's situation was extraordinary and she deserved leniency. A therapist hired by the family said that since childhood Lana "had been hit by her father, has been told she is fat and ugly, (and) has been degraded time and again."

When Lana was about 10 years old, she was traumatized, the therapist said, when "someone stopped her father's car and they had an argument and in front of her, her father bit off the man's ear."

Most mobsters ask to be designated to a prison close to home when they are convicted, especially of federal crimes that could mean a home 3000 miles away from your family and friends.

When Porky Zancocchio copped a plea in his Brooklyn case, however, he said he was ill and wanted to be sent to a prison hospital.

After looking at court papers and talking to a few sources -- not the one who gave us a bum steer that Porky wasn't a standup guy -- it's pretty obvious that Porky was sick of his family and wanted to get as far away as possible.

During their investigation, the feds spoke to many friends and criminal associates of Porky, Lana, and Graziano, (left) who was moved up to Bonanno consigliere last year.

"Almost without exception," said prosecutor Nordenbrook, "the witnesses described Lana Zancocchio as a verbally abusive, abrasive, unpleasant woman who used her father to get her way, both with her husband and with outsiders.

"One witness described being present in the house on more than one occasion when (she) was verbally abusive and derisive of her husband despite the presence of outsiders.

"Other witnesses reported that (Lana) often called upon her father to use his position as a high-level member of organized crime to support her in disputes with her husband and others."

Two years ago, Porky was overheard on a wiretap complaining that Lana was "ruining the business" of an Italian restaurant they owned. "She only comes in on weekends and plays the part," he told another soldier.

And when they were negotiating their divorce, the feds were asked to relax bail restrictions for Porky -- he had been prohibited from contact with any mobsters, including his father-in-law -- and allow Graziano to be present in the office of their divorce attorneys.

"This was because (Lana) wanted her father to 'represent' her in those negotiations," Nordenbrook said in court papers.

It's hard to imagine Sammy (The Bald Bull) Gravano starting any trends these days but Genovese soldier Sammy Meatballs Aparo followed Gravano's lead last week when he showed up at a pre-sentence conference.

Sammy Meatballs wasn't sporting a shaved head, but said he wanted to dump indicted lawyer Lynne Stewart and retain the same attorney who represents son Vincent, his co-defendant.

Meatballs, who has been ribbed by his co-defendants for months about using the same lawyer as the Bald Bull, perhaps the most infamous Mafia turncoat, seemed much happier with himself later, even though he faces the same 70 to 87 months on sentencing day.