“Bull’s” bling was a bargain.
Twenty-three of Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano’s confiscated crown jewels brought in $47,150 at an auction yesterday – including a gaudy diamond-encrusted pinkie ring that grabbed the top price of $13,100.
“It’s flashy . . . and I just liked it,” said buyer Michael Conneran, 47, a Phoenix, Ariz., developer.
The big spender also forked over $8,000 for another diamond pinkie ring that Gravano flashed during an interview with Diane Sawyer in 1997; $700 for a bracelet with a diamond-encrusted “Debbie,” the name of Gravano’s wife; and $3,000 for a flashy gold key chain with a diamond-encrusted “SAM.”
“I’ll give it to my sister-in-law, Debbie,” he said of the bracelet, adding of his entire haul: “It was a bargain. I think it’s kind of neat because of the mystique of Sammy Bull.”
Brett Higgins, general manager of Sierra Auction Management, which held the sale in Phoenix, said more than 1,000 people registered to get a shot at the Bull’s baubles.
“Based on the interest, we feel that this stuff achieved its maximum value,” he said.
Higgins had initially estimated the haul would bring in $100,000 or more, however.
“The stuff went for under jewelry-store prices,” Conneran noted.
The auction proceeds go to a government fund used to finance future racketeering investigations, Higgins said. In addition, another key chain with the Bull’s initials was sold on eBay for around $1,000 a week ago, he said.
The jailed hit man, 62, became the highest-ranking defector in mob history by confessing to 19 murders and agreeing to rat on John Gotti in 1991, putting the Gambino don behind bars for the rest of his life.
After serving five years in prison, Gravano went into the witness-protection program and relocated to Arizona, re-emerging to hawk his book “Underboss.” In 2000, he was busted for running a drug ring and was sent back to prison for 19 years.
Conneran said of his booty: “The rings are so tiny. I have a little-finger size of 13. His are size 8. I’ll probably have them made bigger.”