John Gotti

John Gotti
Gotti66.jpg
Born October 27, 1940(1940-10-27)
The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Died June 10, 2002 (aged 61)
Springfield, Missouri, USA
Charge(s) Murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, tax evasion
Penalty Life imprisonment
Spouse Victoria DiGiorgio
Parents John and Philomena Gotti
Children Angela Gotti
Victoria Gotti
John A. Gotti
Frank Gotti
Peter Gotti, Jr.

John Joseph Gotti, Jr. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002), commonly known by the media as "The Dapper Don" and "The Teflon Don" after the murder of his former boss Paul Castellano, was the boss of the well known Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families in New York City. He became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style that eventually caused his downfall. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of racketeering, 13 murders, obstruction of justice, hijacking, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, loansharking and other crimes and was sentenced to life in prison where he died 10 years later.

Contents

Early life and family

Gotti was born to Italian-American parents John Gotti Sr and Philomena "Fannie" Gotti. He was 12 when his family moved to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn where he and his brothers Peter and Richard became part of a local street gang. In the early summer of 1954, while trying to steal a cement mixer, the mixer tipped over, crushing Gotti's foot, giving him a limp that would last him his life.

In 1962, Gotti married Victoria DeGiorgio. They had five children, Angela (Angel), Victoria, John A. "Junior" Gotti, Peter and Frank. John Gotti did not think very highly of his family, being recorded on video as saying "I took garbage Gotti blood and contaminated it with DiGiorgio blood."[1] Gotti was also recorded on video as saying to his daughter Victoria "I'm not your father or John's father or these kids's grandfather." [2]

A brutal and short tempered family man, John Gotti used to subject his wife and son to regular beatings. This has been proven by FBI tapes, and later became media fodder for the New York papers. [3]

Criminal career

Gotti's criminal career with the Gambinos began with fencing stolen goods from Idlewild Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) out of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club in Ozone Park, Queens. A truck to JFK's United Airlines cargo area drove off with $30,000 worth of merchandise. A few days later the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began surveillance on Gotti and Ruggiero and caught them loading more goods, the FBI swooped in and arrested all three men.

In February 1968, United employees identified Gotti as the man who signed for the earlier stolen merchandise. The FBI arrested him for the United hijacking soon after. Two months later, while out on bail, Gotti was arrested a third-time for hijacking--this time stealing a load of cigarettes worth $50,000 on the New Jersey Turnpike. Later that year Gotti pled guilty to the Northwest hijacking and was sentenced to four years at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. Prosecutors dropped the charges for the cigarette hijacking. Gotti also pled guilty to the United hijacking. Gotti spent less than three years at Lewisburg.

After he was released from prison, he was placed on probation and ordered to find a legitimate job. Meanwhile he returned to his old crew at the Bergin club, still working under caporegime Carmine Fatico. Fatico was indicted on loansharking charges and made Gotti the acting capo of the Bergin Crew reporting to Carlo Gambino and Aniello Dellacroce. Gotti's crew, however, were found to be selling heroin, against the rules of the family, with his members possibly killed. Gotti and others had Paul Castellano shot six times along with his bodyguard, Thomas Bilotti, outside Sparks Steak House, and Gotti took control of the family.

As the boss of the largest mafia family in New York Gotti controlled loansharking and gambling networks, infiltration of construction and trucking labor unions, extortion and complex financial fraud. During the late 1980s, Gotti's income would exceed a million dollars per month as he received tribute from more then 300 soldiers. Naturally, Gotti declared none of this income and claimed to be a plumbing supply salesman so he could declare enough income to live modestly in Howard Beach. Gotti's daily routine began around noon. He would stop in at a social club near his home in Queens and have lunch, meeting with members of his old crew including his brother Peter Gotti who served as his cash collector or 'bag man'. In the evening Gotti would dress in an expensive Delisi suit and be driven to the former Little Italy headquarters of the late Aniello Dellacroce, the Ravenite Social Club. Here he would meet daily with capos and senior soldiers and associates. Gotti would often be seen (by locals and the FBI alike) on 'walk and talks' down the street with top Gambino members. Later in the evening Gotti would frequent nightclubs with his close friends, including current Gambino boss Jackie D'Amico.

Gotti was arrested several times throughout his career, serving time in both state and federal prison (including a manslaughter conviction in connection with the 1973 shooting death of low-level Irish-American gangster James McBratney, who had kidnapped and killed Emmanuel Gambino, Carlo Gambino's nephew). By the 1980s, he was referred to by the news media as the "Teflon Don" as he avoided conviction on racketeering and assault charges.

Death of Frank Gotti

On March 18, 1980, 12-year-old Frank Gotti, youngest son of John Gotti was run over and killed on his bicycle by neighbor John Favara whose children were friends with Frank Gotti.

Police found Favara was not to blame in the accident, which was officially ruled "accidental" and no charges were ever filed against him. However, in the months after the accident, the word "Murderer" was spray-painted onto Favara's car. On May 28, Victoria DiGiorgio Gotti, Frank's mother, attacked Favara with a metal baseball bat, sending him to the hospital. Favara decided not to press charges and planned to move out of Howard Beach. According to the FBI, on July 28, 1980, Favara was kidnapped and murdered by eight members of Gotti's crew while Gotti and his wife were out of town.[4][5][6]

The New York Police Department was contacted days after Favara disappeared and the caller, who seemed to have an intimate knowledge of what had happened, claimed that Favara had been kidnapped by Gotti's henchmen and been held captive until Gotti returned from vacation. Then, despite Favara's pleas for mercy, John Gotti himself dismembered Favara with a chainsaw. [7]

Trial and imprisonment

John Gotti after getting physically assaulted in prison.

Gotti was under electronic surveillance by the FBI; they caught him on tape in an apartment discussing a number of murders and other criminal activities. The FBI also caught Gotti denigrating his underboss, Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano. On December 11, 1990, FBI agents and New York City detectives raided the Ravenite Social Club and arrested Gotti, Gravano, Frank Locascio, and Thomas Gambino.

Gotti was charged with 13 counts of murder (including Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti), conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, and tax evasion.

Gotti was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York before Judge I. Leo Glasser. The federal prosecutor's evidence was overwhelming. Not only did they have Gotti on tape, but they also had several witnesses to testify against Gotti. Philip Leonetti, a former Underboss in the violent Philadelphia crime family, was going to testify that Gotti bragged that he had ordered Castellano's execution. Then, Gotti's own Underboss Gravano voluntarily agreed to testify against his boss and Consigliere Frank LoCascio with the promise of being entered into the Witness Protection Program. On April 2, 1992, after only 13 hours of deliberation, the jury found Gotti and LoCascio guilty on all 13 charges.[8] On June 23, 1992, Judge Glasser sentenced Gotti to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.[9] He was sent to the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, where he was kept in a cell 23 hours a day. Four days later, his father died of heart failure. Allegedly, Gotti offered $100,000 to the Aryan Brotherhood if they would kill Walter Johnson, a black man who had brutally beaten him. Gotti was told that his offer was accepted and that his attacker would be taken care of. The prison guards surmised that Johnson was in danger and began moving him to different locations and ultimately transferred him to another prison where he was paroled. It was later revealed that the Aryan Brotherhood had hired Johnson to beat Gotti, after Gotti had stopped paying the AB for protection money, claiming that he had enough of 'his men' on the inside, and did not need the assistance of the Aryan Brotherhood anymore. After Gotti's death, it became apparent that the Brotherhood had no real intention of carrying out the hit on Johnson.

Death and funeral

Last known picture of an ill John Gotti

Gotti died of throat cancer at 12:45 p.m. on June 10, 2002 at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, where he had been transferred once the cancer was diagnosed.[10] Gotti had the lower half of his jaw removed due to the cancer and was fed through a tube. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced that Gotti's family would not be permitted to have a Mass of Christian Burial but allowed Gotti's family to have a Requiem after burial.

Notes

  1. ↑ Blowing up Gotti -Episode 4: Gotti Blood
  2. ↑ Blowing up Gotti -Episode 5: I Got Nothin'
  3. ↑ NY Post - GOTTI BEAT WIFE, TAPES SHOW
  4. ↑ "The Don Is Done", New York Times (January 31, 1999). Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  5. ↑ Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York
  6. ↑ The Tragedy of Frank Gotti
  7. ↑ Goombata, by John Cummings and Ernest Volkman, Avon Books, c. 1992, page 164.
  8. ↑ John Gotti - The Last Mafia Icon - The Crime library
  9. ↑ John Gotti - The Last Mafia Icon - The Crime library
  10. ↑ "John Gotti Dies in Prison at 61. Mafia Boss Relished the Spotlight.", New York Times (June 11, 2002). Retrieved on 2008-10-23. "John J. Gotti, who seized control of the Gambino crime family in a murderous coup, flaunted his power during a flamboyant reign as a Mafia boss, and then spent the last years of his life locked away in a maximum security penitentiary, his gang in shambles, died yesterday at the federal prison hospital at Springfield, Mo. He was 61. The cause was cancer. In 1998, Mr. Gotti was operated on for neck and head cancer. He had been re-admitted to the hospital several times since then for treatment." 

Further reading

External links

Preceded by
Paul Castellano		 Gambino Crime Family Boss
1985–2002		 Succeeded by
Peter Gotti