John Gotti
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- For other uses, see John Gotti (disambiguation).
John Joseph Gotti Jr. (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) (also known as The Dapper Don and The Teflon Don) was the godfather of the Gambino crime family, one of the five major New York mafia families, from 1986 to 1992. He became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style that made him the poster child for mobsters, an image that persists even today.
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Career
John Gotti was born John Joseph Gotti, Jr. by John Sr. & Fannie (Philomena) Gotti in Brooklyn, NY. He had four brothers that also went into the Mafia life: Peter, Gene, Richard and to a lesser degree, Vincent. Peter, Gene and Richard were all made members of the Gambino family as John was.
Gotti allegedly started as a mob hitman and worked his way up to becoming capo of one of the most powerful crews in the Gambino family. His crew, however, was allegedly caught selling drugs, against the rules of the family, and was about to be disbanded. To prevent this, Gotti and others allegedly organized the shooting of the Gambino family boss, Paul Castellano, on December 16, 1985. Castellano was shot six times, along with his underboss, Thomas Billoti, outside Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan and Gotti allegedly took control of the family.
Following his purported ascension to the position of Gambino family godfather, Gotti became known as "The Dapper Don", appearing in public wearing $2000 hand-tailored Brioni suits and revelling in media attention. Gotti was extremely popular in his Queens neighborhood, where he organized free lavish street parties and festivals, and had a reputation for keeping street crime out. The annual Fourth of July party he hosted in Ozone Park, a neighborhood in Queens, which featured an elaborate fireworks display, was a major media event.
Gotti was arrested several times throughout his career, and although he served time in both state and federal prison (including a manslaughter conviction in connection with the shooting death of a low-level Irish-American gangster named James McBratney in a tavern on Staten Island in 1973), in the 1980s he was referred to by the media as the "Teflon Don" as he avoided conviction on racketeering and assault charges. Gotti bribed or threatened jurors in several trials. He also made use of police informants to keep a step ahead of investigators.
Gotti became something of a celebrity, and would frequently shake hands and pose for pictures with tourists outside the Ravenite Social Club in Manhattan, where he conducted business.
Gotti was long under intense electronic surveillance by the FBI. His club, phones, and other places of business were all bugged. To get around this, he held meetings while walking down the street and played loud tapes of white noise. Eventually the FBI caught him on tape in an apartment above the club allegedly discussing a number of murders and other criminal activities. The FBI also caught Gotti denigrating his underboss Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano. Angered and feeling he would be made a scapegoat, Gravano agreed to testify against Gotti. Despite having confessed to participating in 19 murders, Gravano was given only a five year sentence and then entered the Witness Protection Program.
Prison
Gotti and several associates were arrested in 1990. Gotti was convicted by a jury in the United States District Court in New York on April 2, 1992 for 13 counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, and tax evasion; along with his consigliere Frank LoCascio. Later that year, on June 23, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole [1]. It was assumed that Gotti would serve his sentence at the new federal "supermax" facility at Florence, Colorado, but instead he was sent to the older federal penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, where he was kept in a solitary-confinement cell 23 hours a day.
Death
Gotti died of throat cancer at 12:45 PM 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.
Following his death, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced that Gotti's family would not be permitted to have a funeral Mass for Gotti. The church said that Gotti's family would be allowed to have a Mass for the Dead for Gotti after he had been buried. The Catholic Church had taken similar action against other organized crime figures as well, such as Paul Castellano. But unlike Castellano, Gotti's family were permitted to have him buried in a Catholic cemetery. Gotti was buried in the mausoleum at Saint John's Cemetery, Queens in New York City, next to his son Frank Gotti.
Family
On March 6, 1962, Gotti married Victoria DiGiorgio, by whom he had five children: Angel (born 1961), Victoria, John Jr., Frank and Peter. John and his family lived on 85th street in Howard Beach.
Frank Gotti died in 1980 when a Howard Beach neighbor, John Favara, hit 12-year-old Frank with his car as he was riding a motorbike. John Favara was abducted shortly thereafter and his body was never found. John Gotti and wife Victoria were out of town when John Favara disappeared.
The son John is known as "Junior Gotti" and was acting boss of the Gambino Crime Family after John was put in prison. Peter is an alleged associate of the Gambino Family. To this day, Victoria (née DiGiorgio) Gotti is unrepentant about her criminal family, the role she played in enabling it.
Legacy
In 2004, a new television show called Growing Up Gotti was aired on the A&E television network, which features Gotti's daughter Victoria Gotti and her three sons. Soon afterwards, The Smoking Gun website posted the videos made of Gotti and his family during a prison visit several years ago. Prison officials routinely videotaped Gotti's visits. The video, which was presented in five parts, was called Blowing Up Gotti. Growing Up Gotti was shown until the end of 2005, when faced with declining ratings A&E pulled the plug on the show.
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Sources
- Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti by Gene Mustain & Jerry Capeci in 2002, ISBN 0028644166.
- Gotti: The Rise & Fall by Jerry Capeci in 1996, ISBN 0451406818.
- Mafia Dynasty: The Rise & Fall of the Gambino Crime Family by John H. Davis in 1994, ISBN 0061091847.