john gotti
John Gotti biography
Synopsis
John Gotti, born in the Bronx on October 27, 1940, was the Boss of the New York City Gambino crime family. He was known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style, resulting in the nickname, "The Dapper Don." In 1992, Gotti was convicted of 13 murders and various other charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He died there 10 years later.
Early Life
Infamous person. Organized crime boss. Born October 27, 1940, in New
York City. Mother, Fannie, and father, J. Joseph Gotti, were both
Italian immigrants. John Gotti was the fifth of 13 children in a family
whose only income came from their father's unpredictable work as a day
laborer. Gotti and his family moved frequently before settling in East
New York, an area known at the time for its youth gang activity.By
the age of 12, Gotti was working as an errand boy for an underground
club in the neighborhood run by Carmine Fatico. Fatico was a captain in
the local Gambino family, the largest of the five organized crime
families in New York City. Through his activities with the club, Gotti
met Aniello Dellacroce, who became his life-long mentor.Gotti
soon became the leader of a gang called the Fulton-Rockaway boys, a
group known for their frequent robberies and car-jackings. When he was
14, Gotti's toes were crushed as he tried to steal a cement mixer. The
accident gave the mobster-to-be his trademark gait, and earned him
another incident on his list of petty crimes. He was considered a bully
and constant discipline problem at Franklin K. Lane High School until he
dropped out at 16. By the age of 18, the police department ranked Gotti
as a low-level associate in the Fatico crew.
Nob
Between 1957 and 1961, Gotti pursued a life of crime on a full-time basis. His arrest record included street fighting, public intoxication, and car theft. By his 21st birthday, Gotti had been arrested five times, but served little jail time.
On March 6, 1962, Gotti married 17-year-old Victoria DiGiorgio. At the time of their marriage, DiGiorgio had already given birth to their first child, Angela, and was pregnant with their second. In the early years of their marriage, the couple fought constantly and separated numerous times. Gotti briefly tried his hand at legitimate jobs for the sake of his family: first, as a presser in a coat factory, and then as an assistant to a truck driver.
His crime-free life was brief, however, and Gotti was jailed twice by 1966. When he and his family made the move to Ozone Park in Queens, New York, the budding criminal quickly became a major player in the Gambino hijacking crew. In 1968, Gotti served his first major sentence when the FBI charged he and his two accomplices with committing cargo thefts near John F. Kennedy Airport. All three men were convicted of hijacking and sentenced to three years in prison.
While Gotti served his time, the Fatico crew moved from East New York to a storefront near Gotti's home in Queens. The group's headquarters was disguised as a non-profit organization called the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club.
After his release from prison in 1971, Gotti was designated as the temporary leader of Fatico's gang while the captain faced loan-sharking charges.
Mafia Man
In May of 1973, while Gotti was captain of Fatico's crew, he
committed his first murder: the shooting death of Jimmy McBratney, a
rival gang member who kidnapped and murdered a member of the Gambino
family. Gotti was sent to exact revenge, but he was less than discreet,
leaving multiple witnesses at the scene of the crime. Gotti was arrested
in 1974 after several bystanders identified him in a photo line-up. At
his trial three years later, Gotti cut a deal with the court. In return
for a plea of attempted manslaughter, he served only four years in
prison.
In 1976, the head of the Gambino family, Carlo Gambino,
died. Gambino chose to leave his brother-in-law, Paul Castellano, in
charge of the family. In a gesture of goodwill, Castellano allowed
Dellacroce to remain the family's underboss, giving him control over 10
of the 23 Gambino crews. When Gotti returned from prison in 1977,
Dellacroce promoted the mobster to captain of the Bergin crew. In March of 1980, personal tragedy hit the Gotti family when neighbor
John Favara hit 12-year-old Frank Gotti with his car after the boy
steered his bike into traffic. The death was ruled accidental, but
witnesses say DiGiorgio later attacked Favara with a metal baseball bat,
sending him to the hospital. Favara decided not to press charges.
According to witnesses, Favara endured four months of death threats
until July 28, 1980, the day he was clubbed over the head and shoved
into a van. His body was never found. Gotti and his family were on
vacation in Florida at the time of their neighbor's disappearance, and
deny any knowledge of his whereabouts.By the early 1980s, John
Gotti's prominence in the Gambino family had earned unwanted attention
from mob boss, Castellano. He considered Gotti's $30,000-a-night
gambling habit a liability, and he also disapproved of the Bergin
captain's unpredictable behavior. Gotti's activities also caught the eye
of federal agents who, unbeknownst to the mobster and his crew,
installed surveillance equipment in the Bergin club in 1981.
The Teflon Don
In 1985, the FBI had gathered enough evidence to place Gotti and Dellacroce under federal indictments for racketeering. Other associates were indicted on heroin trafficking charges. The drug charges infuriated Castellano, who punished illegal drug dealing with a penalty of death. As captain, Gotti knew he would be held responsible for the transgressions of his crew. To smooth over the situation with Castellano, Gotti asked Dellacroce to speak to the boss on his behalf.
But before an understanding could be reached, Dellacroce died of cancer. All goodwill between Castellano and Gotti dissolved when the boss didn't attend Dellacroce's funeral. Gotti saw the behavior as disrespectful and, according to later testimony, he decided to take action.
Two weeks later, on December 16, 1985, Castellano was gunned down while eating at the Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. Gotti was made boss soon after.
By August of 1986, John Gotti had become something of a local hero and icon in his Howard Beach neighborhood. When it came time to face trial for the racketeering charges, Gotti and the other defendants were acquitted of their crimes. FBI officials later discovered that the jury foreman fixed the verdict. It was a crushing defeat for law enforcement officials, and Gotti became the mob's symbol of invincibility, earning the name "Teflon Don" because charges against him "just wouldn't stick."
Imprisonment and Death
The FBI then turned the conviction of Gotti into an organizational
crusade. After pressuring the Gambino family's new underboss, Sammy
Gravano, into testifying against Gotti, the mob leader was finally
convicted of murder and racketeering on April 2, 1992. It is estimated
that, while John Gotti acted as boss, the Gambino family made more than
$500 million in revenue from illegal activities such as gambling, drug
trafficking, extortion, and stock fraud.
As a repeat offender, Gotti was sentenced to life in
prison without possibility of parole and sent to federal prison in
Marion, Illinois. According to federal prosecutors, after his
imprisonment he appointed his eldest son, John "Junior" Gotti, as acting
boss of the Gambino family. In 1999, his son pled guilty to
racketeering charges and was sentenced to six years in prison.John
Gotti remained in jail until June 10, 2002, when he died in the federal
prison hospital from complications with head and neck cancer.
Quick Facts
Best Known For
John Gotti "The Dapper Don" was the Boss of the New York City Gambino crime family and the most powerful crime boss during his era.
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