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(picture via wikipedia.org)
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.
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.” 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.”
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.
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, was caught selling heroin against the rules of the family with 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.
Documentation: wikipedia.org
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