Author Topic: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"  (Read 1060 times)

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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"JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« on: August 22, 2001, 05:20:40 AM »
"John Gotti is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.  His existence has been a lonely one.  Since being incarcerated in December of 1990, he was not allowed any contact with the rest of the prison population and spent twenty-three hours a day alone in a small cell.  When doctors diagnosed Gotti with throat cancer in September of 1998, he was brought to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri.  Following surgery and thirty-six radiation treatments, he was transferred back to solitary lockup in Marion, Illinois.

Due to the notoriously harsh and inhumane conditions at the prison, inmates are normally brought to the federal penitentiary in Marion for a short period of time, rarely exceeding three years.  To date, John Gotti's confinement at the maximum-security facility amounts to over nine years, making it the longest stay in the prison's history.

Tests later revealed that John's cancer was no longer in remission and had reemerged and spread aggressively.  On Sept. 13th, 2000, he was again transported from Marion, to the prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri.

UPDATE: August 9th, John was finally moved from his prison hospital cell to a local hospital in rural Missouri with more sophisticated facilities...  

Unfortunately, his stay at St. John's Regional Health Center was short lived, as he was transferred back to the prison hospital August 20th - despite a hearing application filed by his attorneys."

what do yall think about it?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2001, 05:21:59 AM »
"....The American gangster has become as American as …say…apple pie! For decades people have both marveled at and been reviled by this genre of criminal activity in the United States.

Few organized crime figures have completely captured the attention of the public as John Gotti has over the past twenty years. We have had our celebrity mobsters in the past. Underworld figures like Al “Scarface” Capone and Jack “Legs” Diamond captured the public’s fascination during the 1920s. In the 1930s it was a different brand of criminal that became popular. Bank robbers like John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and “Baby Face” Nelson were the rage of what was known as the Mid-West Crime Wave.

The 1940s brought us Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and the killers of Murder, Inc. Along with the glamour these individuals provided, their murders made for exciting front-page headlines, not to mention sensational photographs.

While there were no prominent names during the 1950s, that decade nevertheless brought organized crime to the forefront, due to the efforts of law enforcement.  It began with the televised Kefauver Hearings in the early 1950s and made a big splash with the infamous Apalachin conclave in 1957.

The turbulent 1960s passed none too quickly with its political / sociological upheaval and in gangland we saw for the first time warring within the various crime families – the Gallo / Profaci War and the Banana War. As the 1970s dawned gangsters began not only vying for newspaper headlines, but now television airtime. Mortal mob enemies “Crazy Joe” Gallo and Joseph Colombo were the media targets of New York City and the city knew how to promote them. Both flamboyant characters would meet brutal, albeit well-publicized endings. "



« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2001, 05:22:32 AM »
"...By the mid-1980s federal law agencies, with the help of local law enforcement, began to dismantle organized crime families across the country. In the midst of this effort, John Gotti stepped forward and captured the public’s attention in what seemed like the final gasp for the Hollywood-style gangster to leave his mark in the annals of American criminal history. Gotti became the darling of the New York media. With his habit of coming through criminal trials unscathed and penchant for expensive and fashionable attire, he became the icon of the American gangster.

As Gotti rose to the top he left behind a bloody trail of bodies, as well as an assortment of embarrassed law enforcement agencies. Putting him away became an obsession that would cause the government to go after him with no holds barred . In 1992 the man who had gone from the Dapper Don to the Teflon Don was convicted of RICO charges in Brooklyn's federal district court. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Looking back at Gotti’s reign one can see that his only true achievement as a Mafia chieftain was to captivate the public’s attention. At this, Gotti had few equals. But as a leader he was quite lacked the ability that characterized the careers of such mob luminaries as Capone, Luciano, Lansky, Torrio, Costello and Gambino. In the end it was Gotti’s ego and carelessness that led to his downfall.

Now about to finish his first decade in prison, the 60 year-old Gotti has been diagnosed with a recurrence of throat cancer. Today Gotti sits in the Federal Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri living out what may be his last weeks. It seems almost ironic, as if Gotti were having the last laugh at the federal government by cheating them – having spent less than ten years behind bars. If there is anything positive that can be said for Gotti it’s that he took his punishment like a man. Still defiant of the government, one is left to wonder if John Gotti, the Dapper Don, would have wanted it any other way."
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2001, 05:23:09 AM »
"...John Joseph Gotti, Jr. was born on October 27, 1940. He was the fifth child of John J. Gotti, Sr. and his wife, Fannie. The family grew to eleven children – seven boys and four girls. Due to poor medical care of his siblings died during childhood. Gotti’s father was described in early writings as a hardworking immigrant from the Neapolitan section of Italy. Years later, Gotti would tell a very different story about his father to Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano (the Gambino Family underboss who would become the most infamous mob rat in America):

“These fuckin’ bums that write books,” Gotti complained, “they’re worse than us. My fuckin’ father was born in New Jersey. He ain’t never been in Italy his whole fuckin’ life. My mother neither. The guy never worked a fuckin’ day in his life. He was a rolling stone; he never provided for the family. He never did nothin’. He never earned nothin’. And we never had nothin’.”

While this description of his father’s work habits was overblown, the family was raised in a dirt-poor, poverty-ridden section of the South Bronx. By the time Gotti was ten, his father had saved enough money to move the family to the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn. This proved to be a definite step up from their four-room flat in the South Bronx. A year later, another move placed the family in an area of Brooklyn known as East New York.

At any early age, young “Johnny Boy” learned to use his fists. He had a quick temper and a burning anger as he looked on in disdain at those who had a better life. Instead of aspiring to become a businessman or doctor, his goal was to be one of the wiseguys he saw on a daily basis hanging around the Brooklyn street corners. Thus, Gotti had barely turned twelve before he was caught up in the street activity of the local mobsters. Along with brothers Peter and Richard, Gotti became part of a gang that ran errands for the wiseguys. While Gotti was getting a street education, he seldom had time for a formal one. A habitual truant, when he was in school his teachers considered him a disturbing distraction. Because he was a class bully and a routine discipline problem, they showed little concern over his absence.

In 1954, Gotti was injured while participating in a robbery for some local hoods. He and some other kids were in the process of stealing a portable cement mixer from a construction site when the mixer tipped over landing on Gotti’s toes crushing them. After spending most of the summer of his fourteenth year in the hospital, Gotti was back on the street with a new gait that would last him for life.

By the time he was sixteen Gotti quit school for good and became a member of the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, a teenage gang named for an intersection in Brooklyn. Gotti rose rapidly to leadership. The Fulton-Rockaway Boys differed from other “turf-minded” teen gangs in that they were into a higher level of criminality. Gang members stole automobiles, fenced stolen goods and rolled drunks.

Also, with brothers Peter and Richard, Gotti teamed up with two other young men who would become life-long friends. The first was Angelo Ruggiero, a hulking youth whose penchant for non-stop chatter earned him the nickname “Quack-Quack.” The second was Wilfred “Willie Boy” Johnson, an amateur boxer whose father was of American Indian descent. Johnson was constantly teased and degraded about his roots, and because of it, he could never become a "made" member of the Mafia because of it.

Between 1957 and 1961, while a member of the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, Gotti was arrested five times. Each time the charges were dismissed or reduced to a probationary sentence."

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2001, 05:24:00 AM »
"...Around 1960, when he was twenty, Gotti met and fell in love with Victoria DiGiorgio. The petite, raven-haired beauty was born to a Jewish father. Her parents divorced when she was still an infant and she later took the last name of her stepfather. Two years younger than Gotti, DiGiorgio dropped out of high school during her senior year. The two were married on March 6, 1962 almost a full year after the birth of their first child, Angela. The marriage proved to be a stormy one, with many fights and periods of separation. Yet despite their problems, the couple went on to have two more children in rapid succession: a second daughter, Victoria, and John A., who became known as “Junior.”

Around this time, Gotti actually tried his hand at legitimate work-- a coat factory presser and a truck driver’s assistant – before ultimately turning all his energies toward a life of crime. Victoria Gotti disparaged her husband’s career. She disliked how it made her live.  Once, when Gotti was away serving a three-year stretch, she was forced to apply for public welfare. Another time she took her husband to court for non-support. Years later FBI bugs would pick up conversations where Gotti talked about his wife, stating, “The woman is driving me crazy!”

Gotti spent his first time in jail, a 20-day period, in 1963 when he was arrested with Salvatore Ruggiero, Angelo’s younger brother.  They were in an automobile that had been reported stolen from a rental car agency. Gotti’s crimes during the early to mid-1960s were mostly petty in nature – larceny, unlawful entry, and possession of bookmaking records. In 1966 as well, he would spend several months in jail for an attempted theft.

Yet 1966 proved to be a banner year for the Brooklyn hood. Gotti became an associate of a Mafia crew headed by Carmine Fatico and his brother Daniel. Operating out of a social club called the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club in Ozone Park, Queens, the Faticos answered to Gambino Family underboss, Aniello Dellacroce. Gotti’s criminal career as hijacker began as a member of the Bergin crew. The crew’s target, as well as the target of the other New York crime families, was the massive John F. Kennedy International Airport.

While not a great hijacker, Gotti was successful enough to move his family to a nicer apartment in Brooklyn. He and Victoria soon had their fourth child, a second son, whom they named Frank.

On November 27, 1967 Gotti and another crew member – either Angelo Ruggiero or another of Gotti's brothers, Gene – forged the name of a forwarding company agent and then took a rented truck to JFK's United cargo area and drove off with $30,000 worth of merchandise, a good portion of it in women’s clothes. Four days later, the FBI was watching as Angelo and Gotti loaded up again with women’s clothing, this time at a Northwest Airlines cargo terminal. Once outside the airport, an automobile containing Gene Gotti pulled alongside. The FBI swooped in and arrested the three men, finding Gotti in the rear of the truck hiding behind several boxes. During the subsequent investigation, United employees identified John Gotti as the man who had signed for the earlier stolen merchandise. He was arrested for the United hijacking in February 1968. In April, while out on bail, he was arrested a third time for hijacking---this time for stealing a load of cigarettes worth nearly $500,000 outside a restaurant on the New Jersey turnpike.

At the urging of Carmine Fatico, the Gotti brothers and Angelo hired defense attorney Michael Coiro to represent them. John pled guilty to the Northwest hijacking and was sentenced to four years at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors dropped the charges in the cigarette hijacking, and Coiro was able to get the judge to let Gotti plead guilty in the United theft, while allowing his Lewisburg time to serve as the penalty. Gotti served less than three years of his sentence at Lewisburg, from May 1969 to January 1972.

After his release from prison, the first order of business for Gotti was to get a legitimate job. John was put on the payroll of Victoria’s stepfather’s construction company. While Victoria may have wished that her husband would begin a new life, she was resigned to the fact that she could never change him. Shorty after his return she was pregnant with the couple’s last child, another son whom they named Peter. Years later, Victoria would tell a detective inquiring into her husband’s activities, “I don’t know what he does. All I know is, he provides.”

The crew Gotti returned to at the Bergin club consisted mainly of associates. The made members had grown old and a Mafia edict in 1957 had prevented the making of any new ones. Gotti possessed the most moxy of the crewmembers, and when Carmine Fatico was indicted for loansharking and stopped frequenting the club, he used Gotti to oversee the day-to-day activities there. At the age of 31, Gotti became the acting capo of the Bergin crew, with the blessing of Dellacroce."


« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2001, 05:24:59 AM »
"...The Bergin crew under Gotti was young and hungry. Looking to make money, they naturally gravitated toward dealing in narcotics. The unwritten law of the underworld as it pertained to drugs was, “You deal, you die.” This had allegedly been decreed at the infamous Apalachin Summit in November 1957, and was carried forward by Carlo Gambino. The more practiced rule was that you could not get caught, and if you did, you faced certain death. A portion of the money from drug deals was always kicked up to the bosses, who chose to look the other way as long as the money rolled in and no one associated with the family ended up in jail.

By May 1972, as Gotti assumed control of the Bergin crew, several members had already become confidential informants for the FBI, or were on their way to it. This group included Willie Boy Johnson and William Battista. Over the years, the government received conflicting reports from these informants as to John Gotti’s actual involvement in narcotics. Johnson always maintained that Gotti was not involved and that he toed the line on the no-drug policies of Gambino, and later, of Paul Castellano.

Gotti’s first step up the mob ladder came at the expense of Carmine Fatico’s legal woes. Gotti’s next step would come in a similar manner, but this time it was Dellacroce’s problems with the law.

Aniello Dellacroce and John Gotti hit it off right away. In many ways they were like two peas in a pod. In Gotti: Rise and Fall, authors Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain give this insight into Dellacroce’s personality: “…he was Carlo’s bad cop. He was fierce, violent, foul-mouthed and clever, and Carlo relied on him when a mix of treachery and trickery was needed to settle some contentious matter.” Operating out of the Ravenite Social Club on Mulberry Street in the heart of Manhattan’s Little Italy, Dellacroce was highly visible in the neighborhood – so much so that a 1972 Senate committee investigating organized crime actually identified him as the boss of the Gambino Family.

Another thing Dellacroce and Gotti had in common was their bad habit of losing big in gambling. In 1968, Dellacroce was indicted for income tax evasion after reporting an income of $10,400 when his actual income exceeded $130,000. In addition, the IRS discovered that, while on a three-day vacation in Puerto Rico, Dellacroce had lost more in gambling then he claimed as income for the entire year. Dellacroce was sentenced to a year in prison, and then after he refused to testify before a grand jury, five more were added on, even though he was granted immunity.

With Fatico keeping a low profile and Dellacroce in prison, Gotti, still in the status of an associate, began making regular visits to family boss Carlo Gambino. Years later, Gotti would be overheard on a bug calling Gambino a “rat mother fucker” and a “back door mother fucker” for never promoting him, but in 1973 the young hood stood in awe of “Don Carlo.”

A student of Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian philosopher, Gambino had a habit of quoting from “The Prince.” Later while in prison, Gotti would also study the writings of Machiavelli, to the point where he could quote whole parables. Gotti strutted proudly in front of the Bergin crew as he relayed orders from the revered family boss. Although Gambino’s edict to stay clear of drug dealing fell on deaf ears, other orders were obeyed. One of the rulings that came down from Gambino was that family members were to stop the practice of kidnapping other criminals, which at the time was “in vogue.” Gambino put the ban in effect after the kidnapping and murder of Manny Gambino, Don Carlo’s nephew.

The killing of Manny Gambino, and the subsequent murder of Irish mobster James “Jimmy” McBratney, would become part of the Gotti myth. "

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2001, 05:26:02 AM »
"...The Death of Manny Gambino
In the early 1970s a wave of kidnappings took place in New York City. Incredible as it may seem, the victims were members and associates of the city’s crime families. In Tough Guy: The True Story of “Crazy” Eddie Maloney, co-authors William Hoffman and Eddie Maloney discuss the kidnappings Eddie and his gang were involved in. Maloney also details his friendship with Jimmy McBratney.

The two men met when both were incarcerated at Greenhaven State Prison in New York. Maloney described McBratney as a devoted family man who stood six-foot-three and weighed 250 pounds. A weight lifter, McBratney could bench-press 400 pounds. Maloney continues: “Jimmy McBratney was locked up for armed robbery. He was quiet, a listener and learner, and soon we were discussing heists we might do together. He knew about guns and wanted to become a collector, but closest to his heart were his wife and two small children and their house on Staten Island, and his goal of saving enough to own a nightclub. I learned Jimmy was very loyal to his wife, and that all the talk in the yard about 'broads' upset him. His wife visited regularly and wrote every day.”
In October 1972, Maloney became part of a kidnapping ring with McBratney.  It was the brainchild of two wiseguys from the Gambino Crime Family - Flippo and Ronnie Miano. Claiming they only wanted ten percent of the ransoms, Flippo told Maloney that his motive for the kidnappings was revenge. “The guys I’m setting up have fucked me and my people on business deals in the past. It’ll give me pleasure to see those greedy fucks suffer,” Miano boasted.

The kidnapping gang consisted of Maloney, McBratney, Tommy Genovese, a distant relative of Vito’s, Warren “Chief” Schurman, and Richie Chaisson. The first kidnapping was of a Gambino capo called “Frank the Wop.” The escapade went off without a hitch and the gang got away with $150,000. Over the next two months, the gang completed three more successful body snatches. However, on December 28, 1972 their luck changed. McBratney outlined a plan to grab a Gambino loanshark named “Junior.” Late on this bitter cold afternoon, Maloney stuck a gun in Junior’s stomach and ordered him into a car. When Junior put up a fight, Maloney used a gun to hit him over the head a couple of times before shoving him into the back seat and taking off. Two young witnesses to the crime followed them for a while before they were scared off, but not before they recorded the license number and turned it over to a relative with mob connections.

A friend of Maloney’s, in whose apartment they were holding Junior, and through whose mother they had rented the abduction car, spilled his guts to the wiseguys after some hoods showed up at his mother’s house asking questions. McBratney was in a panic when he realized the mob had his name, as well as Maloney’s and Schurman’s. After a relatively small ransom, $21,000, was paid, McBratney arrived at the apartment to pick up Schurman and return the victim. Schurman was supposed to have taped Junior’s eyes before covering them with sunglasses, but the slow-witted hood had failed to do it right.

After driving a few blocks McBratney suddenly realized Junior’s eyes weren’t taped.  Enraged, he brought the car to a screeching halt. Junior bolted out of the back seat and ran for his life as McBratney fired several shots at him. Meanwhile, Schurman jumped out of the car and retreated to Maloney’s automobile, which was following them. Schurman was sure McBratney would kill him if he ever saw him again, a fact Maloney confirmed.

Maloney suggested to McBratney that he leave the city. McBratney declined the advice and instead decided to keep a machine gun in his car. Just before Maloney was sent back to prison on a parole violation, he and Schurman were drinking in a bar one night when two guys that he described as “stone killers” came in looking for them. The bar manager, a friend of Maloney’s, told the pair he hadn't seen them in a while. While away in prison, Maloney saw a newspaper article about the arrest of McBratney’s killers, featuring the pictures of John Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero. He claimed that they were the two “stone killers” who had been looking for him that night in the bar.

In his book, Maloney never mentions the kidnapping and killing of Manny Gambino, the murder that McBratney allegedly paid for with his life.

So what really happened to Manny Gambino? In the book, Brick Agent, former FBI Special Agent Anthony Villano talks in detail about the alleged abduction. Villano was tipped off that Manny Gambino, the son of Carlo’s brother Joseph, had been kidnapped. Villano’s attempts to help the family were at first rebuffed. A few days later, an attorney for the family called him and asked the FBI to get involved.

Villano reported that the kidnappers asked for $350,000, but the Gambino family claimed they could only come up with $40,000. The agent figured that either Joe Gambino’s side of the family was poor or that having $350,000 in cash on hand might arouse the attention of the IRS.

After receiving new ransom orders, Tommy Gambino, Manny’s brother, was told where to drive to and he took off with Villano on the floor in the backseat. The money drop was made before agents tailing Villano could get into position to observe it. However, one of the agents recorded the license number of a van that was seen in the area. The group went back to the Gambino home, only to be disappointed when Manny had not returned by the promised hour. Over the next several months, Villano continued investigating. Through a contact, he found out the following:

“Manny had fallen in love with a show-biz blonde. He wanted to leave his family because the girl refused to have anything more to do with him unless he gave up his wife and went full-time with her. Manny was advised by his betters in the clan to grow up and forget the blonde. In his circles it was okay to have a mistress but it was bad form to leave your wife, particularly if you were a nephew of Carlo Gambino.”

Villano also found out that Manny had a few financial problems, most likely due to maintaining two households. Since he was heavy into loanshark operations, many in the family felt that Manny had too much money on the street. Through a snitch, Villano found out that one of the people who was into Manny for a large sum was gambler Robert Sentner, an ex-associate. Upon hearing the name, Villano realized the van that was spotted the night the ransom was paid had been rented to a Robert Sentner.

Manny Gambino’s car was found at the Newark Airport. Villano reports that before his body was brought to the burial site, rigor mortis had set in. He was found buried in the sitting position in a New Jersey dump, near the Earle Naval Ammunition Depot. Robert Sentner and John Kilcullen were arrested on December 4, 1972, and charged with kidnapping. Senter later confessed to the murder of Gambino, revealed the names of his other two accomplices, and testified against Kilcullen.  On June 1,1973, he pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Despite his detailed account of the incident Villano never mentions Jimmy McBratney’s name in the book."

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2001, 05:26:49 AM »
"...In all likelihood, Jimmy McBratney was identified as a member of the team that abducted Junior, and murdered because of his involvement. McBratney was obviously not an innocent, law-abiding citizen. He had committed armed robbery, kidnapping, and possession of illegal weapons, and – if his aim had been better – may have wounded or killed the Staten Island loan shark. However, it is certain that McBratney did not kidnap and murder Carlo Gambino's nephew, thus showing to be false the fabled notion that Gotti had taken vengeance on him for killing the nephew of the highly respected mob boss. This event, like so many others involving John Gotti, has been twisted to enhance the romanticized image of this popular mob icon, and to boost his popularity.

On the night of May 22, 1973 McBratney was sitting in Snoope’s Bar & Grill on Staten Island. Around 11:00 John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero and Ralph “Ralphie Wigs” Galione entered and surrounded McBratney. They tried to convince him that they were police detectives. The plan was to take him to the parking lot and kill him outside the sight of witnesses. Despite the fact that Galione aimed a gun at him and Ruggiero was holding a pair of handcuffs, McBratney wasn’t buying the ruse. “Let’s see a badge,” he demanded.

With that, Galione fired a round into the ceiling. Bar patrons, who hadn’t already run outside or into the cellar, were ordered to stand against the wall. It was now prison muscle against prison muscle, and although McBratney was stronger, he was up against two men, Gotti and Ruggiero. McBratney dragged the two thugs down past the end of the bar before Galione shot him three times at close range, killing him instantly.

In July, Ruggiero and Galione were identified from a police photo-spread by a barmaid and a customer from Snoopes, and the men were then apprehended. However, Gotti had not been identified. A month later, he was overheard by Willie Boy Johnson bragging about the killing. Johnson passed the information along to his FBI handlers. The FBI reported their information to the New York Police Department, which quickly dispatched a detective with Gotti’s mug shot to show the witnesses. On October 17, Gotti was indicted by a grand jury for murder.

Gotti, who had been strutting around in the wake of the murder, immediately went into hiding. A little over a year after the McBratney killing, on June 3, 1974, he was finally arrested by FBI agents inside a Brooklyn bar and handed over to the New York Police Department. The information as to his whereabouts had been supplied by Johnson, who was secretly paid $600 for his betrayal.

John Gotti’s in-laws were instrumental in putting up the collateral for his release on a $150,000 bail. Victoria’s family, which had already provided John with a visible means of support, also purchased a home for the couple in Howard Beach. Once out, Gotti went right back to the Bergin to attend to the overseeing of the crew and his new holdings, which included a restaurant and motel. Gotti was also reported at the time to be the hidden owner of a Queens’ disco.

On December 21, 1973, before Ruggiero and Galione could be tried for the McBratney killing, “Ralphie Wigs” was murdered in Brooklyn. When the state brought its case against Ruggiero the defense produced a host of witnesses who swore that Angelo was in New Jersey the night of the murder. The trial ended in a hung jury. Gotti hired Roy M. Cohn as his defense lawyer. A well-known attorney, Cohn handled many high-profile clients in New York, including Dellacroce. Gotti and Ruggiero were to be tried together in a second trial. Knowing that the earlier trial ended in a hung jury, Cohn surmised correctly that the prosecution might be willing to deal – and Cohn cut a great one. Gotti and Ruggiero pled guilty to attempted manslaughter.

On August 8, 1975, Gotti was sentenced to four years in prison and sent to the Green Haven Correctional Facility located 80 miles north of Queens. Joining Gotti there was Willie Boy Johnson, who, despite his FBI informant status, had been sent away on an armed robbery conviction. Gotti passed the time at Green Haven playing cards, lifting weights and attending courses on Italian culture.

He was released from prison on July 28, 1977, having served less than two years for the murder of McBratney.  It was ironic, since he'd once served three years for hijacking women’s clothing. To celebrate his return the Bergin crew purchased a brand new Lincoln Mark IV for him. He soon found out that, while he was away, there had been a change in the leadership of the Gambino Family."

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2001, 05:27:12 AM »
"...On October 15, 1976, the grandfatherly-looking Carlo Gambino died of natural causes. Before his death, he let family consigliere, Joseph N. Gallo, and key capos, James “Jimmy Brown” Failla and Ettore Zappi, know that he wanted the leadership of the family to pass to his cousin, Paul Castellano. Yet there was one sticking point to this change: Aniello Dellacroce, the current underboss. On Thanksgiving Day in 1976, Dellacroce was released from prison. Many Gambino Family members believed Dellacroce should have been named boss. His years of loyalty to the family, and the respect and admiration that the street soldiers had for him, were just a few of the reasons.

In December, the upper echelon of the Gambino Family met at the home of capo Anthony “Nino” Gaggi to officially name a new boss. It was a tense situation. Not knowing what might transpire, Gaggi taped a gun under the kitchen table prior to the meeting. He then armed his nephew, Vietnam veteran Dominick Montiglio, with an automatic weapon. Montiglio took up a position in an upstairs apartment, which overlooked a doorway leading out to the driveway of Gaggi’s house.

“If you hear any shots from the kitchen,” Gaggi instructed Montiglio, “shoot whoever runs out the door.”

But there was no shootout. Castellano agreed to keep Dellacroce as family underboss. In accepting Castellano’s leadership proposal, Dellacroce was given several crews to oversee, including the Bergin crew of Carmine Fatico.

Then Gotti came home. According to the terms of his parole, he had to have a legitimate job, so in the summer of 1977, he became a salesman for Arc Plumbing & Heating Corporation. Years later, when the president of the plumbing concern was asked at a hearing what function Gotti performed, he replied, “What John does is point out locations.”

Gotti set his sights on climbing into Carmine Fatico’s position as head of the Bergin crew. Fatico had recently beaten two loansharking cases, but he and his brother Daniel, along with crewmembers Charles and John Carneglia, had been convicted of hijacking. The Faticos pled guilty, hoping to receive probation. One of the government informants reported that Gotti was hoping that his former mentor would be sent away, enabling him to move ahead. Carmine Fatico received five years probation, but his reign as capo of the Bergin crew was over, because the terms required that he not associate with known criminals. Occasionally Gotti was to seek the elder Mafioso’s counsel, but they would never meet at the Bergin.

Gotti was still considered an associate and could not officially become the “acting capo” of the crew until he became a made member of the Gambino Family. Some time during the first half of 1977, Angelo Ruggiero (paroled earlier than John) and Gene Gotti (who acted as crew boss in his brother’s absence), were both made. According to an informant, another induction ceremony was planned for later that year upon John’s release from the Green Haven Correctional Facility. In this second rite, Gotti and eight other men took the Mafia oath of omerta.

Now a made member of the Gambino Family, Gotti’s hijacking career officially came to an end. He avoided what were considered “riskier crimes” and settled instead on mob staples, such as gambling and loan sharking. Since Gotti was still on probation, he ordered Bergin crewmembers “not to bring heat on the club.” They were told to “stop loitering in front of the Bergin and to park their cars elsewhere.” This was a far cry from what his attitude would be years later.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the FBI’s snitches reported that Gotti lost heavily at gambling and crewmembers were growing concerned because they were unable to make money. It was not unusual for Gotti to drop $30,000 in one night. In February 1981 Gotti opened a gambling den on the second floor of the Bergin club for “family” men only. The game operated every night except Saturday, closing down around 4:00 am. In early March, the game moved to Manhattan, to a location on Mott Street around the corner from Dellacroce’s Ravenite Social Club. The game was very popular and drew many gamblers from throughout the city. The crew finally made money even though Gotti continued to lose heavily. Since he was overseeing the game Gotti could borrow money from the house. In a move typical of him, he became concerned about those who borrowed from the house and ordered an accounting, only to discover that he owed the most – some $55,000. Bugs and taps on the telephone of a crewmember revealed the contempt in which others held Gotti, including Angelo Ruggiero and John’s own brother Gene.

One night, a Queens’ detective squad watched as Wilfred Johnson handed a package to a drug dealer in exchange for a paper bag that he threw into the trunk of his car. Detectives followed Johnson to his home in Brooklyn. When Willie Boy opened the trunk to get the bag, the detectives approached him. The bag contained $50,000, which Johnson quickly claimed came from the gambling operation. Still on probation after having served less than four years of a ten-year sentence, Johnson got scared. He told the officers to take the money, because if his parole officer found out about it he would go back to prison.

Johnson, who was already working as a confidential informant for the FBI, now agreed to do the same for the New York City Police Department. In June 1981, he ratted out the Mott Street gambling club and approximately thirty men were arrested. After spending the night in the Manhattan Criminal Court, the men---represented by attorney Michael Coiro---pled guilty to misdemeanor gambling charges, and were fined $500 and released. The following night, a new operation opened across the street from the raided location. However, the game never regained its former popularity."

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2001, 05:27:46 AM »
"...The Tragedy of Frank Gotti
Frank Gotti was the fourth child of John and Victoria Gotti, their second son. Frank Gotti led the life of an average twelve-year-old. He was a good student and enjoyed sports. On March 18, 1980, he borrowed a friend’s motorized mini-bike and took a ride around his Howard Beach neighborhood. At the same time, John Favara, a service department manager for a furniture manufacturer, was on his way home from work. Favara was a neighbor of the Gottis. His house on 86th Street was directly behind the Gotti home on 85th Street. Favara’s adopted son, Scott, was a friend of Gotti’s son, John, and had enjoyed sleepovers in the Gotti home. With the sun going down in the late afternoon, young Frank Gotti and the 51 year-old Favara were about to have the proverbial “appointment with destiny.” In Mobstar, by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain, the authors describe what happened next:

“On 157th Avenue, near 87th, a house was under renovation. A dumpster had been placed in the street to collect the debris. It was on Favara’s right. Favara did not notice the boy on the mini-bike dash into the street from the other side of the dumpster, and his car struck and killed Frank Gotti.”

The death of her son was a crushing blow to Victoria Gotti. She lived for her children. Frank Gotti’s funeral was heavily attended by friends. Favara was advised by a local priest not to make an appearance. FBI agents, who normally held surveillance at wakes and funerals, stayed away out of respect for the death of a child.

Two days after the accident, a woman called the 106th Precinct house and said, “The driver of the car that killed Frank Gotti will be eliminated.” That same day, Favara received a death threat in the mail. On March 23, a detective visited the Favara home to warn him about the phone threat. Favara told the detective, “That kind of stuff only happens in the movies.” Naïve to the danger he was in, Favara could not understand why the Gotti family didn’t realize the child’s death was a tragic accident. A woman’s phone call to the Favara home on March 24 spelled out another death threat.

On April 13, Favara’s car, which had not been repaired, was stolen. It was recovered less than a mile from his home on May 1. Nineteen days later, a funeral card from the services for Frank Gotti was left in Favara’s mailbox. The following day a picture of Frank Gotti was placed in the mailbox. The next day, May 22, the word “Murderer” was spray-painted on the Favara automobile. Favara had been a childhood friend of Anthony Zappi, whose father, Ettore, had been a capo in the Gambino Family. Favara went to Anthony Zappi for advice. Zappi told Favara to move out of the neighborhood and get rid of his automobile, because Victoria became enraged every time she saw it.

While contemplating his decision, he was helped along by Victoria, who attacked him on May 28th with an aluminum baseball bat. Favara was treated at a local hospital, but refused to file charges. Favara took Zappi’s advice and put his home up for sale. On July 28, three days before he was to close on the sale of his house, Favara was abducted while leaving work. Several people watched as Favara was clubbed over the head and thrown into a van. He and his car were never seen again. A diner owner who witnessed the attack and described it to police soon received a visit from three hulking hoods who sat silently for fifteen minutes staring at him. The diner owner avoided the police, sold his business and moved away.

John and Victoria had conveniently been in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when the abduction took place. The FBI canvassed their informants for information. William Battista reported that while “Gotti did not initially want revenge,” an alleged eyewitness had claimed that Favara had been speeding and had run a stop sign just prior to hitting Frank. Battista claimed that since Victoria had been “so distraught” over the death of her son, John promised her revenge. When the couple returned from the south, detectives questioned them. About Favara, Victoria claimed, “I don’t know what happened to him. I am not sorry if something did. He never sent me a [sympathy] card. He never apologized. He never even got his car fixed.” John’s response was similar, if not rehearsed. “I don’t know what happened. I am not sorry if something did happen. He killed my kid.”

Frank Gotti would have turned 13 on October 18, 1980. Victoria took the opportunity to place two “In Memoriam” notices, one from her children and a second from her and John, in the New York Daily News. Every year since, on the anniversary of Frank’s death, the notices appear. As the children began their own families, the number of notices grew. Each of Frank Gotti’s siblings named a son in his memory.

On March 8, 2001, Jerry Capeci’s “This Week in Gang Land,” ran an exclusive account of the John Favara disappearance. In the article, Capeci states that the story was put together from information from present and former law enforcement people who were connected with the case. Capeci identifies eight crewmembers – Angelo Ruggiero, Willie Boy Johnson, Gene Gotti, John and Charles Carneglia, Anthony Rampino, Richard Gomes and Iggy Alogna – as having played a role in the abduction and slaying.

It played out like this: as Favara approached his automobile he spotted the men and turned to run. John Carneglia dropped him with two shots from a .22 caliber, silencer-equipped pistol. Favara gasped, “No. No. Please, my wife,” as he struggled to get off the ground. Gomes, a former hood from Providence, Rhode Island, who had joined the Gotti crew in the late 1970s, cracked Favara over the head with a two-by-four, picked him up and threw him in a van. Another crewmember took the victim’s keys and followed in Favara’s car.

Favara and his car were driven to a salvage yard in East New York operated by the Carneglias. There Favara’s body was stuffed into a barrel that was then filled with cement. While Charles Carneglia disposed of the barrel in the ocean off Brooklyn, his brother John crushed Favara’s car at the salvage yard. No one was ever arrested for the abduction and murder. In 1983, Favara’s wife had him officially declared dead."

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2001, 05:28:14 AM »
"...John Gotti was building the inner circle of his Bergin crew into a powerful outfit. Those closest to Gotti were Angelo Ruggiero, who was looked upon as the number two man; brother Gene, who at times could be just as brutal as his older brother; John Carneglia, who ran the auto-salvage business; Anthony “Tony Roach” Rampino, whose physical features led to his nickname; and Willie Boy Johnson. Rampino and Johnson served as Gotti’s chief loan collectors. Gotti also employed his other brothers, Peter and Richard. Peter took care of the Bergin club, while Richard was assigned the Our Friends Social Club, located around the corner from the Bergin. Gotti insisted that all his men put in regular appearances at the Bergin and got irritated if anyone failed to check in within 48 hours.

During this period, from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, the FBI was building a crew of their own – a crew of informants. In addition to the aforementioned Willie Boy Johnson and William Battista, the bureau had also turned Salvatore “Crazy Sal” Polisi, Matthew Traynor and Anthony Cardinale, a heavy drug user whom Angelo Ruggiero had met in Attica. Despite carrying on crimes, this quartet of murderers were constantly feeding new information about Gotti’s activities to their FBI handlers. Gotti, on the other hand, was not blind to the efforts of law enforcement and knew that several of the telephones the gang used were tapped. Cautious with the information he shared with crewmembers over the bugged lines, he never hesitated when it came to placing his bets. In addition to the telephone taps and informants, listening devices (“bugs”) had been installed in the Bergin club, which were picking up a variety of conversations from the hoodlums that congregated there."

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2001, 05:28:39 AM »
"...After the death of his son, John Gotti’s gambling habits became more reckless. This was an observation that William Battista passed along to the FBI. The government informant was not alone in his opinion.  Paul Castellano, the boss of the family, voiced his own concerns to Dellacroce. Although Dellacroce passed it off as Gotti’s way of dealing with grief, Castellano was still unhappy. Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain discuss Castellano’s position in Gotti: Rise and Fall:

“Still, Gotti’s gambling made Paul question his fitness for leadership. With typical Sicilian bias for people of Neapolitan origin, Paul already had a low opinion of Gotti’s fitness. Like his ancestors, he thought Neapolitans were brash, garish, unreliable, too emotional.”

Both Gotti and Dellacroce questioned Castellano’s leadership skills. Castellano, who was never considered a “street” person, didn’t understand Gotti or the men who made up his crew – and never took the time to try. Castellano retreated to his palatial home on Todt Hill on Staten Island, where he preferred to deal with a few chosen family members. During the early half of the 1980s, the relationship between Castellano and the Dellacroce/Gotti crew would continue to deteriorate steadily. "
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2001, 05:29:20 AM »
"...As information was obtained from the FBI’s confidential informants, a picture of the drug dealing going on by the Bergin crew began to unfold. Yet it was never clear how big a role John Gotti played in the crew’s drug involvement. Outwardly he was still pushing the family line of no drugs, but there is little doubt that he prospered from the enormous profits crewmembers earned.
By the early 1980s, the government was beginning to investigate New York’s five organized crime families. FBI Special Agent Bruce Mouw was selected to head what was called the “Gambino squad.” The determined agent worked to develop confidential informants inside the family and managed to identify the hierarchy of the Gambino Crime Family. Starting with information supplied by “Source Wahoo” (the secret FBI code name assigned to Willie Boy Johnson) that Angelo Ruggiero’s home telephone was safe, the FBI proceeded to “launch an electronic assault” against the mobster known as “Quack Quack.” On November 9, 1981, a tap was placed on the home phone of Ruggiero. One of the reasons Ruggiero was chosen was because his brother, Salvatore, had become a millionaire from dealing drugs on his own and was currently a fugitive from justice.

One day after Angelo talked to Gene Gotti, using the word “babania” (a street name for heroin), the Gambino Squad approached a judge for a warrant for further electronic surveillance. . During the early part of 1982, Ruggiero had moved from Howard Beach to Cedarhurst, Long Island. Agents disguised as construction workers, with information again supplied by Willie Boy Johnson, planted listening devices in Ruggiero’s kitchen, dining room and basement den, and tapped the Princess phone in his daughter’s bedroom. In addition, they increased physical surveillance, even allowing Angelo to spot them in hopes that this would instigate more discussion from him.

On May 6, 1982, Salvatore Ruggiero chartered a private plane at an airport in New Jersey to fly him and his wife to southern Florida to look at some investment property. Salvatore, a fugitive from the government for six years, had been hiding out in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Georgia, killing everyone on board. Salvatore’s death set off a chain of events that would result in an internecine war in the Gambino Family and propel John Gotti into leadership. After being notified of the fatal accident, Angelo, Gene Gotti and John Carneglia quickly descended on Salvatore’s New Jersey hideout to remove paperwork, valuables and all the heroin they could find.

Attorney Michael Coiro, who had represented Angelo in the past, arrived from Florida two days after Salvatore’s death to help Angelo resolve legal issues involving his brother’s estate. While the two were meeting at Angelo’s home, Gambino Family capo Frank DeCicco arrived to offer his condolences. As agents listened in, Coiro told DeCicco, “Gene found the heroin.”

Several weeks after the memorial service for Salvatore, Coiro was still around helping Angelo. During a bugged conversation at Angelo’s home, the FBI picked up the following exchange between Angelo, Coiro and Gene Gotti as Ruggiero talked about unloading the heroin:

Ruggiero: If I get some money, will you hold it?
Coiro: Yeah.  
Gene: Nobody is to know but us. You’re not our lawyer, you’re one of us as far as I’m concerned.  
Coiro: I know it, Gene, I feel that way too.  

As the months dragged on, so did the tape recorders picking up all the incriminating evidence pouring out of the mouths of Angelo Ruggiero and the visitors to his home. During this period the heroin was sold, to which Ruggiero was heard exclaiming, “There’s a lot of profit in heroin.” With those profits Gene Gotti and John Carneglia flew to Florida and made a heroin purchase from one of Salvatore’s former suppliers.

Bruce Mouw held off making any arrests in hopes that he could catch John Gotti at Ruggiero’s home or on one of the phone taps discussing the heroin. It didn’t happen. It was claimed that Gotti felt that as acting capo he should never visit the home of a “soldier.” On August 8, 1983, seventeen months after Salvatore Ruggiero’s death, the Gambino Squad arrested Angelo, Gene Gotti, John Carneglia, Michael Coiro, and Mark Reiter. In addition to the heroin discussions caught on mountains of tapes, the bugs and phone taps picked up Ruggiero making a plethora of disparaging remarks about Paul Castellano. The battle Castellano waged to get these tapes would eventually lead to his demise.

By the early 1980s, the government was beginning to investigate New York’s five organized crime families. FBI Special Agent Bruce Mouw was selected to head what was called the “Gambino squad.” The determined agent worked to develop confidential informants inside the family and managed to identify the hierarchy of the Gambino Crime Family. Starting with information supplied by “Source Wahoo” (the secret FBI code name assigned to Willie Boy Johnson) that Angelo Ruggiero’s home telephone was safe, the FBI proceeded to “launch an electronic assault” against the mobster known as “Quack Quack.” On November 9, 1981, a tap was placed on the home phone of Ruggiero. One of the reasons Ruggiero was chosen was because his brother, Salvatore, had become a millionaire from dealing drugs on his own and was currently a fugitive from justice.

One day after Angelo talked to Gene Gotti, using the word “babania” (a street name for heroin), the Gambino Squad approached a judge for a warrant for further electronic surveillance. . During the early part of 1982, Ruggiero had moved from Howard Beach to Cedarhurst, Long Island. Agents disguised as construction workers, with information again supplied by Willie Boy Johnson, planted listening devices in Ruggiero’s kitchen, dining room and basement den, and tapped the Princess phone in his daughter’s bedroom. In addition, they increased physical surveillance, even allowing Angelo to spot them in hopes that this would instigate more discussion from him.

On May 6, 1982, Salvatore Ruggiero chartered a private plane at an airport in New Jersey to fly him and his wife to southern Florida to look at some investment property. Salvatore, a fugitive from the government for six years, had been hiding out in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Georgia, killing everyone on board. Salvatore’s death set off a chain of events that would result in an internecine war in the Gambino Family and propel John Gotti into leadership. After being notified of the fatal accident, Angelo, Gene Gotti and John Carneglia quickly descended on Salvatore’s New Jersey hideout to remove paperwork, valuables and all the heroin they could find.

Attorney Michael Coiro, who had represented Angelo in the past, arrived from Florida two days after Salvatore’s death to help Angelo resolve legal issues involving his brother’s estate. While the two were meeting at Angelo’s home, Gambino Family capo Frank DeCicco arrived to offer his condolences. As agents listened in, Coiro told DeCicco, “Gene found the heroin.”

Several weeks after the memorial service for Salvatore, Coiro was still around helping Angelo. During a bugged conversation at Angelo’s home, the FBI picked up the following exchange between Angelo, Coiro and Gene Gotti as Ruggiero talked about unloading the heroin:

Ruggiero: If I get some money, will you hold it?
Coiro: Yeah.  
Gene: Nobody is to know but us. You’re not our lawyer, you’re one of us as far as I’m concerned.  
Coiro: I know it, Gene, I feel that way too.  

As the months dragged on, so did the tape recorders picking up all the incriminating evidence pouring out of the mouths of Angelo Ruggiero and the visitors to his home. During this period the heroin was sold, to which Ruggiero was heard exclaiming, “There’s a lot of profit in heroin.” With those profits Gene Gotti and John Carneglia flew to Florida and made a heroin purchase from one of Salvatore’s former suppliers.

Bruce Mouw held off making any arrests in hopes that he could catch John Gotti at Ruggiero’s home or on one of the phone taps discussing the heroin. It didn’t happen. It was claimed that Gotti felt that as acting capo he should never visit the home of a “soldier.” On August 8, 1983, seventeen months after Salvatore Ruggiero’s death, the Gambino Squad arrested Angelo, Gene Gotti, John Carneglia, Michael Coiro, and Mark Reiter. In addition to the heroin discussions caught on mountains of tapes, the bugs and phone taps picked up Ruggiero making a plethora of disparaging remarks about Paul Castellano. The battle Castellano waged to get these tapes would eventually lead to his demise. "

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

  • Guest
Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2001, 05:31:39 AM »
"...Nearly six years would pass before a conviction would occur as a result of the indictments issued against Angelo Ruggiero, Gene Gotti and the others. By that time Paul Castellano was long gone and John Gotti had become the “Teflon Don.”

Castellano’s problems had begun to mount in the early 1980s, as the government set their sights on the mob bosses of New York City’s five organized crime families. With the recent drug indictments of members of Gotti’s crew, Castellano felt he needed to act. To calm the situation, Ruggiero convinced Aniello Dellacroce to approach the irritated boss with a contrived story that they were only sorting out Angelo’s brother’s affairs. Salvatore was neither a member nor an associate of the Gambino Family, and not being a subordinate to Castellano, could not be held accountable for disobeying any family rules. This plan would hold Castellano at bay until the actual FBI tapes could be handed over to defense attorneys.

Castellano did not realize that the information Ruggiero spread across the telephone lines, recorded by FBI phone taps, provided the government with enough probable cause to enter and bug his palatial estate. By early 1984, the Gambino Family boss was facing an indictment as the result of an investigation into another crew, that of former capo Roy “the Killing Machine” DeMeo. Despite the fact that Castellano had DeMeo killed, when the indictment was issued, the boss and DeMeo crewmembers were facing charges of “murder for hire, drug dealing, an international car-theft operation, child pornography, and prostitution.”

In addition, Castellano’s attorneys informed him he was also facing indictment in two other RICO cases. The first was referred to as the “hierarchy” case, which would eventually result in the convictions of Gambino Family underboss Joseph “Piney” Armone and one-time consigliere Joseph N. Gallo. The second case was known as the “Commission” case, for which Castellano would be indicted.

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »
 

C_R_O_N_I_C_I

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Re: "JOHN GOTTI....THE ILLEST"
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2001, 05:32:26 AM »
"...It wasn’t just Castellano who was under siege in the spring of 1985, it was the entire Gambino Crime Family. In addition to the “hierarchy” case, indictments were issued against John and Gene Gotti, Neil Dellacroce and his son Armond, John Carneglia, Willie Boy Johnson, Anthony “Tony Roach” Rampino, and several others. Using the RICO statute, the mobsters were indicted for crimes ranging from murder to loansharking. The indictments were the culmination of several years of work by assistant United States attorney Diane Giacalone, who represented the Eastern District of New York. Described in Mob Star as “outspoken, strong-willed and occasionally tempestuous,” the 31 year-old former tax attorney had grown up in the Ozone Park neighborhood, and while attending school, had passed by the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club daily.

One of the things Giacalone discovered was that Willie Boy Johnson was a confidential FBI informant. She quickly tried to convince Johnson to become a government witness and to testify against his long-time friend John Gotti and his Bergin crewmates. Johnson was in fear for his life, as well as the safety of his family. “I’ll be killed," he told the prosecutor. "My family will be slaughtered.” Gotti was soon made aware of Johnson's treachery. In Gotti: Rise and Fall, Capeci and Mustain reveal his reaction:

‘“I’m gonna give you a pass, and I give you my word no one will bother you,” Gotti told Willie Boy. “After we win this case, you won’t be able to be in the life again. But you’ll get a job, you’ll have your family, and you’ll be all right.’”

Despite Johnson’s plea to be granted bail with the others, Giacalone convinced the judge to keep Willie Boy in protective custody, where he would remain for over a year before the case came to trial. Meanwhile, government informant William Battista found out that Giacalone was looking to bring him into the case. Battista responded by grabbing his wife and fleeing the area, and they have not been seen since.

In the spring of 1985, Paul Castellano turned 70. He would not see 71. Still demanding to hear the Ruggiero tapes, the aging leader backed off again when it was revealed that Neil Dellacroce was dying of cancer. Castellano figured that when Dellacroce died, he could press for the tapes without incurring the wrath of his underboss. When Castellano finally got to hear the tapes during the late summer of 1985, he formulated a plan of action, but still held off while Dellacroce remained alive
Nearly six years would pass before a conviction would occur as a result of the indictments issued against Angelo Ruggiero, Gene Gotti and the others. By that time Paul Castellano was long gone and John Gotti had become the “Teflon Don.”

Castellano’s problems had begun to mount in the early 1980s, as the government set their sights on the mob bosses of New York City’s five organized crime families. With the recent drug indictments of members of Gotti’s crew, Castellano felt he needed to act. To calm the situation, Ruggiero convinced Aniello Dellacroce to approach the irritated boss with a contrived story that they were only sorting out Angelo’s brother’s affairs. Salvatore was neither a member nor an associate of the Gambino Family, and not being a subordinate to Castellano, could not be held accountable for disobeying any family rules. This plan would hold Castellano at bay until the actual FBI tapes could be handed over to defense attorneys.

Castellano did not realize that the information Ruggiero spread across the telephone lines, recorded by FBI phone taps, provided the government with enough probable cause to enter and bug his palatial estate. By early 1984, the Gambino Family boss was facing an indictment as the result of an investigation into another crew, that of former capo Roy “the Killing Machine” DeMeo. Despite the fact that Castellano had DeMeo killed, when the indictment was issued, the boss and DeMeo crewmembers were facing charges of “murder for hire, drug dealing, an international car-theft operation, child pornography, and prostitution.”

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by 1034398800 »