John Gotti: The Teflon Don Essay

T here was nonhing that my father loved more than world a gangster. Not m championy, non even us. He felt that eitherbody that au whencetic tout ensembley lived this brio like he did, at the end of the day you allow to die or go to jail. go forthhouse Gotti Jr. Who is seat Gotti? Depending upon who you subscribe to this question to, your answer could vary. Gro deriveg up in my neighborhood in Far Rocka office, Queens conjuring trick Gotti is a legend and mortal mint look up to. At the same succession you can implore separate heap close to legerde master(prenominal) Gotti and they will tell you that he was a ruthless thug and a menace to society. Either way you look at it bum Gotti make his mark here in America and he was cognize all across the country for cosmos the boss of the titanicst and most powerful of the five families in y placehful York, the Gambino annoyance family. I will not talk ab let out my opinions on commode Gotti in this paper scarce I will bequeath you his manner story from his birth in the Bronx to his death in pri boy and permit you be the judge. fanny Joseph Gotti was born on October 27, 1940 in the Bronx, rude(a) York. fundament was the fifth child of Philomena (Fannie) and Joseph Gotti, who were Italian Immigrants.Joseph and Fannie Gotti overly had twelve other children quadruple of which who would alike become made men, or members of the Mafia. Johns junior brother cistron Gotti was actually initiated before John was due to Johns imprisonment at that time. During Johns time as boss of the Gambino offense family he had his brother Peter Gotti initiated condescension Johns belief (and that of m either others) that Peter did not have what it takes to be La Cosa Nostra. Peter earned himself the nickname the dumbest don after the in carceration of John Gotti, Gene Gotti, and John Gotti Jr. when he assumed the military position of Boss of the Gambino offensive family. The other two brothers were Ri chard Gotti, who would be revealed as capo in 2002, and Vincent Gotti. John Gotti spent his early years growing up in poverty. John Gottis father Joseph Gotti was a day laborer who neer had regular written report or a steady source of income. On top of Joseph Gottis problems with finding decent work so he would be suit adequate to(p) to impart for his family, he also had a romp problem. This was a huge problem because he was the simply earning member of the large family. John Gotti came to re displace his father for not world able to provide the family.By the time Gotti reached the age of twelve, he was already an errand boy work for an underground corporation. This club was headed by Carmine Fatico, a capo in the Gambino iniquity family. Fatico was an early mentor Gotti until John was introduced to Aniello Dellacroce, who became his mentor for life. Gotti had his send-off run in with the law in 1954 when he was caught with friends attempting to steal a portable cementum mixer that tipped over and c race the toes of his feet. He had to be hospitalized for a while and as a result he is supposedly scatty a toe or two. By 1956, Gotti had dropped out of hot doglin K. Lane tall School and was named the leader of the Fulton-Rockaway male childs. This gang is where he meets and befriends Angelo Ruggiero and Wilfred Johnson, who also become make Men in the Gambino crime family. When Gotti moved with his family to Ozone car park in Queens, New York, Gotti became a key member of the Gambino hijacking cabal. Along with his brother Gene and Ruggiero, Gotti began hijacking trucks at what would come to be known as John F Kennedy International Airport.This is where he was introduced to and befriended future Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino. It was here that they were inclined the nicknames of Black John and Crazy Horse. In 1968, Gotti was arrested for the hijackings. plot of land out on bail, Gotti was arrested again for a hijacking on the New isl and of Jersey Turnpike. Gotti pleaded guilty to the Northwest Airlines hijackings but the charges were dropped on the New Jersey Turnpike cigarette hijackings. Gotti served three years in Lewisburg Federal pen for the hijackings. after his release in 1972, Gotti returned to the Bergin Hunt and Fish fiat to work with Carmine Fatico until later that year when Fatico was indicted on loansharking charges. disdain Gotti not to that extent being a Made humanness, Fatico named him the acting capo of the Bergin crew. It was at this time that Gotti and Dellacroce grew appressed because Gotti would frequently come to the Ravenite cordial Club to brief Dellacroce on his crews activities.In May of 1973, Emanuel Gambino, nephew of Carlo Gambino who was the current head of the family, was kidnapped and finished despite the payment of a $100,000 ransom. Gotti was tasked to take out the man responsible on with Ruggiero and Ralph Galione. The primary suspect was an Irish gangster by the nam e of jam McBrantley. Gotti and his boys found McBrantly in a forfend in Staten Island. While Gotti and Ruggiero go over and try to take him nighwhere, Galione comes over and shoots McBrantley in the middle of the club for everyone to see. Gotti would be arrested for this murder one year later after being fingered by numerous eyewitnesses, one of which was his friend Wilfred Willie Boy Johnson. Gotti was able to strike a plea bargain so he would only serve 4 years in prison for attempted manslaughter. After the Death of Carlo Gambino in 1976, capital of Minnesota bountiful Paul Castellano became the boss of the Gambino crime family. Upon his release in 1977, John Gotti was immediately initiated into the Gambino crime family. Gotti was immediately promoted to capo of the Bergin crew, substitute Carmine Fatico.Castellano unbroken Dellacroce as his underboss and gave him control over 10 of the 23 crews, including Gottis Bergin crew. Gottis Bergin crew was the largest earners of a ll of Dellacroces crews. Gotti also ran a loansharking business on the side on top of taking his write out from all the money that his subordinates made. Gotti had m any people operative for him and he made them all make regular appearances at the Bergin and would get irritated if someone didnt check in within 48 hours, he kept this routine when he moved to the Ravenite Social Club. In 1980, Gottis son Frank Gotti was killed in a traffic accident by their neighbor, John Favara. Favara was abducted and never to be hear from again, many believe him to be dead. Despite the belief of some people that Gotti killed Favara himself, the Gottis were on vacation in Florida at the time of his abduction. John Gotti Jr., future head of the Gambino crime family, even so believes that his father most definitely had something to do with his disappearance though. In his be years as capo of the Bergin crew, Gotti was indicted on two separate occasions.He would not go to trial for either of these cases until he was crowned boss of the Gambino crime family. One of these cases came in September of 1984 Gotti was arrested for the assault and robbery of a refrigerator repairman named Romual Piecyk. Piecyk found his car blocked by a effigyd parked vehicle outdoor(a) of the Cozy Corner Bar in Queens. Piecyk laid on his car horn until Frank Colletta, the owner of the double parked car and Gambino family associate, came out, smacked him across the face and took his weekly paycheck out of his shirt pocket. When Piecyk began to fight back, Gotti came running out and smacked him across the face and reached into his cincture and t sure-enough(a) him you better get the f*** out of here Piecyk went and got the police and they returned to the bar and arrested Gotti and Colletta. The second indictment came in 1985 when Gotti on with Dellacroce and other Bergin crew members were the targets of a racketeering case, headed by US Attorney Diane Giacalone. It was the latter case that reveal ed Gottis close friend, Willie Boy Johnson, to be an FBI informant.When Gotti found out all he had to say to Johnson was Im 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 wont be able to be in the life again. But youll get a job, youll have your family, and youll be all reclaim. As the boss of the family, Paul Castellano had banned Made Men from the Gambino family in dealings with drugs under the threat of death. In 1983, Angelo Ruggiero and Gene Gotti along with a a couple of(prenominal) others were all indicted on diacetylmorphine charges. The indictment came most through bugs dictated in the home of Angelo Ruggiero, using narrate given to the FBI by Willie Boy Johnson. Along with the talks of heroin deals on these tapes in that location were also some remarks made close Castellano from Ruggiero on there. Castellanos pursuit to hear what was on these tapes would be the beginning of the end for him. A lthough John Gotti was not on any of the tapes and they could make no connection to him, Castellano was still looking to hold Gotti accountable. In fear for his life, Ruggiero went to Dellacroce to see if he could plead his case to Castellano that they were only take out the affairs of his brother Salvatore Ruggiero, a big time heroin dealer who had no ties to the family.The story was enough to hold Castellano off until he received the tapes. In the spring of 1985 Castellano began pressing for the tapes again but approve off when he found out that his underboss, Dellacroce, was dying of cancer. He pass judgment that if he waited for Dellacroce to die, there would be nobody he had to worry about stopping him from getting the tapes. Castellano was able to hear the tapes that summer and began formulating a broadcast of action but would hold off on putting that mean in motion until Dellacroce died. Gotti knew Castellano, who was never a fan of Gotti and wanted him out of the family, would have him killed so he began a plot of his own along with Frank DeCicco, Sammy Gravano, Joseph Armone, and Robert DiBernardo. When Dellacroce died on December 2, 1985, it was time for one of the sides to make their move. Castellano did not show up at the services for his spring underboss and that infuriated Gotti and other members of the family and also members of the other quaternity families. For Gotti to have the head of his family killed, he would set-back have to go to the heads of the other families in New York for permission.Gotti got the necessary votes from the Bonanno, Colombo, and Luchesse families for the take a crap. The clenched fist, which is what the five men went by, had the completed set up. They figured that a poor over a week before Christmas, around rush hour, amid 5pm and 6pm that the streets would be flooded with probably over a thousand people doing there holiday errands. They figured the hit would only last a few seconds and the confusion from t he panic after the gunshots went off would make for the perfect escape. The four designated shooters were Vincent Artuso, John Carneglia, Eddie Lino and Salvatore Scala. The designated back-up shooter, Anthony Tony Roach Rampino, would be standing across the street from Sparks Steak House, while Angelo Ruggiero, Joseph Watts and Iggy Alogna would be stationed at 46th Street and insurgent Avenue to help with the escape. Frank DeCicco would be inside the restaurant where a meeting was to take place.He would be joined there by capos James Failla and Daniel Marino, who were not part of the plot. On December 16 Big Paul had arranged to meet Dellacroces son Buddy Dellacroce at Sparks Steak House on East 46th Street. Frank DeCicco set it up. Castellano was spillage to pay homage, to explain wherefore he had not come to the bring up and fliped condolences, to make amends. It wouldnt be until the afternoon of the planned murders that the actual hit team knew who their targets were. Hudd led in a park on Manhattans lower berth East Side, the group went over the final details of the murder plot. The four shooters were dressed alike long light colored trench coats and fatal fur Russian style hats. The reasoning for this was to draw attention to the outfits, not the men wearing them. Gotti and Gravano parked a Lincoln, driven by John himself, up the block in sight of the front of Sparks Steak House. Moments later doubting Thomas Bilotti, Big Pauls new underboss, pulled up following to Gottis car at an intersection and waited for the light to change. Using a walky-talky Gravano notified the others that Castellano was approaching.Bilotti steered the Lincoln into an open space in front of Sparks and got out. As Castellano stepped out of the vehicle, the hit men moved in. Big Paul was hit sixer times in the head and killed instantly. When the shooting began, the unarmed Bilotti ducked and looked through the number one woods side window only to see his bosss execution, unaware that killers were now aiming at him. As the shooters assigned to Bilotti opened fire, Artusos gun jammed. However, the gunfire from the second assassin dropped the newly crowned underboss. Carneglia, who had finished blasting away at Castellano, ran over to the other side of the car and put the finishing touches on Bilotti. After the very public cleanup position of Castellano and underboss Bilotti, Gotti found himself in the media spotlight a lot and was widely venture to be responsible for the murders. Gotti became known as the Dapper Don for his big-ticket(prenominal) suits, hand painted ties, and meticulously groomed silver hair. At the time of Gottis takeover, the Gambino family was regarded as the most powerful American mafia family, which is why during this time he was regarded as a boss of bosses.The Gambino crime familys estimated annual income was around five hundred million dollars. According to Sammy The squat Gravano, Gotti was bringing in about ten to twel ve million dollars per year. In an attempt to protect himself and his underlings legally, he banned any Made Man from taking a plea agreement that acknowledges the existence of the family. Gottis fame came to collide with the outcome of his previous indictments from 1984 and 1985. By the mid to late 1980s, John Gotti had at rest(p) from the Dapper Don to the Teflon Don because of the failure to make any charges stick to him. When Gotti went to trial for the 1984 assault and robbery of Romual Piecyk, Gotti benefited from his new fame. Piecyk received many phone calls and the breaks to his work van were cut. Fearing for the worst, Piecyk went into hiding, hoping he would not have to testify. When Piecyk was oblige to testify he said he could not remember who his attackers were. Because of his stochastic loss of memory, the New York Daily News came out with a publicize that read I Forgotti On April 7, 1986 the jury selection for Gottis anti-racketeering law case began.With the suc cess Gotti had in intimidating Piecyk in his prior case, he decided to use the same tactics to beat this case. Dennis Quirk was the first witness to be approached by Gottis men and was murdered right before he had to testify against Gottis co-defendant, Charles Carnaglia. The events to happen in the next few days would lead Judge Nickerson to postpone the trial. On the break of day of April 9, a bomb threat was called into the courthouse, clearing it immediately. On April 13, 1986, underboss Frank DeCicco was killed when his car was bombed following a visit to James Failla. The bombing was carried out by Lucchese capos Victor Amuso and Anthony Casso, under orders of bosses Anthony Corallo and Vincent Gigante, to avenge Castellano and Bilotti. Gotti also planned to visit Failla that day, but canceled, and the bomb was detonated after a soldier who rode with DeCicco was mistaken for the boss. While Gottis trial had been postponed, he remained in jail because his bail had been revoked for say of intimidation in the Piecyk case. Pretrial motions were handled on August 18, 1986.Judge Nickerson had ruled that there would be an anonymous jury to protect jurors from intimidation and the jury would not be sequestered, or isolated. Cutler claimed that such a jury creates fear that is misplaced and deprives the defendants of a fair trial. Bruce Cutler, John Gottis lawyer, went at the believability of the criminal pursuances witnesses like Edward Maloney and Mathew Traynor, calling them low lives and scum. This would come to be known as Brucifying, it was a tag that Cutler would gladly wear. Along with stripping the credibility of some of the prosecutors witnesses, Gravano was reached out to in order to offer his vote of not guilty to ensure a hung jury. This mans name was George Pape he offered his vote for sixty thousand dollars. On butt on 13, 1987, they acquitted Gotti and his codefendants of all charges. In February 1986, the Bankers and Brokers Restaurant in B attery Park City was under construction.The restaurant was under the management of Philip Modica, whom police set forth as a Gambino crime-family soldier. Modica was not using union carpenters in the construction, which disorderliness John F. OConnor, The business agent and chief operating incumbent of Manhattan-based Local 608 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners. OConnor responded by having the restaurant trashed one February night, causing some thirty thousand dollars worth of damage. When Modica took his complaint to Gotti, he ordered that OConnor be breaked up and the assignment was given to members of the Westies, a gang of Irish thugs from the Hells Kitchen section of Manhattan. At 640 in the morning on May 7, OConnor was waiting to enter an elevator in the lobby of a midtown Manhattan build that housed his union offices. Westies gang member Kevin Kelly at OConnor shot four times, wounding him in the butt, left leg and hip. The union ex officio was rushed t o St. Clares Hospital, where he soon recovered. On the evening of January 23, 1989, John Gotti was arrested outside the Ravenite Social Club and charged with ordering the 1986 assault of union official John OConnor.There were bugs planted in the Ravenite Social Club and in an apartment above the club in which Gotti had frequent meetings where he spoke freely about Gambino family business. They used these tapes in trial when they heard what they thought to be Gotti telling someone to Bust him up in reference to OConnor. Although they had these tapes for a while, nobody warned John OConnor about what might happen to him. Gottis refutal attorneys, Cutler and Shargel used this in trial stating that If the tapes werent clear enough to warn OConnor, then they are not clear enough to convict Gotti. Along with the drear sound quality of the tapes and some Brucifying, Gotti was at long last acquitted on all counts due in part to the testimony of OConnor himself. OConnor testified that he was never told his life was in danger or that anyone was going to bust him up. The defense was attempting to prove that since the investigators had not warned OConnor, they had no evidence that named him as the target of Gottis bust him up comment. OConnor also testified that there were internal conflicts within the union at the time he was wounded and that he had many enemies. On December 11, 1990, FBI Agents arrested John Gotti, Sammy Gravano, and Frank Locasio.This was the fourth indictment for Gotti since he came to power after ordering the killings of Paul Castellano and his underboss Thomas Bilotti. However, this was the first time that Gotti would be indicted for the latter murders. He would also be indicted for the murders of Robert DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono. Along with those murders, Gotti would also be charged with the conspiracy to murder Gaetano Corky Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. Gotti and his co-defendants were once again denied bail. Along with Gotti being denied bail, Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel, were disqualified from being able to represent any of the defendants in this trial due to some recordings that proved them to be working as in house counsel for the Gambino crime family. The tapes also created tensions between Gotti and Gravano. The tapes showed Gotti describing Gravano as too greedy and attempted to frame Sammy as the main force behind the murders of DiBernardo, Milito and Dibono. Gravano decided to turn states evidence in 1991 and testify against Gotti. The case was tried in the US regularize Court for the Eastern rule of New York.The presiding judge was US District Judge Israel Leo Glasser. For the first time ever the jury was kept anonymous and totally sequestered in a Brooklyn Federal case. The prosecutors, Andrew Maloney and John Gleeson, opening statements were given on February 12, 1992. They played tapes from bugs planted in the Ravenite Social Club and the apartment above the club that had Gotti discussing Gambino family business, killings that he ordered, and showed the animosity he had towards Big Paul which also gave him a motive for the killing of the former head of the family. On March 2, 1992, Sammy The Bull Gravano began his testimony. Gravano told the court about Gottis ranking as the head of the family. He also told the court about Gottis role in the Castellano and Bilotti hit and gave them every detail of the hit. Gottis defense provided no real help. All of Albert Kriegers, Gottis new defense attorney, witnesses testimonies were dismissed except for one and that was the testimony of Gottis tax attorney.The prosecution rested its case on March 24 and John Gotti was convicted on all accounts on April 2. John Gotti was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of word on June 23, 1992. James Fox, the director of the New York City FBI, announced at a press conference, The Teflon is gone. The don is co vered with Velcro, and all the charges stuck. Gotti was sent to serve his sentence at the US Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. Gotti eventually died of throat cancer in June of 2002. John Gotti would not be able to have his funeral in the church due to the request of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. After the funeral, hundreds of people followed the hearse which drove through Gottis old neighborhood and past the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club.