Gotti Jr. Busted on New Mob Hit Charges
Updated 1:57 PM EST, Tue, Aug 5, 2008
By Jonathan Dienst
WNBC - News 4 New York
John "Junior" Gotti, who has renounced the mafia life of his famous late father, was arrested this morning and charged with three past mob-related hits, News 4 New York first reported this morning on WNBC.com.
FBI agents nabbed Gotti, once head of the Gambino crime family, at his Oyster Bay, Long Island home and whisked him to Manhattan federal court for a hearing on murder conspiracy charges, law enforcement said.
Gotti faces a life sentence if convicted, according to prosecutors.
In addition to Gotti, five other men were named in the two indictments returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida.
Officials say these murder conspiracy charges stem from an investigation by Tampa federal prosecutors into a former Gambino drug ring that operated in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Five suspects have already been charged in that racketeering case, including reputed Gambino associates Ronald "Ronnie One Arm" Trucchio and John Alite.
The US attorney and FBI officials announced the charges in a news conference Tuesday morning
"Mr. Gotti is charged with RICO conspiracy, specifically in trafficking more than five kilograms of cocaine as well as the murders of three men in Manhattan and Queens back in the 1980's and 90's," U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill said.
"For the last 25 years, Gotti and other members of the Gambino organized crime family allegedly engaged in an array of criminal conduct including murder, robbery, bribery, kidnapping, extortion, gambling, illegal drug trafficking, loan sharking, collecting unlawful debts, jury tampering, victim and witness tampering, burglary, home invasions, aggravated assaults and batteries and money laundering," O'Neill said.
Federal authorities have been investigating Gotti, 44, for years, undeterred by three failed attempts starting in 2005 to convict him for allegedly ordering a 1992 attack that injured Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. After those mistrials, federal authorities focused on the mob scion's finances in what his attorney called a "fishing expedition."
After today's arrest, Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi said "they tried very hard to convict him up here. They spared no resources and it didn't work It's tragic for him and his family to have to continually go through this. It's almost laughable."
It was after a court hearing on his finances that Gotti launched a public tirade last November against federal authorities, accusing them of endangering his life with a mafia hit by falsely portraying him as a turncoat.
John "Junior" Gotti inherited his place in the mafia from his flamboyant father, one of America's most famous mobsters. Dubbed the "Dapper Don" for his custom-made suits and the "Teflon Don" for avoiding racketeering and assault convictions in the 1980s, Gotti Sr. died in federal prison of throat cancer in 2002.
Junior Gotti also served time in federal prison from 1999 until 2005 for shaking down the Scores strip club.
He revealed a troubled relationship with his father in a recorded conversation, decrying the mafia life he allegedly grew to detest. "I know my father loved me, but I got to question how much, to put me with all these wolves. This is the world you put your kid in? So much treachery. My father couldn't have love me, to push me into this life."
Junior asked to be allowed out of the mafia life and used his alleged retirement as a defense during the Sliwa trials.
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First Published: Aug 5, 2008 9:16 AM EST
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