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    The King of New York
    The King of New York
    The King of New York
    Ebook177 pages1 hour

    The King of New York

    By David Pietras

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    John Gotti was the last great leader of the Gambino crime family, the dominant Sicilian mafia family of New York. Gotti's boys had their fingers in everything from gambling houses, to drug trafficking, prostitution, to weapons dealing. Gotti originally came to lead the organization in 1985, but had been an enforcer for the mob since the early 70's.
    Originally, Gotti made a name for himself by helping avenge the death of Manny Gambino, nephew of the notorious leader of the family, Carlo Gambino. Gotti and two accomplices gunned down one of Manny's killers in a bar on Staten Island. Gotti did a long stint in Prison for this crime. When he was released, the Gambino family rewarded his loyalty by giving Gotti a position of power within the family.
    But with this power came the desire to one day become the Don of this great criminal empire. In this book we will look at the life of John Gotti. From the days of the Fulton-Rockaway Boys in the late 50's, to his death on June 10, 2002. We will look at the man. The myth and the legend that is John Gotti. The King of New York and "The True Godfather."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDiamondback Publishers International
    Release dateSep 18, 2018
    ISBN9781386212966
    The King of New York

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      Book preview

      The King of New York - David Pietras

      I'm a man's man. I'm here to take my medicine, — John Gotti

      The Beginning of the end

      On April 2, 1992, at the end of an intensely publicized trial in Federal District Court, The jury took only a day and a half to find John Gotti guilty of all 13 counts against him, including a racketeering charge that cited him for five murders, and related charges of murder, conspiracy, gambling, and obstruction of justice and tax fraud.

      Frank Locascio was convicted of the racketeering charge, which cited him for one murder, and six related charges that included a murder conspiracy, gambling, obstruction of justice and tax fraud.

      As he was sentenced in Federal court to spend the rest of his life in prison, John Gotti stood up and smiled, saying nothing,

      As hundreds of chanting, flag-waving Gotti supporters protested in front of the Federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Judge I. Leo Glasser sentenced the boss of the Gambino crime family in a courtroom so packed that James M. Fox, the head of the New York office of the F.B.I., was wedged next to Joseph DeCicco, a reputed Gambino associate.

      In a court session that took less than 10 minutes, with the lawyers for both sides choosing not to make statements, the judge asked Mr. Gotti if he had anything to say before the sentence was imposed. Gotti, wearing a dark double-breasted suit, white shirt and bright yellow tie flecked with burnt orange, only shook his head in silence. His longtime lawyer, Bruce Cutler, spoke for him, saying simply, "No, your honor."

      Judge Glasser, citing Federal sentencing guidelines adopted in 1987, told Gotti that "the guidelines in your case require me to commit you to the custody of the Attorney General for the duration of your life."

      Turning to Locascio, the judge asked if he had anything to say. Locascio, who was convicted as the Gambino underboss, responded by reading a handwritten statement in a spiral notebook.

      "First, I would like to say emphatically that I am innocent," Locascio declared in loud, firm voice, denying each charge that was brought against him.

      "I am guilty though," he added, "I am guilty of being a good friend of John Gotti. And if there were more men like John Gotti on this earth, we would have a better country."

      Gotti's trial lawyer, Albert J. Krieger, said that Gotti patted Locascio on the shoulder after the sentencing and told him, We have just begun to fight. Mr. Krieger described Gotti's mood as dignified, strong, resolute and confident of winning on appeal.

      Locascio's trial lawyers, Anthony M. Cardinale and John W. Mitchell, also stressed that the convictions would be appealed.

      Gotti will be sent to a maximum security prison, but Federal officials have not said which one.

      At 10 A.M., Gotti and Locascio, surrounded by their lawyers and Federal marshals, left the courtroom.

      Part One

      The Making of a Gangster

      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 20 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 Apalachin Meeting was a historic summit of the American Mafia held at the home of mobster Joseph Joe the Barber Barbara in Apalachin, New York on November 14, 1957. Allegedly, the meeting was held to discuss various topics including loansharking, narcotics trafficking and gambling along with dividing the illegal operations controlled by the late Albert Anastasia. An estimated 100 Mafiosi members from the United States, Canada and Italy are thought to have been at this meeting.

      Local and state law enforcement became suspicious when a large number of expensive cars bearing license plates from around the country arrived in what was described as the sleepy hamlet of Apalachin. After setting up roadblocks, the police raided the meeting causing many of the participants to flee into the woods and area surrounding the Barbara estate. More than 60 underworld bosses were detained and indicted following the raid. One of the most direct and significant outcomes of the Apalachin Meeting was that it helped to confirm the existence of the American Mafia to the public, a fact that some, including Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover, had long refused to acknowledge publicly.

      The top guns of organized crime were holding a summit at the country home of gangster Joseph Barbara near Binghamton on Nov. 14, 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 / Profacci 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.

      ––––––––

      http://www.gangsonny.com/wp-content/gallery/galo-sina/crazy-joe-gallo.jpg

      Crazy Joe Gallo

      http://www.lamafia.co.il/image/users/198468/ftp/my_files/Joseph_Colombo1.jpg?id=10627936

      Joseph Colombo

      http://i.cdn.turner.com/trutv/trutv.com/graphics/photos/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/gotti/1a.jpg

      John Gotti

      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.

      At the end of his first decade in prison, the 61-year-old Gotti died on June 10, 2002 from complications of head and neck cancer.  It seems almost ironic, as if Gotti were having the last laugh at the federal government by cheating them – having spent only 10 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.

      Gotti’s Early Life

      John Joseph Gotti, Jr. was born on October 27, 1940. In New York City.  He was the fifth child of John J. Gotti, Sr. and his wife, Fannie, who were both Italian immigrants.  John was the fifth of 13 children in a family whose only income came from their father’s unpredictable work as a day laborer. Due to poor medical care some 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

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