John Joseph Gotti Jr.: An Organized Crime Figure - Research Paper Example

John Joseph Gotti Jr.: An Organized Crime Figure Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, Joseph Colombo and Crazy Joe Gallo are all notorious for being mob figures. Once in the radar, the FBI spend hours keeping track of them and their activities hoping to finally have these famous figures behind bars. It was no different for John Joseph Gotti Jr., supposedly The New Godfather, (Daly 28) until his conviction in 1992. In the neighborhood where he was used to live as a young boy he was called “Johnny Boy”. (May) John Joseph Gotti Jr. was born on October 27, 1940 in New York City. He is the fifth child of Fannie and J. Joseph Gotti, Sr. who were Italian immigrants. His father was a day laborer and the sole breadwinner of the family. After moving a lot, Gotti’s family eventually made a home in East New York, a place known for its gang activity. Gotti was a quick-tempered boy who gained knowledge in life from the streets rather than in school. Living in a neighborhood where petty crimes were a way of life, it was not a far-fetched idea that the adolescent Gotti would try to prove himself by being tough and doing the norm. Eventually, he became the gang leader of the Fulton-Rockaway boys who were notorious for their robberies and car-jackings. (May) As a member of the street gang, Gotti experienced his first arrest for disorderly conduct. (Mustain and Capeci 378) The charges were dismissed but this did not stop Gotti from being further involved in crime. More arrests followed although none really came with serious penalties. At 16, Gotti dropped out of school and joined the gang full-time, becoming their leader and seemingly showing an insight to his future. Gotti’s first job was as an errand boy for an underground club managed by Carmine Fatico, (Mukherjee) the captain of the largest organized crime family in New York. The latter was the capo of the Gambino family and through this interaction with Fatico, Gotti quickly became more absorbed in criminal activities. Gotti was considered a low-level associate in the Fatico group when he was 18. During this period, Fatico started operations at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club in Ozone Park, near the JFK airport. Gotti quickly became part of the Bergin crew, as those who worked in the team were called. Here, together with Aniello Dellacroce’s two nephews, Gotti made his name more familiar in the mob circle as a professional hijacker. He was subsequently arrested for cargo theft at JFK Airport and was sent to jail for four years. During his time in jail, Gotti was said to have been a well-behaved inmate. (Daly 30) When he got out of prison, he just went right back to working for Fatico at the club. Gotti made crime his full-time career from 1957 to 1961. He was arrested many times but did not spend a lot of time in jail. When he married in 1962, Gotti tried to find jobs not related to crime. He worked as a presser and then as a truck driver’s assistant. (May) Unluckily, the life of he had tried to turn his back on proved to be much more appealing and satisfying for Gotti. Pretty soon, he found himself back with the mob family again. When Fatico was indicted, Gotti became acting capo of the Bergin crew. (May) Through his dealings with Fatico, Gotti met Aniello Dellacroce. He considered the elderly man his life-long mentor. Dellacroce was the underboss to mob boss, Carl Gambino of the Gambino organized crime family. Gotti was loyal to Dellacroce and had no problems following orders from his elders. Dellaroce, on the other hand, “seemed to hold Gotti in as much favor as he did nephews Angelo and Sal Ruggiero (Daly 31).” This bond with Dellaroce, however, would eventually trigger events leading to Gotti’s downfall. When Dellaroce was put in prison, Gotti was given responsibility over some operations. He also started reporting directly to Carlo Gambino. One of his assignments was to seek revenge for the death of Carlo’s nephew. The nephew was kidnapped and killed by one James McBratney. In 1973, two men and Gotti pretended to be police officers and tried to arrest McBratney in Snoopy’s bar on Staten Island. (Daly 31) McBratney was killed in the fighting that ensued. The three men were arrested and put in jail for the crime. While in prison, Carlo Gambino died and his cousin, Paul Castelloni was appointed to take over as boss of the Gambino family. Gotti did not like Castelloni and did not approve of the change. He was of the opinion that Dellaroce deserved to take over Gambino because of Dellaroce’s loyalty and years of service. Dellaroce got out of prison and, together with Gotti, continued to work with Castelloni. When Dellaroce was suffering from lung cancer, “Gotti acted as his emissary (Daly 36).” When Dellaroce died and Castelloni did not visit the wake or attend the funeral, Gotti was said to have taken offense. Upon hearing that Castelloni was planning to name his driver Thomas Bilotti as underboss, people assumed Gotti took this as the last straw and was responsible for Castelloni’s assassination. Gotti and his wife Victoria married in 1962. Even though they had their marital spats, the two stayed together and in the end got along by following their own hobbies. Gotti and Victoria had three boys, Frank, John III and Peter, and two girls, Angela and Victoria. John Gotti was a strict father (Daly 31) and sent his children to good schools so they could have a better life than he did. His children say he was a funny guy. (John) According to his wife, John was a good provider. Tragedy struck the Gottis when Frank, age 12, died after getting hit by a neighbor’s car. According to his daughter Victoria, her father believed it was an accident. (John) Gotti’s son was riding his bicycle when their neighbor, John Favara, while supposedly driving callously and struck the boy. A few days after Frank’s death, John Favara was abducted while getting into his car and was never heard of again. Investigators believed Gotti planned the hit on Favara to take revenge for his son’s death. His children remain it was probably someone else wanting to get on Gotti’s good side. During the time that Gotti headed the Bergin crew, the FBI was able to obtain informants from the Gambino family. One of these was Willie Boy Johnson who testified against John Gotti. Willie Boy Johnson was one of Gotti’s trusted henchmen. Gotti refused to believe that Johnson was an FBI informant. Even when Dellaroce shared that there was a mole in the organization, Gotti continued his work for the Gambino family. Although he used to deny being the informant when confronted, Willie Boy reported continually to the FBI. One of the rules that Carlo Gambino, Dellaroce and Castelloni implemented was for their people to avoid dealing with drugs. The FBI watched Gotti’s group in Ozone Park closely for drug activities. This brought a lot of problems for Castilloni and his impression of Gotti and his men. Willie Boy maintained to the FBI however that Gotti kept reminding everyone drug transactions were not allowed in the family. The relationship between Gotti and Castelloni did not improve and on December 16, 1985, Castelloni and his underboss and driver Billoti were assassinated in front of Spark’s Steak House in New York. (Daly 37) Supposedly, one of the capos convinced Castelloni to meet with Dellaroce’s son to make peace and explain why he was a no-show at the former underboss’ wake and funeral. Castelloni agreed not knowing there was a plot to kill him in place. Gotti took over his place for the Gambino family. (Mukherjee) Aside from being the Gambino boss, John Gotti also had another nickname, Teflon Don. This was a result of charges against him being dropped more than once. His run-in with refrigerator repairman Romual Piecyk earned him a court hearing for assault and robbery. This action would not prosper though as Piecyk, after hearing about the Castellani shooting, decided to withdraw his statement incriminating Gotti. When the government again filed assault and conspiracy charges against him and several others, Gotti was able to escape conviction once more. (May) Nevertheless, his days as a mob boss came to an end when co-Gambino member Sammy Gravano testified against Gotti for racketeering and murder. Backed up with surveillance tapes videos and testimonies of witnesses, the prosecution was able to build a solid case against Gotti that caused his downfall. He was denied bail and ordered to surrender himself. After his arrest, the government turned their eyes on his son, John Gotti III. John Gotti became a common name for the FBI and the media. He was called the Dapper Don because of his liking for “expensive suites, silk ties and cashmere topcoats (Goldman).” Like fictional mob bosses, John Gotti would appear in court with his head brushed up and “$1,800 suit (Goldman).” Long time friend Jerry Capeci was reported to have shared that when Gotti was in Ozone Park, he used to visit his barber everyday so his hair would be in place and brought another suit for the afternoon session of his court hearings. (Goldman). In the end, though, no remnant of the overconfident mob boss could be seen from the image of the Gotti who died in prison for throat cancer. References: Daly, Michael. “The New Godfather.” New York Magazine. 23 June 1986: 28-39. Print. Goldman, Russel. “Last days of the Dapper Don.” abcnews.go.com. 26 February 2008. Web. 30 September 2011. May, Allan. “John Gotti: The Last Mafia Icon.” trutv.com. n.d. Web. 1 October 2011. Mukherjee, Bidisha. “Biography of John Gotti.” Buzzle.com. n.n. Web. 1 October 2011. Mustain, Gene and Capeci, Jerry. “Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti”. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. Print. “John Gotti: Their Father, The Godfather.” cbsnews.com. n.d. Web. 30 September 2011. Read More