John Gotti

Lore & Background

John Gotti was born on October 27, 1940, in the Bronx, the fifth of thirteen children (two died at birth). His parents, both New York natives, had grandparents presumed to be from San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Italy. The family settled in East New York, Brooklyn, where Gotti grew up in poverty; his father worked irregularly as a day laborer, and Gotti later resented him for failing to support the family. He dropped out of Franklin K. Lane High School at 16 after a history of truancy and bullying. From age 12, he ran with street gangs tied to mafiosi; at 14, a cement mixer fell on his foot while he was stealing it, leaving a permanent limp. He met his wife, Victoria DiGiorgio, in 1958, and they married in 1962, having five children. Gotti attempted legitimate work as a coat presser and truck driver in 1962 but was jailed twice by 1966. He became an associate of the Gambino family, hijacking trucks at Idlewild Airport with his brother Gene and friend Angelo Ruggiero, earning the nicknames "Black John" and "Crazy Horse." After serving three years for a hijacking, he returned to the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club in Queens under capo Carmine Fatico. Gotti rose quickly as a protégé of underboss Aniello Dellacroce, operating from Ozone Park. When FBI indictments targeted his crew for narcotics, Gotti feared boss Paul Castellano would kill him and his brother Gene for drug dealing. Amid growing family dissent, he orchestrated Castellano’s murder in December 1985 and took over as boss. At his peak, Gotti was one of the most powerful and dangerous crime bosses in the U.S., earning between $5 million and $20 million annually. He became known as "the Dapper Don" for his expensive clothes and media-friendly personality, and later "the Teflon Don" after three acquittals tainted by jury tampering and witness intimidation. His underboss, Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, turned state’s evidence after hearing Gotti disparage him on a wiretap. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of five murders, racketeering, and other crimes, receiving life without parole. He died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002, at a federal prison medical center in Springfield, Missouri.

Reader's Guide

John Gotti's significance lies in his rise to lead the most powerful crime syndicate in the United States and his unprecedented public notoriety. Unlike previous mob bosses who avoided media attention, Gotti courted it, earning the nicknames 'the Dapper Don' and 'the Teflon Don' after three acquittals in the 1980s. However, those trials were later revealed to be tainted by jury tampering, juror misconduct, and witness intimidation. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of five murders, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, illegal gambling, extortion, and loansharking, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. According to Lucchese crime family underboss Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso, 'what John Gotti did was the beginning of the end of Cosa Nostra.'

Did You Know?

• John Gotti orchestrated the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter.
• Gotti earned the nickname 'the Teflon Don' after three high-profile trials in the 1980s resulted in acquittals tainted by jury tampering, juror misconduct, and witness intimidation.
• In 1992, Gotti was convicted of five murders, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, illegal gambling, extortion, and loansharking.
• According to Lucchese crime family underboss Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso, 'what John Gotti did was the beginning of the end of Cosa Nostra.'