Onetime "Shooter and Gentleman" Gene Gotti Embittered by Prison
"In this life, there’s a lotta hypocrisy that you just learn to live with—like there’s a rule against dealing drugs, and Gene Gotti [another Gotti brother], is doin’ a long bit for that; you’re not supposed to go with other goodfellas’ wives—happens all the time; you’re not allowed to kill a big boss without the other families’ permission—John Gotti and Sammy whacked Nasabeak [Beak-nose Paul Castellano] and almost started a war." --Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo
"Ah, Christ on the fucking cross. Right now I'd give my fucking life just to have fucking Buffalo win one."--John Gotti
A Brooklyn-based Bonanno crime family associate who served time with Gene Gotti took issue with the headline to this story today and contacted us accordingly.
He strongly disagrees with our use of the word "Gentleman."
"You're losing your touch. Don't get it twisted: I would never bow down to Gene Gotti. Gene was a blabbermouth that talked about every wiseguy he ever knew. Don't give him the benefit of the doubt: He truly was a punk."
He is one of several we've spoken with about Gene Gotti.
An ex-Gambino associate, an Italian who was formerly a member of the "Cowboy crew," which kidnapped drug dealers for ransom and murdered some of them, expressed a similar point of view.
He was born into the life. "When I was 16 years old I carried a .357 Magnum and worked as a bouncer at a mob nightclub.
"I'm 53 now. I just completed a sentence in another racketeering extortion case."
Our source has served some serious prison time, at places like McKean and Allenwood penitentiaries, in Pennsylvania.
"I was around all these guys," he said. "I walked the track with Gene Gotti every day."
When Gene beat two trials related to his drug business (before he was finally convicted following the third trial) the New York Times ran a story in 1988 that described Gene as having boss potential. (Though saying he could have pulled off the coup his brother did is a stretch; John Gotti was the consummate mob politico.)
"Gene Gotti, a younger brother of John Gotti, is carving a niche for himself as an imposing figure in the Gambino organized-crime family, law-enforcement officials say."
The Times also highlighted the problems John's excessive gambling habit was causing.
"In June 1981, Gene Gotti and a close friend, Angelo Ruggiero, complained to each other that John Gotti had lost $60,000 one night in an illegal dice game in the Little Italy area of Manhattan. The Gambino family, according to Queens detectives, was running the game, and Gene Gotti was upset that his brother's gambling loses would cost him a percentage of the profits."
The book Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti highlights one conversation that could have taken place that very night, or halfway through it.
Angelo Ruggiero was recorded speaking to Gene Gotti:
"We gotta see how we can close this fucking joint in New York."
"What happened now?"
Unfortunately the third trial was the charm: On May 24, 1989, he was convicted of running a multi-million dollar heroin smuggling ring. Two jurors were dismissed from the third trial, including an alternate. A few months later, he was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. After his sentencing, the Gambino family demoted Gene from capo to soldier (due to his confinement in prison). His projected release date is September 14, 2018, when he will be 72 years old.
Ironically, Gene Gotti was given an opportunity to accept a plea deal that would've permitted a prison sentence of around 10 to 15 years; meaning he would've been free to celebrate the Millennium. However, John Gotti "adhering to the mob dictum that forbids admitting guilt urged them to go to trial. Gotti, then the newly coronated king of the Gambino family, then tried to fix the jury, according to prosecutors. But things did not go according to plan...."
Gene could be viewed as the key to power for John Gotti. The 1985 assassination of Paul "Big Paul" Castellano was ostensibly over Gotti's decision not to provide Castellano with transcripts related to Gene's drug trial, which involved others.
The South Ozone Park Crew included additional members and even an "unofficial" member: drug kingpin Sal Ruggiero, Angelo's brother. Sal's multi-million-dollar drug operation purred smoothly until it didn't. He lammed it in the late 1970s, facing an indictment. On May 6, 1982, a plane he was on crashed. Two days later, his remains where found.
Ruggiero's death had a profound impact on the Gambino crew -- it also indirectly impacted the entire American Mafia.
Kenji Gallo, who writes Breakshot Blog, provides interesting perspective in a story he posted on Sept. 14, 2014 in which he noted:
The new Gambino family is run by the Sicilian faction, but maybe Gene will fit in with them. Gene has maintained a steady stream of visitors who speak to him on many family topics including his brothers and nephews. Many of these men were heroin dealers like Gene, and some continue to push their poison to the masses. Gene Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia and Sal Ruggiero ran a multimillion dollar heroin empire and it was running smooth until Sal was indicted and had to go on the run.
Even after he went away, GangLand News reported in December 2002 that Gene Gotti was still playing a major role in the crime family’s rackets, basing this on court documents related to a trial involving then-boss Peter Gotti.
Ronald Turchi was the ranking Philly member in Allenwood at the time. The younger guys stayed close to him. (Turchi also was slain -- in a brutal 1999 gangland hit. His naked body was found in the trunk of his wife's car in South Philadelphia. He had been shot twice in the back of the head. His hands and feet were tied with white rope.)
The Philly gangsters wanted our source, who wouldn't join in the prison battles, murdered and moved to put a contract on him, which Alite nixed.
The Philly guys also were abusing some older Luchese gangsters, men in their seventies, the source said.
The Luchese members had started to lord it over the Philadelphia gangsters, who finally got tired of it. Johnny "Gongs" was among the first to stand up to the older Luchese gangsters.
"They're old, they're doing 30-year sentences and they were getting abused by these kids from Philadelphia."
Back at McKean, Alite also stuck up for Joe Gambino "because Gene was abusing him," our Gambino source said. "You don’t run in that life and not know every move on the compound. I saw a lot of it. Gene was abusing his own fucking guys – the Gambino brothers. He wants everyone to kiss his ass because of his last name.
"Backstabbing treacherous fucking people... The loyalty don’t run deep with them."
The list of guys at McKean badmouthed by Gene Gotti included George Conti and George Zappola, formerly Luchese capos, and Michael "Baldy Mike" Spinelli "who got straightened out in prison and was there also. Gene was talking bad about him.too because he was working in Unicor where he was making about 35 cents an hour," said our Bonanno source.
It reached the point where Gene was eventually confronted at McKean and abused by many of the guys he'd badmouthed -- most of whom were members of the Luchese family (which had worked with the Genovese clan to take out John Gotti Senior in the late 1980s, recall.)
The Luchese members at McKean first reached out to a heavyweight capo in their crime family to tell him what was happening with Gene.
He told them: "Don't worry about the Gottis. They are no one to worry about."
"Ah, Christ on the fucking cross. Right now I'd give my fucking life just to have fucking Buffalo win one."--John Gotti
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| courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
A Brooklyn-based Bonanno crime family associate who served time with Gene Gotti took issue with the headline to this story today and contacted us accordingly.
He strongly disagrees with our use of the word "Gentleman."
"You're losing your touch. Don't get it twisted: I would never bow down to Gene Gotti. Gene was a blabbermouth that talked about every wiseguy he ever knew. Don't give him the benefit of the doubt: He truly was a punk."
He is one of several we've spoken with about Gene Gotti.
An ex-Gambino associate, an Italian who was formerly a member of the "Cowboy crew," which kidnapped drug dealers for ransom and murdered some of them, expressed a similar point of view.
He was born into the life. "When I was 16 years old I carried a .357 Magnum and worked as a bouncer at a mob nightclub.
"I'm 53 now. I just completed a sentence in another racketeering extortion case."
Our source has served some serious prison time, at places like McKean and Allenwood penitentiaries, in Pennsylvania.
"I was around all these guys," he said. "I walked the track with Gene Gotti every day."
------
Gene became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1976, working with brother John who ran the South Ozone Park crew. By the early 1980s, Gene operated a huge illegal drug operation along with Gambino mobsters John Carneglia and Angelo Ruggiero. John Gotti invested cash into the operation but was forever distancing himself from it.
Gene was involved in several mob hits -- and was given one of the highest compliments one gangster can give another. While on the street, Gene was a "shooter and a gentleman."
Gene killed for the crime family. On a recorded conversation he can be heard describing himself as a "workhorse" while he considered his brother John a big shot.
(Interestingly, while John Gotti was convicted for ordering the deaths of others -- there's no documented reference to John Gotti ever personally killing anyone that we can think of.)
Gene also was a successful gambler; unlike his brother who was widely known for being a degenerate gambler who never won. John Gotti gambled away hundreds of thousands of dollars in one weekend -- betting on anything from football to the horses to basketball to two cockroaches running up the wall (depending on who you ask).
Gene was involved in several mob hits -- and was given one of the highest compliments one gangster can give another. While on the street, Gene was a "shooter and a gentleman."
Gene killed for the crime family. On a recorded conversation he can be heard describing himself as a "workhorse" while he considered his brother John a big shot.
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| Gene Gotii |
(Interestingly, while John Gotti was convicted for ordering the deaths of others -- there's no documented reference to John Gotti ever personally killing anyone that we can think of.)
When Gene beat two trials related to his drug business (before he was finally convicted following the third trial) the New York Times ran a story in 1988 that described Gene as having boss potential. (Though saying he could have pulled off the coup his brother did is a stretch; John Gotti was the consummate mob politico.)
"Gene Gotti, a younger brother of John Gotti, is carving a niche for himself as an imposing figure in the Gambino organized-crime family, law-enforcement officials say."
The Times also highlighted the problems John's excessive gambling habit was causing.
"In June 1981, Gene Gotti and a close friend, Angelo Ruggiero, complained to each other that John Gotti had lost $60,000 one night in an illegal dice game in the Little Italy area of Manhattan. The Gambino family, according to Queens detectives, was running the game, and Gene Gotti was upset that his brother's gambling loses would cost him a percentage of the profits."
The book Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti highlights one conversation that could have taken place that very night, or halfway through it.
Angelo Ruggiero was recorded speaking to Gene Gotti:
"We gotta see how we can close this fucking joint in New York."
"What happened now?"
[Referring to John using worst profanity imaginable]: "He lost thirty dollars last night." [Meaning $30,000.]
"We were on top sixty balloons! I left there one-thirty, we were on top for sixty balloons! We didn't need him in the fucking game!" Gene said.
"I'm by the club now."
"We were on top sixty balloons--what, is he kidding somebody or what, this guy? Who the fuck needed him there? So what is he looking to do now? Just take advantage of people or what?"
Still, Gene Gotti stayed in his brother's shadow. In public, he showed deference outside the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club on 98-08 101st Avenue in Ozone Park. When it rained, Gene held the umbrella over his brother's head.
While John Gotti was known for strutting around in custom-tailored $1,000 suits, Gene tended toward simple blue or gray suits, with basic white shirt and tie -- and he dressed that way only when appearing in court.
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| "Quack-Quack Ruggiero" |
"We were on top sixty balloons! I left there one-thirty, we were on top for sixty balloons! We didn't need him in the fucking game!" Gene said.
"I'm by the club now."
"We were on top sixty balloons--what, is he kidding somebody or what, this guy? Who the fuck needed him there? So what is he looking to do now? Just take advantage of people or what?"
Still, Gene Gotti stayed in his brother's shadow. In public, he showed deference outside the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club on 98-08 101st Avenue in Ozone Park. When it rained, Gene held the umbrella over his brother's head.
While John Gotti was known for strutting around in custom-tailored $1,000 suits, Gene tended toward simple blue or gray suits, with basic white shirt and tie -- and he dressed that way only when appearing in court.
 |
Unfortunately the third trial was the charm: On May 24, 1989, he was convicted of running a multi-million dollar heroin smuggling ring. Two jurors were dismissed from the third trial, including an alternate. A few months later, he was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. After his sentencing, the Gambino family demoted Gene from capo to soldier (due to his confinement in prison). His projected release date is September 14, 2018, when he will be 72 years old.
Ironically, Gene Gotti was given an opportunity to accept a plea deal that would've permitted a prison sentence of around 10 to 15 years; meaning he would've been free to celebrate the Millennium. However, John Gotti "adhering to the mob dictum that forbids admitting guilt urged them to go to trial. Gotti, then the newly coronated king of the Gambino family, then tried to fix the jury, according to prosecutors. But things did not go according to plan...."
Gene could be viewed as the key to power for John Gotti. The 1985 assassination of Paul "Big Paul" Castellano was ostensibly over Gotti's decision not to provide Castellano with transcripts related to Gene's drug trial, which involved others.
The South Ozone Park Crew included additional members and even an "unofficial" member: drug kingpin Sal Ruggiero, Angelo's brother. Sal's multi-million-dollar drug operation purred smoothly until it didn't. He lammed it in the late 1970s, facing an indictment. On May 6, 1982, a plane he was on crashed. Two days later, his remains where found.
Ruggiero's death had a profound impact on the Gambino crew -- it also indirectly impacted the entire American Mafia.
Kenji Gallo, who writes Breakshot Blog, provides interesting perspective in a story he posted on Sept. 14, 2014 in which he noted:
The new Gambino family is run by the Sicilian faction, but maybe Gene will fit in with them. Gene has maintained a steady stream of visitors who speak to him on many family topics including his brothers and nephews. Many of these men were heroin dealers like Gene, and some continue to push their poison to the masses. Gene Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia and Sal Ruggiero ran a multimillion dollar heroin empire and it was running smooth until Sal was indicted and had to go on the run.
------
Even after he went away, GangLand News reported in December 2002 that Gene Gotti was still playing a major role in the crime family’s rackets, basing this on court documents related to a trial involving then-boss Peter Gotti.
The report further referenced "an unusual joint loansharking operation" that Gene shared with Colombo capo Joseph Scopo, a "hijacking buddy of Gene and John Gotti back in the early 1970s."
Scopo was killed in 1993, the last victim of the bloody Colombo crime family war.
"Scopo, though in another mob family, had remained close to the Gottis, maintaining a “loanshark book” with Gene until his murder," the article noted.
At the time the article was published the book was said to be "booming."
"Scopo, though in another mob family, had remained close to the Gottis, maintaining a “loanshark book” with Gene until his murder," the article noted.
At the time the article was published the book was said to be "booming."
Joseph's brother Ralph, a Colombo soldier, took over his brother’s share of the loanshark operation, "valued at $500,000... but which sources say today has more than $1 million “on the street” earning from 100 to 200 per cent interest a year." That was in 2002.
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A Luchese crime family member was Gene Gotti's cellmate at McKean. The Luchese member also was close with Louis DiBono, a member of the Gambino crime family murdered in October 1990. Shot three times in the head, his body was found in a car in an underground parking garage at the World Trade Center. John Gotti Senior was convicted of ordering the hit.
"Gene would badmouth everyone," our source said.
Our source walked with Gene every morning -- and once he was off for the rest of his day, Gene warned his cellmate (not knowing his cellmate was friends with our source): "Patty, you better be careful, he was kidnapping guys."
"Patty put him in his place – he told Gene, 'It was one of our kind who gave him the orders.'"
The source noted that John Alite saved his life in Allenwood.
"He [Alite] was there before me. There were a lot of guys from Philly mob there, and guys from different families. But John was the man on the compound.
Our source soon encountered a problem with members of the Philadelphia mob family in Allenwood at the time. He didn't want to get involved in some kind of ongoing dispute between the Philly mob guys and some Muslims. The feud was supposedly caused by a loudmouth Philly mobster who was jumped. Called Joe Mecca, he wasn't on record with the Philly Cosa Nostra family but he hung around Johnny "Gongs" Casasanto.
"Gene would badmouth everyone," our source said.
Our source walked with Gene every morning -- and once he was off for the rest of his day, Gene warned his cellmate (not knowing his cellmate was friends with our source): "Patty, you better be careful, he was kidnapping guys."
"Patty put him in his place – he told Gene, 'It was one of our kind who gave him the orders.'"
The source noted that John Alite saved his life in Allenwood.
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| Michael Spinelli was made via a "bathroom induction ceremony." |
"He [Alite] was there before me. There were a lot of guys from Philly mob there, and guys from different families. But John was the man on the compound.
Our source soon encountered a problem with members of the Philadelphia mob family in Allenwood at the time. He didn't want to get involved in some kind of ongoing dispute between the Philly mob guys and some Muslims. The feud was supposedly caused by a loudmouth Philly mobster who was jumped. Called Joe Mecca, he wasn't on record with the Philly Cosa Nostra family but he hung around Johnny "Gongs" Casasanto.
"I didn’t get involved because I didn’t like the situation," the source explained. "The guys from Phillly weren’t too happy with me."
We noted in Three Unsolved Hits Haunt Mob Boss "Uncle Joe" that Johnny Gongs was killed in 2003, after he was angling to join the Gambino family. He'd met John Junior Gotti in prison and was meeting with Alite following his 2002 release when he was slain, most likely for sleeping with a mobster's wife. Casasanto was viewed as a mob outsider who had sided with John Stanfa in the mid-1990s.
We noted in Three Unsolved Hits Haunt Mob Boss "Uncle Joe" that Johnny Gongs was killed in 2003, after he was angling to join the Gambino family. He'd met John Junior Gotti in prison and was meeting with Alite following his 2002 release when he was slain, most likely for sleeping with a mobster's wife. Casasanto was viewed as a mob outsider who had sided with John Stanfa in the mid-1990s.
Ronald Turchi was the ranking Philly member in Allenwood at the time. The younger guys stayed close to him. (Turchi also was slain -- in a brutal 1999 gangland hit. His naked body was found in the trunk of his wife's car in South Philadelphia. He had been shot twice in the back of the head. His hands and feet were tied with white rope.)
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| Turchi was the ranking guy in Allenwood. |
The Philly gangsters wanted our source, who wouldn't join in the prison battles, murdered and moved to put a contract on him, which Alite nixed.
The Philly guys also were abusing some older Luchese gangsters, men in their seventies, the source said.
The Luchese members had started to lord it over the Philadelphia gangsters, who finally got tired of it. Johnny "Gongs" was among the first to stand up to the older Luchese gangsters.
"They're old, they're doing 30-year sentences and they were getting abused by these kids from Philadelphia."
Back at McKean, Alite also stuck up for Joe Gambino "because Gene was abusing him," our Gambino source said. "You don’t run in that life and not know every move on the compound. I saw a lot of it. Gene was abusing his own fucking guys – the Gambino brothers. He wants everyone to kiss his ass because of his last name.
"Backstabbing treacherous fucking people... The loyalty don’t run deep with them."
The list of guys at McKean badmouthed by Gene Gotti included George Conti and George Zappola, formerly Luchese capos, and Michael "Baldy Mike" Spinelli "who got straightened out in prison and was there also. Gene was talking bad about him.too because he was working in Unicor where he was making about 35 cents an hour," said our Bonanno source.
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| Johnny Gongs. |
It reached the point where Gene was eventually confronted at McKean and abused by many of the guys he'd badmouthed -- most of whom were members of the Luchese family (which had worked with the Genovese clan to take out John Gotti Senior in the late 1980s, recall.)
The Luchese members at McKean first reached out to a heavyweight capo in their crime family to tell him what was happening with Gene.
He told them: "Don't worry about the Gottis. They are no one to worry about."