Exposing the Mafia's "Honorable Men" Myth
By Nick Christophers, from the May issue of Saint Red Magazine.
People look at him and think 'there goes a good looking man with style'. But when they learn about his checkered past, fear sets in. It is a normal reaction and comes with the territory for someone like him. John Alite was John Gotti Jr.'s bodyguard and did what he was told within the world of the mafia. But those days are over as he begins to build a new life.
Coming from an Albanian family the world of crime was not so foreign to him. Albania itself has been pegged as a breeding ground for criminality. Yet not all Albanians follow that lifestyle. John himself attempted to lead a law-abiding life but somehow was side-tracked. He was raised in Jamaica, Queens in the 1970's were it was a strong-hold for the mob.
Eventually he was sucked into that "life" and became close friends to the infamous John Gotti.
The Gotti family lived only a few towns away from Jamacia in Howard Beach. John was soon to been seen all around town with the scion of the Gotti clan. He ran with a small crew that committed all sorts of crimes. From extortion to murder. But John would eventually see the light and remove himself from that life many years later.
His tales have currently been put to the pen when award winning author George Anastasia agreed to work on his biography, "Gotti Rules". While running with the Gotti clan he decided to flee the country to avoid an ensuing indictment. He would travel around the world from Europe to South America finally settling in Brazil.
"I did not care really where I ended up whether it was in Holland or Colombia. I would try to search for the "street people" of that particular city and use them for my purposes."
When it came to which type of country served him the best, he admitted that the Latin countries seemed more fitting for him. John explained that their hospitality and willingness to work with him was a welcome relief. He also spoke Spanish which helped. In addition to that John found they can relate to him being from an improvised country like Albania. They opened their doors to him seeing they had some commonality.
Europeans were less trusting and were slower to befriend him. Hence, the reason why he settled in Brazil. Yet Brazil ended up being the opposite of what he hoped for. It is there that he was captured by the Secret Police and incarcerated in one of the worst prisons in the world, Ary Franco.
John would survive the cruel and inhumane conditions of the Brazilian prison system which was just as corrupt as anywhere else. After returning to the US he would testify in court against the one he once called brother, John Gotti Jr. His decision to became what he dreaded most, a rat, was because while he was locked him his own crew ratted him out. It was a "textbook case of survival".
"I did what I had to do. Not to save my life but to expose the truth of the one's who called themselves "men of honor".
Now John has devoted his experiences to help children deal with bullying that has ran rampant across America. He has decided to take on this task as a keynote speaker to shed light on the misconceptions of being in the mafia and bullying. John is not doing this for redemption but to give back for what he took away. The Gotti's for all intensive purposes were bullies themselves. Using others to do their dirty work whether it was Gotti Sr. or Jr.
John's goal is to expose this myth that the Gotti's were honorable men of the "life" which he does through the book. Even though people do say negative things about him they never say it to his face. He does find it interesting how people become judgmental when there is no ensuing threat. But when he was on the street no one said a word. John, for who he was and who he has become ignores these rants and repeatedly challenges anyone to come forward. Is John a changed man 100 %? Maybe not, but he has turned a new corner by working to help others avoid going down the same unforgiving road he had taken thirty years ago.
Read Gotti's book before accepting Anastasia's stenography. Tito Ortiz was in a N.Y. state prison for murdering Jimmy Burke's son; he was not murdered in a barber's chair. Junior Gotti served five and one half years of a seven year sentence. Throughout that sentence and into the four trials to follow held without bond (another approximately 2 years imprisoned), he was subjected to often brutal conditions in the solitary units of multiple prisons. Moved throughout the penitentiary system, for no apparent reason other than to break him, he did not budge and faced life in prison at four separate trial. The entire government vs. one man and he did not rat - despite the bullshit proffer session you keep posting; that is standard when negotiating a global plea.
ReplyDeleteJr was/is a punk and his old man thought he was Capone. Period.
ReplyDeleteI agree on JR but Sr was a tough guy till the last minute. Period
ReplyDeleteThat's not the point. The validity of most all his testimony was circumstantially and substantively refuted. Jr. was young and arrogant; he matured into that position. And he was no dummy. He is articulate and did hard time. How much time you do?
ReplyDeleteThat is not standard when negotiating a global plea. You either made that up or you have no clue what your talking about. Are you going to pretend his 302's are fake too? lol Alite and Jr. are both punk stoolpigeons.
ReplyDeleteI did time and i know for a FACT you NEVER go to a proffer session just for a global plea. Thats unheard of. You can ask any criminal lawyer that doesn't defend rats and they will tell you the same thing.
ReplyDeleteSeeing some of the pictures of Jr. And Alite's youth they don't look too hard core to me. That's when it starts, at your youth. Senior tried to create junior into a hard core gangster. It don't work that way. Prosperity destroyed the mob. How come Alite was never at the Ravenite social club in NYC? Anybody who was somebody in the Gambino could be found there. Frankie Locs' driver was Albanian and he was there.
ReplyDeleteNonsense, I have friends that have taken global pleas. It was not wise of Jr., strategically, to allow an agent in the negotiation; better to just allow your attorney to negotiate independently with the AUSA. An AUSA has administrative authority to allow a global plea but never, ever would without FBI approval. And, the government forces you allocute to specificity. Read the deals before you open your mouth. Frankly, you're a punk. Calling someone a stool-pigeon on trial for his life four times. Stool-pigeons testify, they don't look down the barrel of multiple life sentences. Jr.'s in Oyster Bay, I believe, say it to his face tough guy.
ReplyDeleteAgain, point being, Alite perjured himself. Additionally, an FBI agent created 302s and 1023s a few nights prior to his testimony - despite Alite being in custody already for over a year. Taking part in a proffer was a bad decision, and he admits as much. If you've done time as stated, you'd know that 302s are complete fabrications. If you read the book and the evidence presented - lawyer notes vs. 302 - you'd know that the Feds were trying to set him up once again to cooperate or be murdered. Take the fucking blinders off. It's one man vs. the entire federal judicial system by himself and two attorneys. Many, and most others, have or would have folded. Show some fucking respect. What did you do, a gambling pinch?
ReplyDeleteI respect the fact that Sr was in the life and truly believed in it, other than blatantly accepting drug money from his own brother and the fact he killed a boss without permission, but to flaunt around like nobody can touch you...come on. Then Jr is all over tv, Victoria and her kids all over tv....they've made a mockery of the life.
ReplyDeleteI concur. But On topic, Alite was proven to be a liar. Consider the ordeal Jr. went through 4 times. All he had to do was flip and he'd have all his cash and still be on the Island. They used the media to destroy him; bullied defense witnesses; opened prison doors to anyone with a lie; created falsified testimony; changed the date of the conspiracy to take his defense away; seized his funds and harassed his family. He sat through and fought 4 potential life sentences . He is no rat. Alite is on record at a grand jury long before Brazil.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that a soldier can have such a high-ranking position
ReplyDeleteFinally some one who knows what he is talking the Feds do what ever they want they print the money they play by there own set of rules. There what I call the legal mafia.
ReplyDeleteGene Gotti was caught saying words to that effect on wiretap (while on phone with Quack Quack of course). Murder Machine was written from the thesis: who the hell could scare Gotti?
ReplyDeleteI'm over this argument but have to say why was Junior shelved if he was so sma
ReplyDeleteWhat does "shelved" in a dead lifestyle have to do with the aforementioned commentaries? How do you know he was shelved? Ed, if he commits one felonious violation, it will be used as a furtherance of a RICO. He will be subject to the same trial with a whole new set of charges and witnesses. Think before you post.
ReplyDeleteUnlike a host of another site whose sources are solely the government, it's refreshing to read accounts from men who lived the life. I also understand you cannot challenge every word they write or you will have no one contributing. But at least read the Gotti book before you accept Alite. Print his story, let him contribute, but please do not continue to write as fact what a corrupt FBI agent and AUSA let him get away with at trial. In fact, Ted Otto permitted Alite use of his private cell phone to threaten his ex-wife. The FBI permitted submission of a 302 into the record instead of having Otto be subject to a re-cross as it was proven as a complete lie.
He was caught on wiretap complaining his uncle busted him down in 2000-something. Offhand that's all I remember.
ReplyDeleteOn the nose, David!!
ReplyDeleteJr. was definitely shelved, his uncle Peter had little choice to shelve him, real truth, if the uncle didn't shelve him, Jr was going get whacked by the Scilian faction, the same faction that now heads the Gambino's. Jr was a loose cannon, and was ordering the Scilians around like they were peasants. Not a healthy move.
ReplyDeletesorry ed i normally agree with your articles but have to disagree here
ReplyDeletejunior gotti was caught on tape asking john sr in prison asking him to leave the life. He is also caught on tape twice talking about how he is leaving the life even scars said that junior was slowly trying to edge out of the life as the years went on. That "tape" george puts in the book and the feds used was appaling the feds cut half of what was said it was ridicoulous even the judge could not believe what the feds were using i mean they have to stop everytime there is a U/I in the tape well in court the feds were stopping every second junior was trying to leave the life
but i think junior had a plan you will all prob disagree with me but with that proffer session i think his plan was to rejoin the life and setup a whity bulger type deal he would give them info and the feds leave him alone he could of aswell he had the connections alot of guys would of welcomed him back and even if he had to be a soldier again he could of offered the feds could info but the feds being the feds i think wanted junior on the stand destroying the gotti name and in the feds minds another vicotory over the deceased dapper don but junior would not do that he would be disowned by his family
Thought it was Corozzos, not Sicilians but I heard everything else, too....
ReplyDeleteHow are they fabrications? Junior admitted he said what he said, he bragged about it! He "gamed the feds"... bright light .... the problem is an early leak to Jerry Capeci, I believe, got some info wrong. I also believe the feds game the system as well to an end. But with junior admitting "I set up Watts and Marino" he confirmed the substance....
ReplyDeleteEd, no, you are right, but this had nothing to do with that, that is a seperate situation. The one Corozzo brother talked the other one out of it, in what you're talking about. Jr. was not well liked, nor respected.
ReplyDeleteHi Ed no matter who.s lying or telling the truth Alite or Jr together or again.st each other both are still playing the publics facination with the Mafia and making money from it and in the end thats the bottom line. And the best part they don.t have to kivk up to anyone Lol Philly
ReplyDeleteRATS ARENT TOUGH! Junior is a known rat and everyone knows it! stop sticking up for him you rat lover!
ReplyDeleteEd, I just read on mafia wiki's Gambino family page that a 2004 NJ crime report said the Gambino family was down to 10 crews. Do you think that's correct? That would be about 100 members on the street wouldn't it? Do we have any recent information on the families' sizes today in 2015? I know what Garcia said about finding new crews the FBI didn't know about so their charts can't be treated as gospel. Any word from your sources in 'the life' ?
ReplyDeleteIf Cefalu is the real boss with no handcuffs and not just a caretaker you can bet on a resurrection of the Gambinos for sure, if it's not happening already. They got a lot of the construction in NYC locked up. I read someone on here saying they are hanging on to what they got. That's B.S. They own the construction along with the Genovese.
ReplyDeleteThanks, pal.
ReplyDeletetrue!
ReplyDeleteEd... Jesus... I thought you would have been off this "Alite Wagon" by now. Don't you get it? This guy doesn't care about the youth of today or bullies to be.. He cares about being out there. Having people talk about him. Letting the world know that he walked side by side with the Gottis. Just like he has done devious shit in the past for money, as is he now trying to the same. Just in a legal matter. If he really cared about the kids of the future he would be doing all of this "great work" with out the public eye.. interviews, books, social media, YOU.. etc. Wasn't this a guy who beat his wife while she was terminally ill with cancer? Who abandoned his children and murdered people, all to be noticed by the Gottis? Give me a break. You don't go from being Lucifer to Jesus over night just because you ratted and want to make it seem ok.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole Jr. thing .. I'm curious. What do/did you guys expect? It's like those spoiled rich kids. Their father does all the work, earns all of the money, and makes the name, the reputation and then hands it to his kids on a silver platter. They didn't have to work for it so they don't appreciate it. He was spoiled, young and out of control. It wasn't his fault. As far as being a rat is concerned, GIVE ME A FUCKIN' BREAK! The guy faced 4 life sentences. He was treated like shit because of who he was. Can you imagine the pressure he was under? He may be John Gottis son but he's still a human being. 90% of people would have considered folding under those circumstances. It may have crossed his mind but he did not follow through. He was the boss at one stage, no? He could have taken out that whole gambino family if he wanted. And no doubt the other families too. But he didn't. This Alite guy gave them EVERYTHING he had and if that wasn't enough he even lied and made some shit up! Normal every day people could see through him when he was on the stand. Why can't you? Give Jr. Credit where it is due and stop wiping alites ass.
Here you have two guys. One who tried to send a person away for life, hung him out to dry and dragged his family's name through the mud even though he (Alie ) was standing with him (his own words) when all of this shit went down. Who did anything he could to get out of prison and tried to justify it by saying that he is "reformed" and wants to make a better future. (Bullshit. He wants money!) And a guy who has beaten the Fed's 4 times. On his own. Without standing trial to try and put someone else away for life. I know who I believe Ed. Maybe you should stop trying to run Jr. into the ground and get his side. At least get the book. Borrow it if you don't want to buy it. Then report. Good luck with everything Ed.
jr. should give ed an interview, tell his side..that is fair.ed reach out to him..get both sides
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand Jr. has declined an interview with Ed. But who can blame him? Ed is constantly running him down. . Calling him a liar and a rat and putting his arch enemy on a pedestal
ReplyDeleteKennedy, he never declined. A family member contacted me to set it up. I began to suspect at a certain point that this was a strategy to stop me from covering the Gottis. I don't know if this was the case or not. I do know that none of you know the full story. John Alite, with whom I've not spoken to for some time, started talking to me much later than everyone thinks. I wrote a certain story that somehow got his attention. I must say the Gotti-Alite feud raised interest in the Mafia (including this blog) and I believe John Alite is 100% sincere in his anti-bullying efforts. I also tell you that I still stand behind every story on this blog. My sources for many of the stories not favorable to Junior Gotti were never based on Alite's information. Alite ALWAYS went on the record. Anything he gave me, you know it.
ReplyDeleteFor instance Alite was never in Valhalla with Junior for the Scores case.
Alite was never a source in my Gene Gotti story.
In the end I'm alone. I don't have partners with regard to this blog.
I may partner on side projects such as ebooks but in the end, I am alone. I am responsible for what is written here.
I wish both Johns well. If either ever wants to contact me, they know how.
Do an interview with Jr. Record it. Tape it. Stop being so biased . Give us his side too. As your readers/followers we deserve that.
ReplyDeleteEd, is the author of this article the same Nick Christophers that wrote for Mob Candy magazine?
ReplyDeleteYou think he might be a caretaker....for who? Cali? Interesting how the reports came about about him stepping down, then they were called false. Maybe the Gambinos are going all Genovese on us.
ReplyDelete