How the Gambinos Lost a Fortune in Florida

John Gotti 2.0

John "Junior" Gotti did have something in common with his father after all.  It took us a while to find it -- but it's there, and to our surprise, nobody has commented on it before.

The list of what he didn't have in common is quite long. Junior didn't position himself to be a modern-day capo de tutti capi. He didn't take out a boss and take over a crime family. He didn't kill guys for refusing to come when he called (and no other reason). In fact, he didn't come close to meeting his father's body count, and as we noted previously, he implemented a ban on killing that lasted for a pretty good time (though he didn't reach that decision to ban murder alone, as we also previously noted).

John Junior wasn't as popular within his family (or has hated without); he didn't dress like a million bucks and didn't have his father's innate charm and natural ease among anyone, whether a female newscaster at the courthouse door or some punk whose head he was ready to sever.


Junior did order the beating of a high-profile newscaster but the two incompetents brought a gun with them that day and actually shot the guy in broad daylight.

The fact that they lived to flip on Junior is testament to his lack of blood lust.

We also heard a story about a court hearing related to the Scores stripclub case. Apparently, Greg DePalma, sitting at the hearing with the rest of the cast (albeit in a wheelchair, with oxygen mask) was muttering things, only his volume was too high.

One of the indicted sitting near Greg heard the man cursing the prosecutor (most of the courtroom heard Greg, actually). At one point this guy next to DePalma turned to Junior (who was seated on his other said) and said: "We gotta do something about him."

To which Junior allegedly replied: "Whaddya want me to do? Kill the guy?" Only Junior's volume was up too high also. (In all fairness, this was before he got out on bail so he was probably feeling downright surly. How'd you like getting three hots and a cot in Valhalla?)

The full story of what transpired during that hearing would make a great book alone, which is why we say again, we hope someone tells the Scores story, preferably on the big screen. Hollywood, this is a dynamite property -- contact us and we'll put you in touch with the guy who we believe has the inside track.

[By the way, apparently Peter Gotti was made official boss at some point...which means the Gambinos are stuck with him until he dies.]

Speaking of tracks, we're getting off ours. We were talking about a skill Junior had in common with Gotti Senior.

Now, before we can go into that, we have to give you bit of background that involves Mickey Rourke, The Westies (or at least a film that was supposed to be made about them), Jackie Nose and Joe Watts, Michael "Mikie Scars" DiLeonardo, who told us this story we're about to convey, The Binger, a small dilapidated beachfront property and finally John "Junior" Gotti himself..

[FADE OUT: Screen grows blurry as we enter a flashback]

This is how the Gambino crime family under John Gotti Senior cultivated ties to Mickey Rourke (who played an instrumental role in helping the family lose that fortune, as we will relate). Yes, we mean Mickey Rourke the Hollywood actor, who self-destructed and looks like a freak due to about a dozen too many stints under the plastic surgeon's scalpel.)

Mickey Rourke, the Hollywood god we
all know and loved.....

In the 1980s, he was a good-looking man, a top-tier Hollywood actor who made millions starring in big-budgeted Hollywood films.


To be continued.....