What Made Sammy Flip: Recalling Why Gravano Turned On John Gotti
"( The Five Families) are pretty smart now , they went away from violence. In my time, in the heydays, in the '70s and '80s, there was bodies all over the place... By not killing, they don't have the pressure," said Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano, former Gambino underboss in the recently posted interview, below. Sammy Gravano, left, John Gotti. Does the mob work without violence , without the leverage to impose fear? "There can be fear in a whole bunch of ways. Say you're a friend of ours, and you're not going to abide by the rules. You're not too worried because I can't kill you. But I can chase you. I can go to all five families and tell them, he's no longer a friend of ours, don't treat him like that, and you're thrown out. That's a big hit. You lose your power. Nobody respects you, they won't sit with you, nobody recognizes you. In certain cases, it might even be better to be dead. It's a good p...