Gene Gotti
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Eugene Gotti (born 1946) is a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was a major drug trafficker.
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[edit] Background
Born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: deceased Gambino boss John Gotti, Peter Gotti, capo Richard V. Gotti, and soldier Vincent Gotti. Gene has a wife Rosalie and three children and 8 grandchildren; his family home is in Valley Stream, New York.[1]
Around 1966, Gene became an associate with the Gambino family. In 1969, Gene was convicted of theft from an interstate shipment and was sent to federal prison for three months. In 1973, Gene was convicted in state court of illegal possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 18 months in state prison.[1]
[edit] Family rise
Gene became a made man in 1976, working with his brother John in his South Ozone Park crew. Gene and his friend Angelo Ruggiero were dealing heroin against boss Paul Castellano's rules and he was allegedly planning to kill them for it. However, in 1985, John Gotti arranged Castellano's assassination and took over as boss. In either 1985 or 1986, John appointed Gene as the replacement Capo for the South Ozone Park crew. According to testimony by Gambino underboss Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano, Gene was involved in several mob murders. He has never been charged with any of these murders. John was quite jealous of Gene because he was made before John and was more successful in the family than he was at first.
To his brother John's eternal fury, Gene was an amazingly skilled gambler. Gene loved tell John how he triumphed on a nine-to-one odds at the horse track while John would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in one weekend betting football, horse racing, and college basketball. According to an inside joke at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, "John couldn't win a bet on the color of his own underwear."
[edit] Prison
On May 24, 1989, after two mistrials, Gene was convicted of running a multi-million dollar heroin smuggling ring. The first mistrial was for jury tampering and the second was a hung jury. Two jurors were dismissed from the third trial, including an alternate who said he received a threatening visit from two men.[2] On July 8, 1989, Gene was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. After his sentencing, the Gambino family demoted Gene from capo to soldier because he was in prison.[3][4]
As of September 2010, Gene Gotti is imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Pollock, Louisiana, where he has been since 1989. Gene's projected release date is September 14, 2017, when he would be 71 years old.[5]
[edit] In popular culture
Gene Gotti is portrayed by actor Scott Cohen in the 1996 HBO television movie Gotti.
[edit] Additional reading
- Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti by Gene Mustain & Jerry Capeci in 2002, ISBN 0-02-864416-6.
- Gotti: The Rise & Fall by Jerry Capeci in 1996, ISBN 0-451-40681-8.
- Mafia Dynasty: The Rise & Fall of the Gambino Crime Family by John H. Davis in 1994, ISBN 0-06-109184-7.
- Goombata: The Improbable Rise and Fall of John Gotti and His Gang by John Cummings and Ernest Volkman
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Gotti's Brother Called Rising Star in Gambino Mob" By SELWYN RAAB New York Times February 16, 1988
- ^ "Intimidating jurors was the Gotti way, tapes reveal in Junior Gotti trial" BY Alison Gendar and Larry Mcshane New York Daily News October 15th 2009
- ^ Morgan, Thomas (1989-05-24). "Gene Gotti Guilty in Heroin and Racketeering Case". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/24/nyregion/gene-gotti-guilty-in-heroin-and-racketeering-case.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
- ^ Howe, Marvine (1989-07-08). "Gotti's Brother Is Sentenced To 50 Years". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/08/nyregion/gotti-s-brother-is-sentenced-to-50-years.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
- ^ "Inmate Locator: Gene Gotti". Federal Bureau of Prisons. http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Gene&Middle=&LastName=Gotti&Race=U&Sex=M&Age=&x=65&y=16. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
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