John Gotti

John Gotti (October 27, 1940–June 10, 2002) (also known as The Dapper Don and The Teflon Don) was the boss of the Gambino family, New York's largest mafia family, and one of the most feared.

Gotti started as a mob assassin and worked his way up to becoming captain of one of the most powerful groups in the Gambino family. His group, however, was caught selling drugs, against the rules of the family, and was about to be disbanded. To prevent this, Gotti and others organized the shooting the Gambino family boss, Paul Castellano, on December 16, 1985. Castellano was shot six times outside Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan and Gotti took control of the family. Following his ascension to the position of Gambino family godfather, Gotti became known as "The Dapper Don", appearing in public in expensive hand-tailored suits and reveling in media attention. Gotti was extremely popular in his Queens neighborhood, where he organized free lavish street parties and festivals, and had a reputation for keeping street crime out. The annual Fourth of July party he hosted in Howard Beach, which featured an elaborate fireworks display, was a major media event.

Gotti was arrested several times throughout his career, and although he served time in both state and federal prison (including a manslaughter conviction in connection with the shooting death of a low-level Irish-American gangster in a tavern on Staten Island in 1973), in the 1980s he was referred to by the media as the "Teflon Don" as he avoided conviction on racketeering and assault charges. Gotti bribed or threatened jurors in several trials. He also made use of police informants to keep a step ahead of investigators.

Gotti became something of a celebrity, and would frequently shake hands and pose for pictures with tourists outside the Ravenite Social Club in Manhattan where he conducted business.

Gotti was long under intense surveillance by the FBI. His club, phones, and other places of business were all bugged. To get around this, he held meetings while walking down the street and played loud tapes of white noise. Eventually the FBI caught him on tape in an apartment above the club discussing a number of murders and other criminal activities. The FBI also caught Gotti denigrating his underboss Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano. Angered and feeling he would be made a scapegoat, Gravano agreed to testify against Gotti. Despite having confessed to participating in 19 murders, Gravano was given only a five year sentence and then entered the Witness Protection Program.

Gotti and several associates were arrested in 1990. Gotti was convicted by a jury in the United States District Court in New York on April 2, 1992 for 14 counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, loansharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, and tax evasion and was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. It was assumed that Gotti would serve his sentence at the new federal "supermax" facility at Florence, Colorado, but instead he was sent to the older federal penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, where he was kept in a solitary-confinement cell 23 hours a day.

Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002 at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, to which he had been transferred once the cancer was diagnosed.