John Gotti: Evidence and Testimony That Convicted the Teflon Don

Introduction: The Teflon Don

John Gotti earned the nickname "the Teflon Don" for his remarkable ability to evade long prison sentences despite his mob-related crimes, including implication in the murders of numerous people. He was finally convicted on thirteen counts on April 2, 1992. His story is a fascinating one: he ascended from a lowly street criminal to the head of the Gambino crime family, one of New York's most powerful organized crime organizations. This paper provides some biographical background on Gotti but focuses primarily on the evidence and witness testimony that finally put him away for good.

Gotti was born on October 27, 1940, the fifth of thirteen children born to an Italian immigrant father and mother, according to FBI files. He was a street gang participant by age twelve and was known to be missing toes — reportedly lost when he attempted to steal a cement mixer from a construction site and the machine fell on his foot (FBI files). Gotti continued his petty street crime activities but married in 1962; he and his wife had five children. He was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1963 but failed to report for induction. The FBI searched for him for two years and eventually caught up with him in November 1965, when he appeared before Kings County authorities on a grand larceny charge. He did eventually report to the draft board but was disqualified for military service because of his criminal record. He also worked as a truck driver and as a presser in a coat factory, was arrested in 1965 and 1966 for truck hijackings, served time, and was paroled in 1972.

He was later arrested for murder and served two years for "attempted manslaughter," released in 1977. He subsequently went on trial for racketeering and was acquitted, though the FBI later learned the jury foreman had been bribed. The Teflon Don was implicated in several murders before and during his tenure as boss of the Gambino crime family. His fate was ultimately sealed when his underboss, Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, became the star witness for the prosecution and incriminating recorded evidence was admitted — keeping Gotti imprisoned until his death from throat cancer in June 2002.

Gotti's Criminal Record Leading Up to His Conviction

A timeline of events leading up to Gotti's final conviction reveals a pattern of crimes, narrow escapes, and escalating boldness. He was convicted of murder in 1973 and served two years. He was part of the murder plot against Gambino family boss Paul Castellano, which led directly to Gotti becoming Godfather of the Gambino mob. In 1986 Gotti was charged with racketeering but somehow evaded prosecution, and around that time he became a "media hound," parading around New York City in expensive suits and always ready to be photographed (Ernst, 1993).

Part of the reason Gotti and his associates were arrested in 1990 was that the FBI had bugged Gotti's favored hangout, the Ravenite Social Club. That surveillance would prove to be the turning point in the government's long effort to hold him accountable for his crimes.

The FBI's Wiretap Evidence from the Ravenite Social Club

Before the 1992 trial, journalist Jerry Capeci reported that the FBI had obtained "mountains of evidence" against Gotti, including taped conversations linking him to the 1985 murder of Paul Castellano, according to the New York Daily News (Capeci, 44). Gotti, his lawyer, and his associates therefore knew they were up against dramatic and likely wholly incriminating recordings. The sources who informed the Daily News of the FBI's evidence were not revealed, but it turned out the paper had it right.

After Gotti and attorney Cutler beat the federal racketeering case on March 13, 1987, the FBI's Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn "immediately began another racketeering investigation of Gotti" (Capeci). Once Gotti was acquitted in that 1987 case, Jules Bonavolonta, the FBI's supervisor of the strike force, told reporters: "He knows we haven't brought a case against him, and he also knows that when we do, he's finished" (Capeci). FBI tapes reviewed by the Daily News reportedly captured Gotti telling one of his attorneys (not Cutler) to "shut up or suffer the consequences — such as a trip down an elevator shaft" (Capeci).

Capeci further noted that Gotti and his associates figured out they were being bugged at the Ravenite Social Club and moved "high-level discussions to a hallway behind the Ravenite and an apartment above the club." However, the bugs placed in the hallway and the apartment "picked up virtually every incriminating word by Gotti," by Locascio, and by Sammy Bull Gravano (Capeci).

It seems incredible that someone as street-smart as Gotti would continue his murderous planning discussions so close to the Ravenite. Yet on those hallway tapes, "the three men are heard discussing killings and ways to beat the judicial system in such clear fashion that a relatively liberal judge" branded them as "dangers to the community who are likely to obstruct justice if out on the streets" (Capeci).

Jerry Capeci was a New York Daily News reporter whose book is a follow-up to everything he learned through his investigative work. He was described as "blunt, tough and plain-spoken — the city's most respected mob reporter" (Getlin, 1992). In one of the wiretapped conversations made available to the media, Gotti said of Capeci: "Why don't you punch him in the [expletive] mouth? Make an appointment, I'll punch him in the [expletive] mouth for you, that rat [expletive]" (Getlin, p. 1).

Capeci was known to "rub shoulders with underworld crooks" to get his stories rather than wait for law enforcement press releases (Getlin, p. 1). When attacked by members of the major media for quoting mobsters and printing their side of the story, he responded:

"You have to track these guys down like anyone else. John Gotti may be guilty of terrible crimes…but he has a right to get his point of view in the papers like anyone else, to complain about unfair treatment and to have it printed. As a reporter, you have to be fair to everybody" (Getlin, p. 1).

Capeci was also the first journalist to "present the theory — now accepted by prosecutors as gospel — that Gotti arranged the hit [on Castellano] to head off an embarrassing probe by Castellano of drug dealing among Gotti's associates. It was a matter of kill or be killed" (Getlin, p. 2). A recorded conversation between Gotti and Gravano, discussed below, provides the background to the Castellano murder.

The 1992 Criminal Trial

Prior to testimony, federal prosecutors successfully barred Gotti's longtime lawyer Bruce Cutler from the trial. FBI taped phone conversations showed that "Cutler and two other attorneys had acted as 'house counsels' for the Gambino crime organization," and so he was disqualified (Smith). This was an important pretrial development because Cutler had previously helped Gotti escape legal jams; the prosecution this time used secretly obtained evidence to remove him. According to the Los Angeles Times, Cutler had gotten Gotti acquitted all three times he had defended him before 1992, and the judge saw an unavoidable conflict of interest in allowing Cutler to represent Gotti again (Needham, 1992).

An article in the American Bar Association Journal noted that Cutler was so closely identified with Gotti that he "began to dress, talk, and swagger like his famous client" (Sachs, 1992). When a Vanity Fair reporter asked Cutler whether he would allow his fifteen-year-old son to spend time with Gotti, Cutler replied: "It would be great for the kid. Because the kid would learn principles, values. He'd learn respect, he'd learn how to care about himself and other people" (Sachs, p. 1). Cutler had guts, charm, and moxie — but in the 1992 trial he was removed, another consequence of the phone-tap evidence. Part of the evidence leading to his disqualification was a quote captured on an FBI tape in which Gotti said: "Gambino crime family? This is the Shargel, Cutler and who-do-you-call-it crime family" (Sachs, p. 1).

Because of rumors of jury tampering, the judge insisted that jurors be sequestered. The lawyer who did defend Gotti, Albert J. Kreiger, immediately stated that "his client's only crime was the lack of a formal education" and attacked Gravano as the "rightful object of the prosecution's attention" (Smith).

The secretly recorded phone conversations were central to the prosecution's strategy. "This is not a complex case," prosecutor Maloney told the jury. "These defendants will tell you in their own words what it's about." With that, the prosecution played "hours of secretly taped conversations in which Gotti spoke of murders and other crimes" (Smith). It would be hard to imagine more dramatic evidence than tape-recorded conversations of the defendants themselves. In one tape, Gotti is heard telling Locascio, "Anytime you got a partner who don't agree with us, we kill him" (Smith).

Gravano's testimony against his former partners included his admission of "19 murders, including 10 authorized by Gotti." He testified that he and Gotti sat in a car within sight of where Gotti's henchmen murdered Castellano and Bilotti, and that after the shootings, Gotti and Gravano drove by the "bloody scene" just to confirm that the Godfather and his right-hand man were dead — and they were (Smith).

As if the murder and racketeering charges were not enough, the prosecution also showed evidence that Gotti had "bribed a police detective for information and had failed to file income tax returns for six years" during which Gotti claimed to work as a plumbing company salesman (Smith). The sole defense witness on the tax matter was a tax lawyer who testified that he had apparently advised Gotti to invoke a "legitimate privilege of silence" regarding his tax returns because Gotti was under indictment at the time (Smith). Gotti did not help his cause by bickering with the judge, who threatened to have him removed from the courtroom.

After the verdict of guilty on all counts — for both Gotti and Locascio — supporters outside the Brooklyn courtroom created scenes of disorder, with some protesters overturning cars. Seven were arrested for conducting a riot (Smith).

Prosecutor Gleeson explained to the jury that there were two ways to secure convictions against mafia members: "One, catch them talking about their crimes. Figure out a way to find those secret meetings and record them." Then, he continued, "Get one of them to come in and tell you about the crimes. We did both" (Smith).