behalf of a mob boss. On Gotti's sentencing day in federal court, about 1,000 people arrived on chartered buses outside the court; marchers surrounded the building, chanting ''Free John Gotti" and "Freedom for John."
|
As word of the life sentence for Gotti spread from the courtroom down to the lobby and out to the street, the angry crowd charged forward, egged on by members of John Gotti Jr.'s crew shouting into bullhorns. The demonstrators tried to storm the building, fighting an outmanned squad of cops and federal guards. The police department rushed in an additional 100 officers to hold back the protesters, but a number of policemen were injured and required first aid in the lobby. Frustrated, the crowd vented their rage on cars parked outside, turning three completely over. Police arrested a dozen Gotti supporters, including one of Gotti's nephews, 22-year-old Joseph Gotti.
|
Federal officials insisted the entire demonstration had been orchestrated by the Gotti forces. James Fox, director of the FBI's New York office, told the press: "That was an orchestrated and planned event, not spontaneous. It was directed by the crew of John Gotti Jr."
|
While that may be true, the riot left little doubt that some still maintained a near-mythic adulation of John Gotti despite his crimes. According to his lawyers, Gotti still gets as many as 100 letters a week in prison. Many come from crackpots, but others are from strangers wishing him well, some even ask for advice on coping with crises in their own lives. Occasionally, Gotti deigns to respond.
|
 | | Dear Mr. Gotti
,
|
| | I am writing this letter to you to see if you would write a letter of encouragement to my aunt who is terminally ill with cancer. She and I both are great admirers of yours and if anyone knows about courage it's you
.
|
| | I know in my heart a note of best wishes from you would mean so much. God bless you and your family. I pray you'll be reunited with your family in the very near future
.
|
Gotti was touched enough to have a lawyer write the sick woman and pass on his best wishes, advising her to "stay strong."
|
One cynic noted that Gotti did not respond in writing himself. That could be because many fans want nothing better than a personal letter from him, something that might become a valuable collector's item in the future.
|
John Gotti was not the sort to give out freebies.
|
Gravano, Sammy "the Bull" (1945- ): Turncoat underboss for John Gotti
The headline in the
New York Post
blared "KING RAT!"
|
The
Daily News
, the city's other main tabloid was a bit more inventive on its front page: "DON'S NUMBER TWO WILL SING THE HITS."
|
They were talking about Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, John Gotti's underboss in the Gambino crime family. He had decided to "flip," the first time ever that an underboss facing trial with his boss had turned against him. "This defection is unprecedented in the annals of New York organized crime," said Edward McDonald, former head of the eastern district's Organized Crime Strike Force.
|
Prosecutors were confident in November 1991 that they were about to destroy the image of "the Teflon Don," the best-known mobster since Al Capone and one who had beaten all past charges against him and created a persona of invincibility that infuriated law authorities.
|
But this time was different. The prosecution had over 100 hours of taped conversations that doomed Gotti with his own words. The Bullso named for his compact muscular body and thick bovine neckhad actually witnessed the damning situations recorded on tape and could provide personal corroboration the authorities had never had before against Gotti.
|
It could be said that what made Gravano so fascinating to the authorities, the press and the public was his very unwholesomeness. Gravano confessed his guilt to a mere 19 murders.
|
One newspaper splashed its front page with a tombstone labeled "R.I.P." and listing all 19 Gravano murder victims from Joseph Colucci in 1970 to Louie DiBono and Edward Garafalo two decades later.
|
Sammy the Bull (left) and John Gotti, during the best of
times before the worst of times.
|
|
