How The Feds Got Gotti. Gotti: Godfather & Son IV: Sins of the Father, New York magazine front cover
I believe that the last visit that John [junior] had he knew that that was the last time he was going to see his father alive. ibid. brother
John died a Cosa Nostra man’s man. He did not give in. ibid. Larry Mazza, author
John Gotti junior tonight is facing a new federal indictment. ibid. television news Lynda Baquero 22 July 2004
I came home December 1 2009. ibid.
Brooklyn 1986: A violent explosion rocks a Brooklyn neighbourhood. In the wreckage is the body of gangster Frank DeCicco. DeCicco is the right hand man of the most notorious mob boss in New York – John Gotti. Who would dare cross such a dangerous man? The Mob and the Feds are mystified … Suspicion settles on a wave of younger gangsters recently arrived from the old country … Was the bomb really meant for Gotti himself? And if so, who would dare murder a Mafia boss? Mafia Killers with Colin McLaren s1e1: John Gotti: The Teflon Don, History 2019
Gotti grew up poor and tough; he was always in trouble at school. ibid.
Gotti had been arrested a number of times for minor crimes but at 28 he is caught red-handed stealing a shipment of women’s clothing from the airport cargo area. Gotti gets three years in prison. ibid.
He always needs money to pay his gambling debts. ibid.
Gotti has got to the top. The problem now is how to save him. His love of the limelight makes him an easy target for the law. ibid.
‘Sammy’s philosophy was Betray or be Betrayed.’ Mafia Killers s1e2: Sammy the Bull Gravano, Selwyn Rabb
Gravano left a trail of blood on the streets of New York. ibid.
Sammy stays in the army for two years; unfortunately, it does nothing to improve his behaviour. ibid.
In 1987 Gotti promotes Sammy Gravano to Underboss. ibid.
He accepts Gotti’s orders without question. ibid.
He does less than a year. Gravano then enters the Witness Protection Programme. ibid.
Brooklyn 1961: Mobsters Carmine Persico and Larry Gallo meet in secret to plan a rebellion. Persico and Gallo refuse to pay the stiff kickbacks demanded by their boss Joe Prefaci. Rebelling against a Mafia boss is suicidal. Mafia Killers s1e3: Carmine The Snake Persico
The Snake’s ruthless ambition would then practically destroy one of New York’s most powerful Mafia families. ibid.
He’s been behind bars since 1987 serving a sentence of 139 years. ibid.
Persico and his leadership were indicted on multiple charges of racketeering. ibid.
Brooklyn 1992: This [Patrick Testa] is the latest in a wave of recent killings that remain unsolved: but this murder holds a vital clue that will lead investigators into the murky underworld of the New York Mafia. Mafia Killers s1e4: Anthony Gaspipe Casso
One of the Mob’s most vicious killers: Anthony Gaspipe Casso. ibid.
The drug business is now too risky so he gets out while he can. ibid.
Federal prosecutors serve up indictments to all the top mobsters involved in running the windows racket. ibid.
New York 1957: One of the strangest careers in Mob history. Mafia Killers s1e5: Vicent Gigante The Oddfather
‘He would mumble, look crazy, and look totally unaware of what was going on.’ ibid. Selwyn Rabb
Vincent Gigante was born in 1928 in Manhattan’s lower east side; he grew up in Greenwich Village in an almost exclusively American-Italian community. ibid.
He was mad, bad, but very clever and extremely dangerous. ibid.
He drifts into the crosshairs of the FBI … playing the Crazy Man with the Feds. ibid.
Lombardo retires due to ill health and anoints the Chin as his successor. ibid.
The FBI has arrested minor monster Henry Hill for drug trafficking … Drug dealing is against Mob rules … He refuses to talk so the Feds play him another tape … Henry has to go: Henry is shocked. Mafia Killers s1e6: Henry Hill the Godfather
‘Henry was an associate with the Lucchese family.’ ibid. historian
Henry Hill had a huge thirst for money. He could never be a real Mafioso so he helped others … Henry Hill was never a mobster, never a Goodfella, yet he was behind two of the biggest Mob heists pulled off in America at the time. ibid.
The Mafia had become his new family. ibid.
Henry had now crossed the line – he was an accessory to murder. ibid.
He smuggled the drugs into prison and the scam took off. ibid.
On Memorial Day weekend Henry, Karen and their children enter the witness protection program. ibid.
Henry’s Hill’s testimony leads to fifty convictions. ibid.
Henry keeps blowing his cover … Surprisingly, no-one came after him … He died a simple death of heart failure at the age of 69. ibid.
The Godfather Trilogy: I believe in America. America has made my fortune. The Godfather 1972 starring Marlon Brando & Al Pacino & James Caan & Richard S Castellano & Richard Duvall & Sterling Hayden & John Marley & Richard Conte & Diane Keaton et al, director Francis Ford Coppola, opening scene
Let’s be frank here. You never wanted my friendship. ibid. Don
Some day, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day accept this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day. ibid.
My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. ibid. Pacino
You can act like a man! What’s the matter with you? Is this how you turned out? ibid. Don
A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man. ibid. Don
I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. ibid. Don
There’s more money potentially in narcotics than anything else we’re looking at ... Narcotics is a thing of the future. ibid. Tom
Drugs is a dirty business. ibid. Don
Vito Corleone Feared Murdered. ibid. Daily Mirror front page
Sonny’ll come after you with everything he’s got. ibid. Tom
He’s still alive. They hit him with five shots and he’s still alive. ibid. Sollozzo
I’m with you now. ibid. Michael to father
This is business, not personal. Even the shooting of your father was business, not personal, Sonny. ibid. Tom
I’ll kill them both. ibid. Michael
Police Captain Linked With Drug Rackets. ibid. The Sun front page
The police have been cracking down on most of our operations. ibid. Tom to Don
Michael: Where are all the men?
Sidekick: Dead from vendettas. ibid.
Forget it, Michael. Sicilian women are more dangerous than shotguns. ibid. sidekick
I believe this drug business is going to destroy us in years to come. ibid. Tom
I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse. ibid. Michael
I like to drink wine more than I used to. ibid. Don to Michael
Tell Michael it was only business. I always liked him. ibid. Sal
Don’t ask me about my business, Kate. ibid. Michael
The godfather was born Vito Andolini, in the town of Corleone in Sicily. In 1901 his father was murdered for an insult to the local Mafia chieftain. His older brother Paolo swore revenge and disappeared into the hills, leaving Vito, the only male heir, to stand with his mother at the funeral. The Godfather II 1974 starring Robert De Niro & Al Pacino & Robert Duvall & Diane Keaton & Talia Shire & Morgana King & John Cazale & Marianna Hill & Lee Strasberg et al, director Francis Ford Coppola
They’ve killed your son Paolo! The murderers! ibid. woman at funeral