Gene Gotti
Encyclopedia
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
who was a major drug trafficker.
Background
Born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: deceased Gambino boss John GottiJohn Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, Peter Gotti
Peter Gotti
Peter Gotti, also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" , is a New York mobster who is the former boss of the Gambino crime family and the older brother of deceased Gambino boss John Gotti.-Background:...
, capo Richard V. Gotti
Richard V. Gotti
Richard V. Gotti is a capo in the Gambino crime family.Richard was born in 1942 to John Gotti, Sr. and his wife Fannie. Richard's brothers included deceased Gambino boss John Gotti, capo Gene Gotti, current boss Peter, and Vincent Gotti. Richard has a son, Richard G. Gotti, who also belongs to...
, and soldier Vincent Gotti. Gene has a wife Rosalie and three children and 8 grandchildren; his family home is in Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population in the village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census...
.
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
Federal prison
Federal prisons are run by national governments in countries where subdivisions of the country also operate prisons.In the United States federal prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In Canada the Correctional Service of Canada operates federal prisons. Prison sentences in these...
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.
Family rise
Gene became a made manMade man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
in 1976, working with his brother John in his South Ozone Park crew. Gene and his friend Angelo Ruggiero
Angelo Ruggiero
Angelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr. pronounced was a caporegime of the Gambino crime family and close friend of John Gotti.-Mob family roots:...
were dealing heroin against boss Paul Castellano
Paul Castellano
Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
'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
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
while John would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in one weekend betting football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, and college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
. 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."
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 tamperingJury tampering
Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial.The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensure they will not be selected for duty. Once selected,...
and the second was a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
. Two jurors were dismissed from the third trial, including an alternate who said he received a threatening visit from two men. On July 8, 1989, Gene was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison
Federal prison
Federal prisons are run by national governments in countries where subdivisions of the country also operate prisons.In the United States federal prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In Canada the Correctional Service of Canada operates federal prisons. Prison sentences in these...
. After his sentencing, the Gambino family demoted Gene from capo to soldier because he was in prison.
As of September 2010, Gene Gotti is imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Pollock, Louisiana
Pollock, Louisiana
Pollock is a town in Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 376 at the 2000 census. Pollock and southern Grant Parish have been booming in recent years with residential and business growth...
, where he has been since 1989. Gene's projected release date is September 14, 2017, when he would be 71 years old.
In popular culture
Gene Gotti is portrayed by actor Scott Cohen in the 1996 HBO television movie Gotti.Additional reading
- Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti by Gene Mustain & Jerry CapeciJerry CapeciGerald "Jerry" Capeci is an American journalist and author who specializes in coverage of the Five Mafia crime families of New York City. Capeci has been described by news organizations, such as CNN and BBC, as an expert on the American Mafia.-Gang Land:Capeci writes a column called Gang Land...
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