Peter Gotti
Encyclopedia
Peter Gotti, also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" (born November 15, 1939), 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
.
, capo Gene Gotti
, capo Richard V. Gotti
, and soldier Vincent Gotti. Peter is the father of Peter Gotti Jr.. Peter Gotti has a wife Catherine; they live in Howard Beach, Queens
. Peter's nickname "One Eye" derives from blindness from glaucoma
in one eye.
Around 1960, at age 21, Peter Gotti started working as an associate for the Gambino family. In 1988, at age 49, the family inducted Peter Gotti as a full member, or made man
. John Gotti did not believe his brother Peter had the ability to belong to Cosa Nostra, which may have led to Peter's reputation as "the Dumbest Don." John Gotti designated Peter as caretaker of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club
, and as a driver for John and Gene. In 1989, Peter was promoted to capo.
Like his father, Peter Gotti had a legitimate job as a sanitation worker for the New York City Department of Sanitation
. Peter eventually retired from the Sanitation Department with a disability pension after injuring his head against the back end of a garbage truck. This accident generated many jokes at the Bergin about how the accident occurred to the one part of Peter's anatomy certain to sustain no lasting damage.
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
, a former rival of John Gotti and John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico
, a longtime Gotti associate. The three mobsters formed a "Committee" which ran the day-to-day operations of the Family. Sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, with official boss John Gotti dying in prison, Peter became the new sitting or official boss.
In 2003, Peter Gotti was convicted of extortion and money laundering activities centered on the Brooklyn
and Staten Island
waterfronts, and for the attempted extortion of film actor Steven Seagal
. Judge Frederic Block
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
also sentenced Gotti to 9 years and 4 months in prison on April 15, 2004 for the money laundering and racketeering charges. Peter received over 20 years in prison. On December 22, 2004, Peter was convicted of extortion in the construction industry and for plotting to murder government informant and former Gambino underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano
. Judge Richard C. Casey
on July 27, 2005 sentenced Gotti to 25 years in prison regarding those charges.
Peter Gotti is imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Terre Haute, Indiana
. His projected release date, if he survives, is May 5, 2032. During his last trial, lawyers stated that Peter Gotti was blind in one eye and suffered from thyroid
goiter, sciatica
, emphysema
, rheumatoid arthritis
, postconcussion syndrome, and depression
.
In July 2011 Gangland writer Jerry Capeci
reported that Domenico Cefalu
had formally replaced Gotti as official Gambino boss.
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...
and the older brother of deceased Gambino boss
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
John Gotti
John 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...
.
Background
Peter Gotti was born to John and Fannie Gotti. Peter's brothers included 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...
, capo Gene Gotti
Gene Gotti
Eugene Gotti is a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was a major drug trafficker.-Background:Born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: deceased Gambino boss John Gotti, Peter Gotti, capo Richard V. Gotti, and soldier Vincent Gotti...
, 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. Peter is the father of Peter Gotti Jr.. Peter Gotti has a wife Catherine; they live in Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach is a suburban neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered in the north by the Belt Parkway and South Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, the east by 102nd-104th streets, and the west by 78th...
. Peter's nickname "One Eye" derives from blindness from glaucoma
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often, but not always, associated with increased pressure of the fluid in the eye...
in one eye.
Around 1960, at age 21, Peter Gotti started working as an associate for the Gambino family. In 1988, at age 49, the family inducted Peter Gotti as a full member, or made man
Made 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...
. John Gotti did not believe his brother Peter had the ability to belong to Cosa Nostra, which may have led to Peter's reputation as "the Dumbest Don." John Gotti designated Peter as caretaker of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club
Bergin Hunt and Fish Club
The Bergin Hunt and Fish Club is a former Gambino crime family mob hangout and headquarters that was located at 98-04 101st Avenue in Ozone Park .-Today:...
, and as a driver for John and Gene. In 1989, Peter was promoted to capo.
Like his father, Peter Gotti had a legitimate job as a sanitation worker for the New York City Department of Sanitation
New York City Department of Sanitation
The New York City Department of Sanitation, or DSNY, is a uniformed force of unionized sanitation workers in New York City. Their responsibilities include garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal...
. Peter eventually retired from the Sanitation Department with a disability pension after injuring his head against the back end of a garbage truck. This accident generated many jokes at the Bergin about how the accident occurred to the one part of Peter's anatomy certain to sustain no lasting damage.
Rise to leadership
Despite everyone's low expectations for Peter Gotti, he was soon fulfilling a more important role in the family. When John and Gene Gotti went to prison, Peter started relaying messages from the two leaders to the rest of the family. In 1999, Gambino acting boss John A. Gotti, Peter's nephew was sent to prison and Peter became the new acting boss, with assistance from caposCaporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
Nicholas Corozzo
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
, a former rival of John Gotti and John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico
Jackie D'Amico
John "Jackie the Nose" D'Amico is a New York mobster that served as street boss of the Gambino crime family from 2005 to 2011. "Street boss" had been the family's number one position ever since official Boss Peter Gotti started serving a life sentence in prison.-Early life:D'Amico stands 5'11" ...
, a longtime Gotti associate. The three mobsters formed a "Committee" which ran the day-to-day operations of the Family. Sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, with official boss John Gotti dying in prison, Peter became the new sitting or official boss.
Conviction and Prison
In June 2002, a few days before his brother John's death, Peter Gotti was indicted on federal racketeering charges. During Peter Gotti's trial, federal prosecutors released information revealing that Peter was having an affair with Marjorie Alexander, a longtime girlfriend. Alexander then publicly acknowledged the liaison and declared her love for Peter. In response, Peter berated Alexander for causing the publicity and broke off all contact with her. Alexander later committed suicide. During this time Catherine Gotti, Peter's wife of 42 years, filed for divorce.In 2003, Peter Gotti was convicted of extortion and money laundering activities centered on the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
waterfronts, and for the attempted extortion of film actor Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American action film star, producer, writer, martial artist, guitarist and reserve deputy sheriff. A 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, Seagal began his adult life as an Aikido instructor in Japan...
. Judge Frederic Block
Frederic Block
Frederic Block is a United States federal judge.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Block received an A.B. from Indiana University in 1956 and an LL.B. from Cornell Law School in 1959. He was a clerk to the New York Supreme Court, appellate division, from 1959 to 1961...
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the entirety of Long Island and Staten Island...
also sentenced Gotti to 9 years and 4 months in prison on April 15, 2004 for the money laundering and racketeering charges. Peter received over 20 years in prison. On December 22, 2004, Peter was convicted of extortion in the construction industry and for plotting to murder government informant and former Gambino underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano
Sammy Gravano
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...
. Judge Richard C. Casey
Richard C. Casey
Richard Conway Casey was a United States federal judge for the Southern District of New York. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on July 16, 1997 to a seat vacated by Charles S. Haight, Jr., confirmed by the Senate on October 21, and commissioned on October 24 of the same year...
on July 27, 2005 sentenced Gotti to 25 years in prison regarding those charges.
Peter Gotti is imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
. His projected release date, if he survives, is May 5, 2032. During his last trial, lawyers stated that Peter Gotti was blind in one eye and suffered from thyroid
Thyroid
The thyroid gland or simply, the thyroid , in vertebrate anatomy, is one of the largest endocrine glands. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage...
goiter, sciatica
Sciatica
Sciatica is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression or irritation of one of five spinal nerve roots that give rise to each sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the left or right or both sciatic nerves. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, or...
, emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
, rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
, postconcussion syndrome, and depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
.
In July 2011 Gangland writer Jerry Capeci
Jerry Capeci
Gerald "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...
reported that Domenico Cefalu
Domenico Cefalu
Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
had formally replaced Gotti as official Gambino boss.
Further 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 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 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.