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At the end of November 1990, the government served subpoenas on Gotti, Tommy Gambino
and Frank Locascio. Gravano would have been served if they could find him. Eventually
Gravano came back to town and was served. Not long afterwards they were all arrested.
The U.S. Attorney wanted to make sure that these gangsters
were denied bail, so he played one of the wiretap tapes for Judge Leo Glasser. The one
selected carried a long Gotti diatribe to Frank Locascio on Sammy Gravano. It was the
first time that Sammy even knew that the tapes existed.
Gravano couldn't believe his
ears when he heard what Gotti said: "Let me tell you, Frankie, there's creating and
creating. Now look, Frankie. You want to put your head with fuckin' Sammy. You're too
bright for that...It doesn't even bother me if he had six, seven companies
himself...You're creating a fuckin' army inside an army.
"I tell him a million times, Gotti said to Locascio, "Sammy, slow it down.
Pull it in a fuckin' notch. You got concrete pouring. You got Italian floors now. You got
construction. You got drywall. You got asbestos. You got rugs. What the fuck next? Three,
four guys will wind up with every fuckin' thing. And the rest of the borgata looks like a
waste...Where's my piece of these companies."
Federal District Judge Leo Glasser.
"End up creating another faction," Locascio responded supportively,
suggesting that Sammy's operations were dividing the family the way Paul Castellano did.
Gotti responded forcefully, "I'm not going to allow that."
In this nonstop diatribe, Gotti told Locascio that Sammy was the one who pushed for the
execution of DiBernardo, Milito and Louie DiBono. According to Peter Maas in Underboss,
"The spin Gotti put on all these hits enraged Sammy. The tapes portrayed Gotti as a
long-suffering boss saddled with a mad-dog killer who hounded him to obtain authorization
for hits until he finally threw up his hands and bowed to Sammy's wishes.
"How the fuck could you say those things about me? Sammy said to Gotti as soon as
they were together.
"It was just talk, Sammy, Gotti said with a shrug. "Don't mean shit."
Later on Gotti sent word to Sammy that he didn't want Sammy to meet with a lawyer
unless he, Gotti, was there. It was a clear signal that Gotti didn't trust Sammy.
In his cell, Sammy had a long time to think about his future -- or lack of future. The
charges were very serious and the government seemed to have enough evidence to put him
away for the rest of his life. He was forty-four years old then with a wife and two
teenage children. He was a very wealthy man, but now he was going to lose everything.
After ten months of jail, Sammy made discreet contact with the government. He wanted to
make a deal. This was more than Bruce Mouw could ever dream of. Here, Sammy the Bull, the
operations executive of the family was will to help destroy the Boss and the whole Gambino
family.
Once negotiations with Sammy were completed, he was a most
cooperative witness. He had negotiated extensive cooperation in exchange for a prison
sentence of five to ten years. At the end of that sentence, Sammy was determined to
rebuild his life a decent family man with a legitimate career.
The trial, which began
January 21, 1992, was a bigger media event that the Capone trial in the 1930's. Radio,
television, newspapers and magazines from all over the world carried the progress. There
were demonstrations, threats to the judge and the courthouse, and appearances by movie
stars.
Outside the courthouse, pickets carried signs that said, "We Love You John"
and "Gotti's Number One. Movie stars Mickey O'Rourke and Anthony Quinn made
appearances. O'Rourke had interviewed Gotti for a role that he was going to play as a
gangster and Quinn had simply had a few conversations with him over the years. When the
stars realized that the Gotti support team was trying to manipulate them, they became very
cautious about whatever appearances and comments they made.
Sammy before a U.S. Senate committee.
At least initially, Gotti seemed confident and unflappable. His anger grew, however,
when it became clear that nobody wanted to sit on the jury. Given the witness intimidation
that had occurred in the past, it was no wonder that people did not want to subject
themselves to pressure from the Mob.
This was truly the break the government had been waiting for. Sammy's nine days of
testimony was very powerful in Gotti's trial. He made a very good witness - controlled,
coherent, intelligent and very believable. He summed up his role at the top of the Gambino
crime family: "I was a good, loyal soldier. John barked and I bit."
Gotti, on the other hand, did nothing to endear himself to the judge or the jury with
his unruly behavior. After clearing the courtroom of jurors, Judge Leo Glasser warned him:
Mr. Gotti, this is addressed to you. I you want to continue to remain at this trial and
at that table, I am going to direct you to remain at that table without making comments
which can be heard in the courtroom, without gestures which are designed to comment on the
character of the U.S. attorneys, or the questions which are being asked of the witnesses.
If you can't refrain from doing that, I will have you removed from the courtroom. You will
watch this trial on a television screen downstairs. I am not going to tell you that again.
Over the span of a day and a half, the jury deliberated fourteen hours and reached a
verdict. On April 2, 1992, the defense and prosecution teams speedily reconvened to hear
the outcome.
The court clerk called in the jury and then asked the jury forewoman the first
question. "With regard to the first charge in the indictment, the one involving the
murder of Paul Castellano, had the jury found whether the government had 'proven' or 'not
proven' the charge? The forewoman replied, "Proven."
Gotti mustered a smile when every one of the fourteen counts was proven, which included
the murders of Thomas Bilotti, and Robert DiBernardo. On June 23, Gotti and his
consigliere Frank Locascio were sentenced to multiple life terms without any possibility
of parole. Judge Glasser gave Gotti a chance to speak after the sentencing, but he
remained silent. Locascio spoke instead: "I am guilty of being a good friend of John
Gotti. If there were more men like John Gotti on this earth, we would have a better
country."
Outside the courthouse, chartered busses disgorged his supporters who chanted
"Free John Gotti." The crowd rolled over three cars. Inside the courthouse, his
supporters fought with policeman.
That same day he was flown to a very restrictive federal prison in Marion, Illinois
where he was placed in solitary confinement. His circumstances are quite stark. His
six-foot by eight-foot cell has very little furniture: a cot, basin, toilet, radio and
small television. He remains confined in this cell for all but 1-2 hours a day. Five times
a month he is allowed to see visitors from one side of a glass partition.
Per Cosa Nostra rules, Gotti is still the Boss. His son Junior is allegedly the acting
boss of what is left of the Gambino crime family.
Sammy the Bull Gravano received a sentence of five years, which began when he went to
prison in 1990. He was released at the age of 50 in 1995. His wife Debra left him and
moved away with their children.
He has left the witness protection program and is engaged in a legitimate career. When
asked whether he spends his time looking over his shoulder, he responded: "A coward
dies a thousand deaths. A man only dies once."
