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NY mob son Gotti eludes conviction for fourth time
Source: Agencies |
December 2, 2009, Wednesday
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THE trial of John "Junior" Gotti on murder and racketeering charges ended in a mistrial today, allowing the prominent mob figure to elude conviction in his fourth racketeering trial in five years.
John A. Gotti, 45, the son of late notorious Gambino crime family boss John J. Gotti, escaped conviction on charges of ordering or taking part in the drug-related killings of two men in 1988 and 1991 and racketeering conspiracy that included murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and drug dealing.
US District Judge Kevin Castel declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a decision on any charge.
Gotti bowed his head and rubbed his eyes upon hearing the judge declare a mistrial, while family members cheered and cried in the courtroom's gallery.
"Why me? I am blessed. I can't complain," Gotti told reporters outside the courthouse. "I am walking out the door. I am going to have a healthy and happy Christmas."
U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Preet Bharara said in a statement the office was evaluating whether to retry the case.
Gotti's previous trials in 2005 and 2006 on similar charges all ended in hung juries. His lawyer said Gotti was once a high-ranking member of the Gambinos but 10 years ago.
Prosecutors say Gotti, nicknamed Junior, took control as street boss of the Gambinos from his father, who was known as the "Teflon Don" for his many years of evading criminal conviction.
John J. Gotti died in prison in 2002 a decade after he was eventually convicted of racketeering.
Prosecutors argued during the trial Gotti had profited millions from a cocaine trafficking network and disputed he could have quit mob life because he would have had to turn against hundreds of mobsters.
They portrayed Gotti as a cold, vicious thug who, after stabbing a man to death in a bar in 1983, popped back into the bar's entrance while the victim was dying and in a Porky Pig imitation said, "Th-th-th-that's all folks."
Gotti's defense lawyer, Charles Carnesi, used the same defense Gotti had used to win the previous mistrials -- that he had left organized crime after he pleaded guilty to separate racketeering charges in 1999.
After the verdict, jurors said they could not agree whether or not Gotti left the mob.
"They should stop this," said one juror who asked not to be named. "We weren't close on anything and a fifth trial would be abusive."
The two-month trial featured colorful testimony from former members of the Gambinos -- one of New York's five organized crime families -- dismissals of jurors and outbursts from Gotti and members of his family.
After the verdict Gotti called the prosecutor's star witness and his former best friend, John Alite, an "animal" who "meant nothin' to me." Jurors said they had not believed Alite's testimony.
John A. Gotti, 45, the son of late notorious Gambino crime family boss John J. Gotti, escaped conviction on charges of ordering or taking part in the drug-related killings of two men in 1988 and 1991 and racketeering conspiracy that included murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and drug dealing.
US District Judge Kevin Castel declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a decision on any charge.
Gotti bowed his head and rubbed his eyes upon hearing the judge declare a mistrial, while family members cheered and cried in the courtroom's gallery.
"Why me? I am blessed. I can't complain," Gotti told reporters outside the courthouse. "I am walking out the door. I am going to have a healthy and happy Christmas."
U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Preet Bharara said in a statement the office was evaluating whether to retry the case.
Gotti's previous trials in 2005 and 2006 on similar charges all ended in hung juries. His lawyer said Gotti was once a high-ranking member of the Gambinos but 10 years ago.
Prosecutors say Gotti, nicknamed Junior, took control as street boss of the Gambinos from his father, who was known as the "Teflon Don" for his many years of evading criminal conviction.
John J. Gotti died in prison in 2002 a decade after he was eventually convicted of racketeering.
Prosecutors argued during the trial Gotti had profited millions from a cocaine trafficking network and disputed he could have quit mob life because he would have had to turn against hundreds of mobsters.
They portrayed Gotti as a cold, vicious thug who, after stabbing a man to death in a bar in 1983, popped back into the bar's entrance while the victim was dying and in a Porky Pig imitation said, "Th-th-th-that's all folks."
Gotti's defense lawyer, Charles Carnesi, used the same defense Gotti had used to win the previous mistrials -- that he had left organized crime after he pleaded guilty to separate racketeering charges in 1999.
After the verdict, jurors said they could not agree whether or not Gotti left the mob.
"They should stop this," said one juror who asked not to be named. "We weren't close on anything and a fifth trial would be abusive."
The two-month trial featured colorful testimony from former members of the Gambinos -- one of New York's five organized crime families -- dismissals of jurors and outbursts from Gotti and members of his family.
After the verdict Gotti called the prosecutor's star witness and his former best friend, John Alite, an "animal" who "meant nothin' to me." Jurors said they had not believed Alite's testimony.
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