Gotti may face even tougher sentence -- from mob

November 14, 1996
Web posted at: 6:00 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Peg Tyre

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nearly six years after being sent to prison, one of America's most notorious mob bosses may be on the verge of losing his power -- and possibly his life.

John Gotti, 56, spends his days in virtual lockdown at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, from where he reportedly has continued to run the Gambino crime family since his incarceration in 1992.

It's a far cry from the Gotti's high-profile days in the 1980s, when he directed the Gambino family, one of New York's five major crime syndicates, from the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy.

But in 1992, the party ended when the testimony of Salvatore "The Bull" Gravano helped put Gotti away for life without possibility of parole on federal murder and racketeering charges.

Unlike other convicted mob bosses, however, Gotti insisted on keeping control of his crime family from behind bars, authorities say.

"Whenever a crime family head is convicted, he has the option of retaining the title of boss, kind of like the honorary title," said former prosecutor Charles Rose. "Or he has the option of stepping down and just abdicating, which will allow a new boss to be chosen."

Gotti wanted to keep more than just his title, though. He used his brother Peter and his son John as intermediaries to carry out his decisions, according to court papers.

But the convicted don's plan has reportedly run into a snag on the outside. The Commission, essentially a board of directors for New York's crime families, decided that Gotti must formally leave his position as head of the Gambino family.

Federal law enforcement sources told CNN that Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, head of the Genovese crime family, chaired a Commission meeting over the summer in which the group agreed that Gotti must be deposed.

If Gotti refuses to step down, government sources say, he faces execution by his former mob colleagues.

Gotti's one chance at a reprieve from the Commission's sentence may be to win a new trial in court with his pending appeal.

"He's been in prison now for nearly six years, four years after being convicted. And the Commission decided that it was time for John Gotti to step down," said New York Daily News reporter Jerry Capeci, a mob authority. "It's bad for business for him to still be running a crime family from a virtual lockup."

If Gotti vacates his position -- voluntarily or otherwise -- his successor will most likely be someone who, unlike Gotti, knows how to keep a low profile.

"Frankly, I don't know that anyone wants to be toe boss of the Gambino family," said Rose, "because he becomes the next target of the FBI."

Gotti may face even tougher sentence -- from mob

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