Together with his brother Gene and Ruggiero, Gotti carried out truck hijackings at Idlewild Airport ( subsequently renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport ).

While Frank's death was ruled an accident, Favara subsequently received death threats and, when he visited the Gottis to apologize, was attacked by Victoria Gotti with a baseball bat.

In September 1984 Gotti was in an altercation with refrigerator mechanic Romual Piecyk, and was subsequently charged with assault and robbery.

Peter Gotti subsequently became acting boss, and is believed to have formally succeeded his brother as boss shortly before John Gotti's death.

Gotti is also believed to have hired the Brotherhood for another aborted hit on Frank Locascio after learning the disgruntled acting consigliere sought to kill him.

* Jeffrey Lichtman, ( born 1965 ), defense attorney who represented John Gotti, Jr.

Through Gotti associate Angelo Ruggiero, Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender.

Through his attorney, Gotti admitted that he had been involved in the Gambino crime family in the 1990s, and had even been slated to lead the organization after his father was sent to jail in 1992, but claimed he had left criminal life behind after his conviction in 1999.

* 1985 – Mafia: In New York City, Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead on the orders of John Gotti, who assumes leadership of the Gambino family.

The actor interpreted the testimony of Sammy (" The Bull ") Gravano, Gotti's underboss, against Gotti as " a friend who betrays a friend.

" He hadn't come to " judge " Gotti, Quinn insisted, but because he wanted to portray Castellano, who inspired the actor because he had had a " thirty-year-old " mistress, which Quinn believed was " a beautiful thing.

John Joseph Gotti, Jr ( October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002 ) was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City.

John was one of five brothers who would become made men in the Gambino Family ; Eugene Gotti was initiated before John due to the latter's incarceration.

In February 1968, United Airlines employees identified Gotti as the man who had signed for stolen merchandise ; the FBI arrested him for the United hijacking soon after.

Gotti would try to keep most of his family uninvolved with his life of crime, with the exception of his son John Angelo Gotti, commonly known as John Gotti Jr., who by 1982 was a mob associate.

Castellano, who had banned made men from his family from dealing drugs under threat of death, demanded transcripts of the tapes, and when Ruggiero refused he threatened to demote Gotti.

Gotti's newfound fame had at least one positive effect ; upon the revelation of his attacker's occupation, and amid reports of intimidation by the Gambinos, Romual Piecyk decided not to testify against Gotti, and when the trial commenced in March 1986 he testified he was unable to remember who attacked him.

The bombing was carried out by Lucchese capos Victor Amuso and Anthony Casso, under orders of bosses Anthony Corallo and Vincent Gigante, to avenge Castellano and Bilotti by killing their successors ; Gotti also planned to visit Failla that day but canceled, and the bomb was detonated after a soldier who rode with DeCicco was mistaken for the boss.

Jury selection for the racketeering case began again in August 1986, with John Gotti standing trial alongside Gene Gotti, " Willie Boy " Johnson ( who, despite being exposed as an informant, refused to turn state's evidence ), Leonard DiMaria, Tony Rampino, Nicholas Corozzo and John Carneglia.

After calling an eyewitness of the Sparks hit who identified Gotti associate John Carneglia as one of the men who shot Bilotti they then brought Gravano to testify on March 2.

While in prison, Gotti offered at least $ 40, 000 to the Aryan Brotherhood to kill Walter Johnson, a black inmate who had assaulted him.

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 ( FBI ) government witness.

The bomb was intended to kill both DeCicco and Gotti, who was supposed to be at the club for a meeting with Gravano and DeCicco.

Johnson asked Gotti to swear on his dead son, Frank Gotti, who had been killed in a tragic accident years ago.

Gotti was heard on tapes questioning why everyone who went partners with Gravano kept winding up dead, with Gravano always having an excuse why they needed to be killed.

* Getting Gotti ( 1994 TV film starring Lorraine Bracco ) is based on a real life woman, Diane Giacalone, who grew up in Ozone Park and through the years first-handedly watched Gotti rise to power on the streets of Ozone Park.

The conclave that elected him had lasted for six months, and he is reported to have said to the cardinals: " If you wish to elect a saint, choose Gotti ; a statesman, Aldrovandi ; an honest man, me ".

Gotti had Castellano murdered, becoming the boss of the Gambino family thereafter.

On the first ballot, Rampolla received 24 votes, Gotti had 17 votes, and Sarto five votes.

On the following morning, the fifth vote of the conclave was taken, and the count had Rampolla with 10 votes, Gotti with two votes, and Sarto with 50 votes.

In school Gotti had a history of truancy and bullying other students and ultimately dropped out, while attending Franklin K. Lane High School, at the age of 16.

Dellacroce had already taken a liking to Gotti, and the two became even closer during this time.

In the book Underboss, Gravano estimated that Gotti himself had an annual income of not less than $ 5 million during his years as boss, and more likely between $ 10 and $ 12 million.

From jail, Gotti ordered the murder of Robert DiBernardo by Sammy Gravano ; both DiBernardo and Ruggiero had been vying to succeed Frank DeCicco until Ruggiero accused DiBernardo of challenging Gotti's leadership.

When Ruggiero, also under indictment, had his bail revoked for his abrasive behavior in preliminary hearings, a frustrated Gotti instead promoted Joseph Armone to underboss.

While Gotti himself had escaped conviction, his associates were not so lucky.

According to Gravano, Gotti also considered murdering Ruggiero and when he finally died " I literally had to drag him to the funeral.

The following year, the FBI warned Gotti they had recorded Genovese consigliere Louis Manna discussing another hit on John and Gene Gotti.

To link Gotti to the case, state prosecutors had a recording of Gotti discussing O ' Connor and announcing his intention to " Bust him up ," and the testimony of Westies gangster James McElroy.

Based on tapes from FBI bugs played at pretrial hearings the Gambino administration was denied bail and attorneys Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel were both disqualified from defending Gotti after determining they had worked as " in-house counsel " for the Gambino organization.

Dellacroce, however, was rising star John Gotti's mentor, and when word got back to him that Dellacroce had supported Gravano, Gotti was impressed.

During this time, the FBI had intensified its efforts against the Gambino family, and in August 1983, three members of Gotti's crew – Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia, and Gene Gotti – were indicted for heroin trafficking.