" 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.

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.

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.

Gotti was one of the most powerful crime bosses during his era and became widely known for his outspoken personality and flamboyant style, which gained him favor with much of the general public.

In 1992, Gotti was convicted of five murders, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, and loansharking.

According to former Lucchese crime family boss Anthony " Gaspipe " Casso, " What John Gotti did, was the beginning of the end of our thing.

John Gotti was born in an Italian-American enclave in the Bronx on October 27, 1940.

He was the fifth of the thirteen children of John Joseph Gotti Sr. and his wife Philomena ( referred to as Fannie ).

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.

Peter Gotti was initiated under John's leadership in 1988, and Richard V. Gotti was identified as a Capo by 2002.

Gotti was involved in street gangs associated with New York mafiosi from the age of 12.

During this time, Gotti befriended fellow mob hijacker and future Bonanno family boss Joseph Massino and was given the nicknames " Black John " and " Crazy Horse.

" It was also around this time that Gotti met Gambino underboss Aniello " Neil " Dellacroce.

Two months later, while out on bail, Gotti was arrested a third time for hijacking — this time for stealing a load of cigarettes worth $ 50, 000, on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Later that year, Gotti pleaded guilty to the Northwest Airlines hijacking and was sentenced to three years at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.

Gotti was transferred to management of the Bergin crew's illegal gambling, where he proved himself to be an effective enforcer.

Although Gotti was not yet a made man in the Mafia due to the membership books having been closed since 1957, Fatico named Gotti the acting capo of the Bergin Crew soon after Gotti was paroled.

* 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.

In 1991, Gravano agreed to turn state's evidence and testify for the prosecution against Gotti after hearing Gotti on wiretap make several disparaging remarks about Gravano and questioning his loyalty.

Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002, at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri.

On March 18, 1980, Gotti's youngest son, 12-year-old Frank Gotti, was run over and killed on a family friend's minibike by John Favara, a neighbor.

While the Gottis were on vacation in Florida at the time, John Gotti is still presumed to have ordered the killing, an allegation considered probable by John, Jr., while denied by his daughter Victoria.

In his last two years as the Bergin Capo, Gotti was indicted on two occasions, with both cases coming to trial after his ascension to Gambino Boss.

In August 1983, Ruggiero and Gene Gotti were arrested for dealing heroin, based primarily on recordings from a bug in Ruggiero's house.

DeCicco tipped Gotti off that he would be having a meeting with Castellano and several other Gambino mobsters at Sparks Steak House on December 16, 1985, and Gotti chose to take the opportunity.

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

According to the DeCavalcante capo-turned-informant Anthony Rotondo, Gotti attended his father's wake with numerous other Gambino mobsters in a " show of force " and forced boss John Riggi to agree to run his family on the Gambino's behalf.

Gotti's son John Gotti Jr. was initiated into the Gambino family on Christmas Eve 1988.

Gotti was released on $ 100, 000 bail, and was later acquitted at trial.

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.

The trial commenced with the prosecution's opening statements on February 12 ; prosecutors Andrew Maloney and John Gleeson began their case by playing tapes showing Gotti discussing Gambino family business, including murders he approved, and confirming the animosity between Gotti and Castellano to establish the former's motive to kill his boss.

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.

On April 2, 1992, after only 14 hours of deliberation, the jury found Gotti guilty on all charges of the indictment ( Locasio was found guilty on all but one ).

Quinn made an appearance at the John Gotti trial, according to John H. Davis, author of Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family.

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.

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.

The heroin trial of Gotti's former fellow Bergin crewmembers Ruggiero and Gene Gotti also commenced in June of that year.

1988 also saw Gotti, Gigante and the new Lucchese boss Victor Amuso attending the first Commission meeting since the Commission trial.

Gotti himself became increasingly hostile during the trial, and at one point Glasser threatened to remove him from the courtroom.

Gotti was imprisoned in May 1986 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York while awaiting trial on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( RICO ) charges.

Gravano was friendly with DiBernardo and tried to get the murder called off until he had a chance to speak with Gotti after his trial.

In Underboss Gravano claims that Gotti met with Johnson during the trial and informed Johnson that as long as he never testified against Gotti, he and his family would not be harmed.

It was this trial that allowed Gotti to make his reputation as " the Teflon Don.

Gravano had paid a juror in Gotti's second trial to vote in favor of an acquittal allowing Gotti to beat the RICO charges lodged against him.

As former rivals of John Gotti took completely over the Gambino family, mostly because the rest of Gotti's loyalists were either jailed or under indictments, and because Gotti, Sr died in prison in 2002, then-current head of white collar crimes and caporegime, Michael " Mikey Scars " DiLeonardo turned state's evidence, due to increased law enforcement and credible evidence to be presented in his racketeering trial, and chose to testify against mobsters from all of the Five Families.

In 2006, Kuby was subpoenaed by the defense to testify at the second trial of John A. Gotti, the son of Gambino crime family leader John Gotti, which included the charges for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Kuby's then on-air co-host Curtis Sliwa.

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.

During the trial, two former associates, Michael DiLeonardo and Joseph D ' Angelo testified against Gotti.

During the trial, Gotti allegedly threatened Alite by mouthing the words " I'll kill you ", and engaged in a shouting match with his former associate.