John Gotti was one of the most well-known and notorious gangsters of the 20th Century. Gotti, as the leader of New York’s Gambino Family, eschewed the shadows that mafiosos typically operated in. Instead, the so called Teflon Don was brash, loud, and out front. He was a sharp dresser, and with his outspoken ways, ability to avoid the long arm of the law and his daily tabloid appearances, became somewhat of a working class hero. However, Gotti’s management style, combined with his recklessness, ultimately led to his downfall. And when Gotti’s reign finally came to an end, he took much of the New York’s Mafia structure down with him.
Humble Beginnings
John Gotti was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York. Gotti came from a large family that struggled to get by; he was the fifth of thirteen children, and his father was an unskilled laborer. In later life, Gotti was known to resent his father for being unable to provide for his family. Growing up in poverty no doubt hardened the young Gotti and predisposed his siblings and him for a life of crime.
Gotti proved to be a poor student and was often in trouble for truancy or misbehaving. He dropped out of school altogether at age sixteen and soon began his lifelong career as a criminal. Gotti had long been a troublemaker in the streets, running with gangs since the age of twelve. However, after dropping out of school, he elevated his game considerably, stealing cars, and starting to associate with low level mobsters who appreciated tough teens who were willing to get their hands dirty.
He purportedly made one attempt to go straight shortly after he married his wife Victoria in the late 1950s, taking on a series of honest but mundane jobs. However, this period was short lived, and it was not long before Gotti returned to his criminal ways. As he grew older, he began running errands for Carmine Falco of the Anastasia Family. Although this was a humble beginning, it was also a gateway that led Gotti to the top of organized crime.
The Rise of the Dapper Don
John Gotti did not remain a mere messenger for long. Recognizing his criminal talents and
ambitions, the Anastasia’s soon had Gotti out with their crews, earning money. Gotti carried out several truck hijackings, notably at Idlewild Airport. However, after several successful hauls, he was subsequently arrested and served over two years in prison.
After being paroled in 1972, Gotti advanced in the crime family hierarchy due to his own talents, as well as the continued incarceration of several other mafia leaders. Though he was not yet a made man, he was effectively a capo at this point, running several crews involved in hijackings, illegal gambling, and loansharking. While carrying out a hit on orders from crime boss Carlo Gambino, a bystander identified Gotti as one of the assailants. He was arrested and convicted of manslaughter and was imprisoned until 1977. After his release, he finally became a made man in the Gambino family.
Free from prison, Gotti once again proved his mettle as a gangster. He was allegedly involved in the storied Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the largest unrecovered cash robbery in American history. Overall, he proved to be one of the Gambino family’s best earners. However, he chafed at the leadership of Gambino family leader Paul Castellano, whom he disliked immensely. Gotti was also interested in expanding into the drug trade, which Castellano had forbidden. In a daring, high risk move in 1985, Gotti’s underlings successfully assassinated Castellano at the Sparks steak house. Soon afterwards, Gotti became the head of the Gambino family.
The reign of the Teflon Don had begun.
The Teflon Becomes Velcro
Unlike many of his predecessors who preferred to remain in the shadows, Gotti basked in the spotlight. He was the first tabloid don; daily newspapers constantly ran stories on him and gave him his “Teflon Don” and “Dapper Don” nicknames. However, while he lived in the spotlight, behind the scenes he led a ruthless, violent criminal organization.
Gotti’s rise coincided with the increasing power and focus on law enforcement to dismantle the Mafia’s organized crime network. To protect himself and his organization, he ordered underlings to refuse any plea bargains that compromised the Gambino crime network. He narrowly avoided conviction in multiple racketeering trials himself, through witness intimidation, jury tampering, and the occasional good luck. His ability to stave off the law earned him the Teflon Don moniker. All the while, the efforts of the Gambino crime family allegedly earned Gotti $10 to $12 million annually.
Eventually, Gotti’s luck ran out. Perhaps his good fortune made him reckless, or his paranoia, but he demanded underlings meet in person to discuss the crime family’s illicit activities. This was a boon for law enforcement agencies, since it made it easier to ascertain the Gambino’s role in organized crime and build a case against its leaders. One of the family’s key lieutenants, Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, dismayed after listening to recordings of Gotti seemingly rat him out, turned on him and became a witness in a murder trial. In 1992 John Gotti, head of the Gambino family, was subsequently convicted on multiple counts and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Upon his conviction, the senior FBI agent in charge of the case remarked “The Teflon is Gone. The don is covered in Velcro, and all the charges stuck.”
Gotti’s End: Prison, Death and Legacy
Unlike many other mafia kingpins, Gotti attempted to maintain control of his criminal organization behind bars. He relayed orders to the Gambinos through his son, John Jr., until the latter was subsequently convicted on racketeering charges and imprisoned, and his influence over the Gambinos declined. In the late 1990s Gotti was diagnosed with throat cancer, and his health deteriorated rapidly. Despite surgeries to treat the cancer, his condition worsened, and he died in 2002 at the age of 61.
Gotti left a decidedly mixed legacy on the Mafia. His recklessness in running the Gambino family left it extremely vulnerable to its law enforcement adversaries and enabled them to decimate organized crime in New York. However, the persona he cultivated in public made him a sort of heroic figure to the working class. He has inspired a slew of mobster movies after his death, from Goodfellas to the recently released – and awful – Gotti biopic starring John Travolta. His wife and sons even had their own reality television series as well. The Dapper Don, who always led with his ego and enjoyed the spotlight, likely would have enjoyed all the interest and controversy that lingers around him so many years after his death.