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John Gotti and the Decline of Organized Crime The Mafia. It is a figment of many people s imaginations. To some people it is a true problem of society. For some people the Mafia and organized crime is a way of life. Popular culture has seen elements of the Mafia in such movies and television shows like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Sopranos. The Mafia and organized crime is very real.
Organized crime however has been on a steep decline. Since the detainment of John Gotti and the defection of Sammy Gravano to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, organized crime has become less prevalent in society. John Gotti was the last great Mafia figurehead and since his indictment and inevitable life sentencing in jail, organized crime has been on a decline. John Gotti was born into a poor Italian family.
He lived in a broken home, his father was unemployed most of the time and any money he could attain he lost gambling (Rising Talent 1). The local Mafia life seemed like paradise to John. Throughout his childhood, he ran frequent errands for local gangsters. By the time he was 16 he was already working for the local boss. He started his own tough-guy group, which was aptly named the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, named after a corner in Little Italy. John was known for his quick temper and promptness to start a fight when aggravated.
This was a group of thieves and misfits that ran errands for the dominate local boss Carmine Fatico (Rising Talent 1). It was through Carmine that John got to meet Neil Dellecroce, the undergoes to Carlo Gambino (Rising Talent 2). Carlo Gambino was the boss of the biggest organized crime family in the United States at the time John met him. John s big break came when Carlo Gambino s nephew was kidnapped and murdered.
Carlo instructed John to get his revenge. John dressed up as a street cop and shot the man suspected of murdering Gambino s nephew. This landed John 5 years in prison for manslaughter (Rising Talent 3). During John s stint in jail, Carlo Gambino had a heart attack. His near death experience caused him to name his successor as boss of the family. Instead of naming his undergoes, Neil Dellecroce, he named his brother-in-law Paul Castellano the new boss of the family.
This caused a split between members of the family loyal to Dellecroce and members loyal to Castellano (Rising Talent 3). In 1985 after 10 years of Castellano ruling the family, John Gotti called the hit on Paul, making him the new boss of the Gambino crime family (Rising Talent 3). Gotti had seen many bosses taken down within the first few years of his hegemony over the Gambino family. He knew that he would have to put people he could trust in the likes of his family. Gotti felt the perfect choice for his new undergoes was a man by the name of Sammy Gravano, nicknamed the Bull (Gravano 1).
John and Sammy were the two most powerful Mafia figureheads in the Unites States. They ran several racketeering regimes within the local teamsters union (Guidice 25) and had a stronghold on New York s largest construction company, Atlas-Gem Steel (Blum 53). The Government was looking at ways they could nail John Gotti for good. Twice during the 1980 s the government filed suit against John Gotti.
Both cases dealt with racketeering and tax evasion. However, the government did not have enough evidence to convict and twice Gotti walked away a free man. The trials brought national attention to Gotti. In New York, he was gaining public support and cries were given to leave Gotti alone. The government knew that if it was going to nail John Gotti, it would need some pretty damaging evidence. The FBI soon started wire-tapping Gotti s phones and set bugs in rooms where they suspected Gotti to talk about his illegal affairs (Blum 50).
Soon enough however the FBI would get their most damning and most critical piece of evidence. Sammy Gravano betrayed John Gotti and gave testimony against him in order for his own freedom from persecution (Gravano 1. ) John was the boss; I was the undergoes. John barked, I bit. -Sammy Gravano (as quoted in Gravano 1). Sammy Gravano thought that with all the new hype around the family, he would end up dead like many of the men he had seen killed. He thought the only way to save his life was by breaking his silence and testifying against John Gotti.
Gravano s testimony was what nailed Gotti for good. He gave pectinate information to the FBI about all of the racketeering regimes and all of the murders. The FBI finally got concrete evidence Atlas-Gem steel was actually run by Gotti, which he attained illegal sources of income throughout his reign over the Gambino family (Guidice 27). Also Gravano stated that Gotti was the man in charge of intimidating the New York fireproofing companies and virtually having a monopoly over them (Guidice 27). With this evidence, Gotti was sure to go to jail for at least 10 years.
To his dismay, Gravano would go on to betray him further. Gravano admitted to the FBI that John had ordered him to kill 19 men (Gravano 1). This brought about 19 counts of murder one against Gotti. There was no way he could get himself out of this debacle unscathed. Gravano had betrayed him and the family, and he was heart-broken. Gravano further went to testify that John had fixed his previous two trials by bribing jury members (Guidice 26).
He also ratted out cops on Gotti s payroll (Blum 25). Gotti was finished. In 1991 the jury found him guilty on all charges and he was sent to life in prison without parole (Blum 53). Gravano only received 5 years in prison on a racketeering conviction. While in prison, Gravano wrote this poem about his life with Gotti and organized crime: What is a fool and what is fake? And is not pain but what we make?
What is wrong and what is real? Can we ever touch and feel, The smooth water and the grass, That each day we always pass? I am always blind to thee, For I could not see, That which rises in the wake, Is the pain which I did make (As quoted in Cape 3). With no apparent leader of the Gambino family, the Mafia had its work cut out for it. Gotti s son, John Gotti, Jr. , tried in vain to take command of organized crime in New York. The Feds got to him too, and now he is in jail just like his father (Kleinknect 212).
After 5 years in prison Gravano was released, but soon he was arrested again for trafficking Ecstasy through Arizona (Kleinknect 212). With the Gotti s and Gravano back in jail, the Mafia had no real icon to turn to during its troubled time. Since these events have taken place, organized crime has seemed to disappear from news channels and newspaper headlines. Because Gravano defected to the Feds and John Gotti was put away for life, no bosses want to become publicly known, it would be too easy for someone to rat them out (Kleinknect 44). Organized crime has dropped to the point that no one really pays attention to it anymore. If people did, the FBI would send a few units and get wiretaps and phone taps on the suspected and they would go to jail for 20 years.
No new bosses want to have that happen to them, so they keep their work secret and try to make it ultra-discrete. The Mafia has changed dramatically since the incarceration of John Gotti. He has set an example with the law that no new leaders of organized crime want to follow. They have learned a lesson from Gotti that it isn t a good idea to try to rally public support for illegal activities. That is why the Feds wanted to nail Gotti even more. A recent study shows that in 1980 residents of Las Vegas (a mob and especially Gambino Family stronghold) were twice as likely to become crime victims than in 1999.
Also, in 1980 the crime rate in Las Vegas was 10, 743 crimes per 100, 000 people. In 1999 the rate was down to 4, 591 crimes per 100, 000 people. No matter what happens with the future of organized crime, it will forever have a legacy in America. In our movies, books, and television shows, there will always be a fascination with the Mafia. Although it is seldom heard from anymore, it will still have that glamour to it that so many people like to see. Society will always have an interest in Mafia stories and legends.
Maybe one day a story will be told about John Gotti and his rise and fall from Mafia power. The glamour of being a mobster that appeals to the poor children of the big urban centers of America will always be there. The glamour that is in our movies and in our television shows will always hit a spot in many people s souls that just makes them want to be a gangster. That glamour and legacy, which it has with popular culture, may in fact be its ultimate doom.
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