Gene Gotti

Gotti was born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: John Gotti, Peter Gotti, Richard V. Gotti, and Vincent Gotti. All the brothers grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and became involved with organized crime.[1] Gotti was said by John Cummings and Ernest Volkman in Goombata, "He was noted for his inability to comprehend even the simplest statement addressed to him, and people dealing with him learned to speak slowly and repeatedly." He attended Franklin K. Lane High School with the other Gotti brothers. Gotti has a wife, Rosalie, and three children and 8 grandchildren; his family home is in Valley Stream, New York.[1]

Around 1966, Gotti became an associate with the Gambino family. In 1969, Gotti was convicted of theft from an interstate shipment and was sent to federal prison for three months. In 1973, Gotti was convicted in state court of illegal possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 18 months in state prison.[1]

Gene became a made man in 1976, working with his brother, John, in his South Ozone Park crew.[2]

Gotti carried out truck hijackings at Idlewild Airport (subsequently renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) together with his brother John and friend Angelo Ruggiero.[3] In August 1983, Ruggiero and Gotti were arrested for dealing heroin, based primarily on recordings from a bug in Ruggiero's house.[4][5] Boss Paul Castellano, who had banned made men from his family from dealing drugs under threat of death, demanded transcripts of the tapes,[4][6] and, when Ruggiero refused, threatened to demote his brother John.[7]

On March 13, 1987, Gene Gotti, his brother John and others, were acquitted on federal charges of loansharking, illegal gambling, murder, and armed hijackings.[8]

Later in 1987, Gotti and John Carneglia went to trial on the 1983 federal charges of narcotics trafficking, obstruction of justice, racketeering, and operating a continuing criminal narcotics enterprise.[9] In January 1988, the judge declared a mistrial on this second case due to government charges of jury tampering. On July 27, 1988, in a retrial, the judge again declared a mistrial because jurors failed to reach a verdict.[10] On May 23, 1989, in his third trial on the 1983 charges, Gotti and Carneglia were convicted of running a heroin distribution ring. On July 7, 1989, Gotti was sentenced to 50 years in prison and fined $75,000, the same penalty given to Carneglia.[11][12]

On July 7, 1989, Gene was sentenced to 50 years in prison and fined $75,000 for racketeering and drug trafficking. After his sentencing, the Gambino family demoted Gene from capo to soldier because he was in prison.[13][14]

Gene Gotti was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Pollock, in Pollock, Louisiana, from 1989 to 2018. Gotti was released on September 14, 2018, when he was 71 years old, after serving 29 years of his sentence.[15]

Gene Gotti is portrayed by actor Scott Cohen in the 1996 HBO television movie Gotti. He was played by actor Joseph Siravo in the 1998 made-for-TV film Witness to the Mob.

• Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti by Gene Mustain & Jerry Capeci in 2002, ISBN 0-02-864416-6.
• Gotti: The Rise & Fall by Jerry Capeci in 1996, ISBN 0-451-40681-8.
• Mafia Dynasty: The Rise & Fall of the Gambino Crime Family by John H. Davis in 1994, ISBN 0-06-109184-7.
• Goombata: The Improbable Rise and Fall of John Gotti and His Gang by John Cummings and Ernest Volkman