John Alite

John Edward Alite (born September 30, 1962), also known as Johnny Alletto, is an American former Gambino crime family associate, who later became a government witness, agreeing to testify against the crime family and John A. "Junior" Gotti in 2008. That year, Alite pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, including two murders and a variety of other crimes, and in 2011, was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison. Due to his cooperation with prosecutors, he was released on a five-year supervised release in 2012. Alite has estimated that he shot between 30 to 40 people, beat about 100 people with a baseball bat, and killed six people.[1] Later in life, Alite publicly denounced the life of organized crime and became a motivational speaker and a writer.

John Alite
Born
John Edward Alite

(1962-09-30) September 30, 1962
New York City, U.S.
Other namesJohnny Alletto
OccupationMobster (former), motivational speaker
Spouse(s)Carol Alite (first wife)
Claudia DiPippa (second wife)
Children4
AllegianceGambino crime family
Conviction(s)Racketeering (including murder, conspiracy, and armed robbery; 2008)
Criminal penalty10 years' imprisonment (2011)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

Alite was born on September 30, 1962 in Queens, New York City; his grandparents were Albanian immigrants from Gjirokastër,[2][3] and grew up in Woodhaven, Queens.[4] He received a baseball scholarship to the University of Tampa, but dropped out after three years.[4] He grew up in the same neighborhood as John Gotti's son, John A. Gotti, and were boyhood friends.[4] He was Gotti's best man at his wedding in 1990.[5] Alite's first wife was Carol, and his second wife was Claudia DiPippa; he has four children.[6][4]

Criminal life

Alite was associated with the Gambino family, and led a crew in Tampa, Florida that extorted rival valet businesses, and reported to Gambino capo Ronald Trucchio.[4][7] He also arranged for the purchase of Mirage, a Tampa nightclub.[8]

In 1995, Charles Carneglia and Alite were involved in a major conspiracy to murder John A. Gotti.[9] Later that year, Alite was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm in violation of a parole agreement and spent three years in prison. After his release, Alite earned an additional three months back in prison for acting as a go-between for corrupt prison guard Troy Kemmerer who was smuggling sperm donation kits in and out of Allenwood Federal Prison for inmate Antonino Parlavecchio, who was trying to impregnate his wife Maria.[4]

As federal racketeering indictments were handed down for his group's activities in the Tampa area, Alite fled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in January 2004, and lived and worked in the Copacabana neighborhood, according to the Brazilian Federal Police. He lived there for 10 months before authorities arrested him. He served two years in prison in Brazil and was eventually extradited to federal authorities in Tampa, for trial in 2006.[10][1]

Government witness and racketeering convictions

In January 2008, Alite pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that included two murders, four murder conspiracies, at least eight shootings, and two attempted shootings as well as armed home invasions and armed robberies in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, stemming from his alleged involvement in a Gambino crew in Tampa, Florida.[11] Alite agreed to testify in the trial of Gambino family enforcer Charles Carneglia, who was found guilty of four murders and is now serving a life sentence.[12]

Alite was also a government witness in the unsuccessful racketeering trial against Gotti.[13] Prosecutors indicted Gotti for racketeering and murder conspiracy charges, stemming from an alleged drug trafficking ring in Florida, and the murders of George Grosso in 1988, Louis DiBono in 1990 and Bruce John Gotterup in 1991.[14] Alite testified that Gotti was responsible for at least eight murders, among other crimes.[15]

Alite's testimony was largely undermined during cross examination.[16] On December 1, 2009, the 12 jurors announced that they had failed to reach a unanimous verdict on all the charges against Gotti and the judge declared a mistrial and released Gotti.[17][18] Interviewed after the trial, the jurors said that they did not find Alite to be credible.[15][17] Federal prosecutors from Brooklyn and Tampa described Alite's cooperation as "extraordinary" and "substantial" when submitting statements to the judge responsible for sentencing Alite for two murders and other crimes.[5]

On April 26, 2011, Alite was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison.[5] In January 2012, he was released on a five-year supervised release; in October 2015, a letter was written to the U.S. Probation Office claiming that Alite broke the terms of his supervised release in a New Jersey gun case which prompted an investigation that sent Alite back to prison for three months.[19]

Later life

Alite later became a youth motivational speaker on avoiding crime.[20] He has three books that he co-wrote, Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia (with George Anastasia, 2015),[21] Darkest Hour: John Alite: Former Mafia Enforcer for John Gotti & The Gambino Crime Family (2018),[22] and Prison Rules (2019).[23] In July 2020, he appeared in the Fear City: New York vs The Mafia Netflix docuseries.[24]

References
  1. Hannaford, Alex. "A dirty, rotten, double crossing (true) story of what happened to the Italian American mob". GQ. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. "John Alite në Kosovë: Do formoja ushtrinë time, sikur ta dija që shqiptarët janë kaq trima" (in Albanian). Top Channel. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018. "John Alite, shqiptari me origjinë nga Gjirokastra, i lindur dhe i rritur në Queens të NYC, nga i biri i një taksisti"
  3. "Rrëfehet mafiozi shqiptar me origjinë nga Gjirokastra: Si e rrëzova perandorinë e krimit të 'Cosa Nostra-s'" (in Albanian). 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  4. Weimar, Carrie (27 November 2015). "From the archives: From a Brazilian prison, John Alite talks Gotti and fights extradition". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  5. Marzulli, John (27 April 2011). "John A. (Junior) Gotti's 'rat' buddy John Alite gets 10-year prison sentence". Daily News. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. Golding, Bruce (October 6, 2009). "Mob turncoat 'cheated on wife every day'". NY Post. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  7. Weimar, Carrie (November 7, 2006). "Witness says valet firm's rivals were scared off". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  8. Silvestrini, Elaine (October 10, 2008). "Former Club Mirage Manager Seeks Release On Bail". Tampa Bay Online. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  9. "Mafia 'rat' planned to kill John Gotti". Telegraph. 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  10. "Brazil hands over mob case fugitive". St. Petersburg Times. December 23, 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  11. Graham, Kevin. "Gotti friend with Tampa ties admits role in killings, feds say". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  12. "Witness causes headaches for Gotti offspring". March 3, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  13. Alison Gendar, AND Corky Siemaszko (October 1, 2009), Mob turncoat John Alite testifies he got nails done with John Gotti Jr. after drug dealer's murder, New York: NY Daily News, archived from the original on October 4, 2009, retrieved November 2, 2009
  14. Eligon, John (August 5, 2008). "Gotti Arrested in Murder Conspiracy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  15. Mcshane, Larry; Porpora, Kenny (December 2, 2009), Prosecution's case against Junior Gotti wasn't credible, juror says, New York Daily News, archived from the original on December 5, 2009, retrieved December 10, 2009
  16. Gendar, Alison; Siemaszko, Corky (October 1, 2009). "Gotti lawyers whack away at Alite's testimony". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  17. "For Fourth Time, Mistrial in Prosecution of Gotti". nytimes.com. December 1, 2009. Archived from the original on 2019-03-14.
  18. "Government Ends Case Against Gotti". nytimes.com. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14.
  19. "Letter to Judge prompts investigation by the U.S. Probation Office into allegations that former Gambino associate John Alite violated the terms of his Supervised Release". huffpost.com. October 23, 2015.
  20. Ryan, Patty. "Ex-mobster who talked to feds now wants to talk for a living". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  21. "Gotti's Rules". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  22. "Darkest Hour". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  23. "Prison Rules : John Alite : 9781692583262". www.bookdepository.com. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  24. Fienberg, Daniel (July 21, 2020). "'Fear City: New York vs. the Mafia': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

Further reading
  • Anastasia, George (2015). Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia. NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 9780062370419.
  • Pike, S.C. (2018). Darkest Hour: John Alite: Former Mafia Enforcer for John Gotti & The Gambino Crime Family. NY: J.C. Cliff, LLC. ISBN 9780997159189.
  • Christophers, Nick; Alite, John (2019). Prison Rules. CA: Over the Edge Books. ISBN 9781944082437.
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