Organized Crime

Criminal activity carried out by an organized enterprise.

Two Mistrials for Reputed Gambino Crime Family Leader

John A. (Junior) Gotti, reputed head of the Gambino organized crime family, managed to escape conviction in two trials in 2005 and 2006. Gotti stood trial on charges that he ordered a violent kidnapping of Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels crime-fighting group and outspoken radio talk-show host. Prosecutors said they would retry Gotti a third time. Gotti is the son of the late John Gotti, who was known as "Dapper Don." The elder Gotti died in prison in 2002 while serving a life sentence on murder and racketeering charges.

In the first trial, in September 2005, a federal jury acquitted Gotti, 41, of securities fraud charges under 18 U.S.C. §. 371. However, the jury could not agree to a verdict on two alleged racketeering counts under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. §. 1962. The RICO charges alleged that Gotti has participated in the conduct of the affairs of a racketeering organization. For a RICO conviction, the statute requires a finding that a defendant has engaged in "at least two acts of racketeering activity." The indictment against Gotti alleged several acts of racketeering activity. The alleged RICO activity included conspiring to kidnap, and the kidnapping of Curtis Sliwa; conspiring to commit securities fraud; conspiring to commit extortion in the construction industry; loansharking; and conspiracy to commit loansharking.

After eight days of juror deliberations, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin declared a mistrial on the RICO counts. Gotti asked that an acquittal be entered instead. He alleged that the prosecution had failed to prove two racketeering acts, and that under the Double Jeopardy Clause, the U.S. Constitution prohibited retrial on the charges. Judge Scheindlin disagreed and ruled that Gotti could be retried. However, she granted his request to be released from jail pending a retrial. Secured by a $7 million bond, Gotti was placed on house arrest following the 2005 mistrial.

Gotti appealed the mistrial ruling. On February 9, 2006, a panel of three judges from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a summary order upholding Judge Scheindlin's decision. The appellate court issued a detailed opinion on May 25, 2006. The summary order paved the way for Gotti's second trial, which began in mid-February. On March 10, 2006, after one and a half days of deliberation, the judge again declared a mistrial after jurors said they could not come to an agreement.

To support the charges of extortion and loansharking, the prosecution introduced evidence that in February 1997, a police search of a basement uncovered more than $350,000 in a gym bag that belonged to Gotti. Gotti's lawyers contended the money was simply cash wedding gifts that Gotti and his wife had received. The prosecution also presented evidence that a gun equipped with a silencer was found in the basement.

The attempted abduction of Sliwa took place in 1992. Prosecutors alleged that Gotti arranged the kidnapping of Sliwa as retaliation for on-air rants against Dapper Don Gotti; Gotti denied that he ordered Sliwa's attacks. In one instance, Sliwa was beaten with a baseball bat. Several weeks later, Sliwa and a masked hit man struggled in a taxi. During the struggle, Sliwa was shot. He dived out of the moving taxi, recovered, and testified at both trials. Convicted mobsters also testified against Gotti.

Gotti did not testify on his own behalf. However, his lawyers contended that he left the crime family in 1999 or even earlier, for the sake of his wife and children. Sliwa's radio co-host, Ronald L. Kuby, testified as a defense witness. Kuby said that Gotti told him in 1998 that he was "sick of this life."

Prosecutors contended Gotti continued his criminal activity after 1999, including issuing orders and collecting kickbacks. This issue was crucial to the trial. If jurors believed Gotti, the five-year statute of limitations on the RICO charges would have expired.

At one point, Gotti turned down a plea agreement that would have landed him in prison for seven years, on a 10-year sentence. A conviction carried the possibility of a 30-year sentence. Gotti pleaded guilty to unrelated racketeering charges in 1999, for which he was sentenced to six and a half years.

On May 22, 2006, a rewritten federal indictment was issued. It charges that Gotti has continued his mob-related activities, including alleged witness tampering in 2005. It also alleges that he used illegally earned income to create and operate real estate holding companies for buying real estate and collecting rent, and that he used racketeering money to establish and operate a brokerage company. According to the indictment, Gotti promoted crime family members if they committed murders.

Gotti's third trial was set to begin on July 5, 2006. With the issuance of the rewritten indictment, Judge Scheindlin postponed the opening until August 28, to give lawyers adequate preparation time.