LYCOS RETRIEVER 
John Gotti: New York
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When John Gotti was indicted along with members of the Gambino organized crime "family" in New York in March 1985, law enforcement officials considered him to be a small-time hoodlum who had served short sentences for hijacking and attempted manslaughter. Everything changed December 16, 1985, when Gambino crime family leader Paul Castellano and "underboss" Thomas Bilotti were shot to death outside a midtown Manhattan restaurant.
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To the New York City Police Department and the federal government, John Gotti was a thief and a murderer. He had the power to kill people, and like a tyrannous monarch, Gotti periodically saw to the assassination of his rivals.
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Following the death of Castellano, John Gotti became the new boss of the Gambino family. Gotti ran the family from the Ravenite Social Club, unafraid of the public eye. Gotti was known for $2000 suits and flashiness, never hesitating to press the flesh with reporters. Despite a number of trials involving him, he emerged innocent, earning him the name "Teflon Don".
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The last gasp of John Gotti gave the New York press a choice: They could glamorize a flashy, invincible gangster or expose a brutal thug who caused the downfall of his own empire. The results were revealing: the New York Post and the Daily News rolled out sensational coverage for days, while Newsday offered a sober account of the crook's rap sheet and legacy. The New York Times tried to have it both ways, splashing Gotti's stylish mug on the front page, reciting his criminal record lower in the obit—and ending with a quote about how the mob boss was a self-styled "caesar" and "emperor."
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John Angelo Gotti was born in 1964 to Victoria DiGiorgio and John J. Gotti. His father was Italian American and it was alleged by muckraking journalist Jack Newfield, in a 2002 New York Magazine article, that his mother was Jewish.[1] He had two brothers, Frankie and Peter. He ... has two sisters, Victoria Gotti and Angela. He is normally called Junior Gotti since he has his father's first name, even though they have different middle initials.
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As he battles terminal cancer in a federal prison in Illinois, John Gotti, still the acting head of the Gambino Mafia family, is constantly in the news. Once Mr. Gotti ascends to Mafia heaven, he will be worldwide news-and Alpha will have the most up-to-date and comprehensive book on the subject.
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