23 June 2016

History for the day: 1992: Teflon Don sentenced

History.com has this for 23 June:

Mafia boss John Gotti (photo), nicknamed the Teflon Don after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on fourteen accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, hundreds of Gotti’s supporters stormed the building and overturned and smashed cars before being forced back by police reinforcements.
Gotti, born and educated on the mean streets of New York City, became head of the powerful Gambino family after its boss Paul Castellano was murdered outside a steakhouse in Manhattan in December of 1985. The gang assassination, the first in three decades in New York City, was organized by Gotti and his colleague Sammy “the Bull” Gravano. The Gambino family was known for its illegal narcotics operations, gambling activities, and car theft. During the next five years, Gotti rapidly expanded his criminal empire, and his family grew into the nation’s most powerful Mafia family. Despite wide publicity of his criminal activities, Gotti managed to avoid conviction several times, usually through witness intimidation. In 1990, however, he was indicted for conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Paul Castellano, and Gravano agreed to testify against him in Federal district court in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.
On 2 April 1992, Gotti was found guilty on all counts and, on 23 June, was sentenced to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole.
While still imprisoned, Gotti died of throat cancer on 10 June 2002.
Rico says it couldn't happen to a nicer guy... (Yes, that was sarcasm.) The fact that Paul and Rico's fiancée share the same last name is a coincidence, but his death just proves that smoking will get you...

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