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Gotti Jr walks free as jury fail to reach verdict in Mafia trial
Ed Harris2 Dec 2009
The trial of John "Junior" Gotti was abandoned in New York after a jury failed to reach a verdict against the son of the Gambino family Mob boss.
It was the fourth hung jury in the five-year case against the son of John J Gotti, who was dubbed the Teflon Don for his ability to evade conviction.
Jurors agonised for 11 days but remained deadlocked on all the charges, which included conspiracy linked to cocaine trafficking and three gangland murders.
District Judge Kevin P Castel declared a mistrial and freed Gotti, who has been behind bars for more than a year, on $2million bail while the US government decides whether to seek a fifth trial.
Applause erupted in the courtroom at the announcement. A smiling Gotti later walked out of Manhattan federal court and said he was looking forward to spending time with his children.
The family planned to celebrate with a steak dinner.
"It was difficult for me," he said. "I can only imagine what it was like for them." He thanked the jury for keeping an open mind despite the pervasive Mob mythology.
Gotti, 45, served more than six years for racketeering crimes before he was freed in 2005. He was arrested in August last year on the latest charges, and faced life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors accused him of ordering gangland hits and of secretly pocketing drug money despite insisting he had gone straight.
Outside the court, Gotti's sister Victoria wept and said: "We're ravaged. We're beaten down, but we're not broken."
Asked about a possibility of another trial, she said: "Just let it go. We're no organised crime family. We're a family. That's all we are."
Jurors were unanimous on one point: the government's star turn, Mob enforcer and former Gotti friend John Alite, was a disaster in court. "The whole jury agreed he was the least credible," said one juror.
Three previous trials - alleging Gotti orchestrated a kidnapping and an attempted murder plot - ended in hung juries in 2005 and 2006.
Prosecutors in the latest case also alleged that Gotti left behind a trail of bodies while emulating his late father John "Dapper Don" Gotti.
Assistant US Attorney James Trezevant said: "He never, never quit that life."
Reader views (1)
The use of the word "mafia" to connote organized crime has become so common that readers have no idea which mafia John Gotti is part of. There is no single organization known as "the Mafia" anymore thanks to writers who like to sensationalize. A Mafia now means an organized criminal entity who share the same ethnic background. John Gotti is part of New York's Italian Mafia and I will now refuse to click on and read articles that won't ratify which mafia John Gotti is associated with. Many more readers are doing the same thing.
- Ryan, London, UK, 02/12/2009 09:25
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