Gotti in Federal Custody

`No Problem,' He Says

by Alison Carper, Anthony M. DeStefano and Mitch Gelman. | Staff Writers

December 12, 1990

Reputed crime family boss John Gotti and three of his top associates were arrested last night on federal racketeering charges stemming from Gotti's alleged takeover of the Gambino crime family after the 1985 assassination of the previous mob boss, Paul Castellano.

"No problem," a grinning Gotti said after his arrest.

The arrest came as no surprise. Anticipating it, Gotti's attorney last week asked federal officials to let his client surrender to avoid a "circus" at his arrest.

"We want to walk in like gentlemen," attorney Bruce Cutler said.

But federal agents and New York detectives paid no heed to the request. Instead they picked up Gotti around 7 p.m. at the Ravenite social club at 247 Mulberry St. in Manhattan's Little Italy.

"Somebody told me when I walked in here that I was going to get pinched tonight," Gotti said as agents placed him in custody, sources said.

The arrest is the fourth in five years for Gotti. But the so-called "Teflon Don" has won acquitals in each of his previous trials, and has been free since his release from prison after serving time for a manslaughter conviction nearly two decades ago. Federal authorities have been trying to put Gotti behind bars since 1986.

Earlier this year, in February, a jury acquitted Gotti on assault charges in the shooting of John O'Connor, a carpenters union official.

Gotti, who has been given to playful moments during his recent federal trials, gave reporters "three-to-one" odds that he would win an acquittal when he was arrested last year.

But sources were confident that the latest case against him, which stems from a Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) indictment, is based on information from strong informants and more solid evidence, including bugs and wiretaps, than they had in the last federal case.

Although U.S. Attorney Andrew Maloney would not comment last night on the contents of the sealed indictment, others close to the case said the latest charges include allegations that Gotti engineered Castellano's murder in front of Spark's Steak House in midtown Manhattan. The indictment, to be unSealed in Brooklyn federal court today, charges that Gotti and his associates conspired to take over the Gambino crime family, federal sources said.

The indictment also charges that three other murders were ordered as part of the scheme to clear the way for Gotti to become crime boss, sources said. The victims were Robert DiBernardo, a reputed crime family captain who disappeared in 1986, Wilfred (Willie Boy) Johnson, a former confidante of Gotti, and Frank DeCicco, another reputed crime captain killed in a 1986 Brooklyn car-bombing.

Also arrested last night were Frank LoCascio, Thomas Gambino and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, all reputed top Gambino associates.

Gambino, the son of Carlo Gambino, the namesake of the crime family, is a major garment district businessman. He was arrested last night in the garment area on charges of loan-sharking and gambling, officials said. Gambino was indicted earlier this year on separate state racketeering charges which alleged that his delivery companies conspired to control the garment trucking industry. The case is pending.

A year ago, Gambino was aquitted of federal perjury charges after a jury trial. The charges stemmed from an investigation of his late uncle, Paul Castellano, who took over the family shortly after the death of Gambino's father.

Gravano, a reputed crime family adviser, is the third ranking member in the crime family, authorities said.

The latest indictment is based on information gathered after Gotti - apparently suspicious of FBI bugs in the Ravenite - stopped having conversations of any substance at the club, instead using an upstairs apartment to conduct his business, law enforcement sources said. The FBI, through an informant, learned of the apartment and planted bugs there, the sources said.

While the jury was deliberating Gotti's fate in his assault case earlier this year, Gotti alledgedly took LoCascio and Gravano to the apartment to discuss who would take over the crime family if Gotti was sent to jail, sources said.

Nearly two hours after his arrest, Gotti exited the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza, clad in a dark brown, double-breasted suit with a bright yellow scarf wrapped once around his neck. He was taken, handcuffed, to a car to be driven to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to spend the night. Gotti, asked if he believed he would again be acquitted, grinned from the back seat of the car and said "No problem."

Meanwhile, inside the Ravenite club late last night, 12 men in double-breasted suits and flannel hats paced the floors nervously or sat at tables and drank. Four of them sipped drinks at the bar, smoking cigars and kissed each other, consolingly, on the cheeks. Pete Bowles contributed to this story.