# John A. Gotti
**John A. Gotti** (born John Angelo Gotti), known as "Junior" Gotti, is an American former mobster who, according to federal prosecutors, served as acting boss of the [Gambino crime family](https://www.edgepedia.org/gambino-crime-family) after his father, John Gotti Sr., was imprisoned in 1992[1](https://www.history.com/articles/john-gotti). He was charged repeatedly between 1998 and 2009, was convicted once on a guilty plea, and walked out of four trials without a conviction, after which prosecutors gave up their pursuit[2](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/u-s-v-gotti-893074303) • [3](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-8068/226658/20220606131639411_burke%20petition%201.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Family position | Eldest son of Gambino boss John Gotti Sr.; named acting boss of the family after his father's 1992 conviction, per federal prosecutors[1](https://www.history.com/articles/john-gotti) |
| 1999 conviction | Pleaded guilty to racketeering; sentenced to six years in prison[1](https://www.history.com/articles/john-gotti) |
| 1999 case allegations | The 1999 racketeering case against John A. Gotti did not include the murder of Paul Castellano; the five-murder case relying on the testimony of Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano was brought against his father, John Gotti Sr.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/like-father-like-son-03-09-1999/) • [13](https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/en/case-law-doc/justiceobstructioncrimetype/usa/1993/us_v_frank_locascio_and_john_gotti.html) |
| 2005 trial | Jury deadlocked on the RICO counts; mistrial declared; the Second Circuit in 2006 affirmed that retrial was permitted[5](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1452392.html) |
| 2008–2009 case | Indicted by a Florida grand jury on charges including the murder of Bruce Gotterup; the trial ended in a mistrial on December 1, 2009[3](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-8068/226658/20220606131639411_burke%20petition%201.pdf) |
| Nicknames | Reported in the press as "Gentleman John," "Big Brother John," and "Papa John," in contrast to his father's "Dapper Don"[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jan-17-mn-64219-story.html) |
## Succession in the Gambino family
John A. Gotti grew up while his father was repeatedly in prison, a circumstance that later puzzled observers such as the judge in one of his cases, who noted the son seemed to be repeating the father's mistakes[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/like-father-like-son-03-09-1999/). According to federal prosecutors, after John Gotti Sr. was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to life without parole, he appointed his eldest son as acting boss of the Gambino family[1](https://www.history.com/articles/john-gotti). [Law enforcement](https://www.edgepedia.org/law-enforcement) officials said the son's business was the mob, although his father publicly described himself as a plumbing-supplies salesman[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jan-17-mn-64219-story.html).
The succession was not smooth. When, according to informants' reports passed to the FBI, the son tried to mimic one of his father's volcanic, table-pounding rages at a sit-down with the rival Genovese family, the other side simply walked out[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1999/09/john-gotti-succession). In 2002, father and son were in the same federal custody: Gotti Jr. had joined his father, the "Dapper Don," in the federal lockup[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/02/10/in-mafia-families-the-son-also-falls/4cde606f-cee0-407b-b643-95948aaf8736/). John Gotti Sr. died in prison on June 10, 2002[9](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gotti-rap-sheet/).
## The 1998–1999 case
The racketeering case brought against Gotti Jr. in the late 1990s alleged five murders, including the 1985 killing of his father's predecessor as Gambino boss, [Paul Castellano](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-castellano), and rested heavily on the cooperation of Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the Gambino underboss who had become the Mafia's highest-ranking government witness[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/like-father-like-son-03-09-1999/). Gotti pleaded guilty to racketeering in 1999 and received a six-year sentence[1](https://www.history.com/articles/john-gotti).
## The 2004–2005 trial and appeal
A federal indictment in the Southern District of New York charged Gotti in four counts, of which the appeal concerned the two RICO counts: a substantive racketeering count under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) and a RICO conspiracy count. The alleged predicate acts were a conspiracy to kidnap radio personality [Curtis Sliwa](https://www.edgepedia.org/curtis-sliwa) and the kidnapping itself, a conspiracy to carry out securities fraud, a conspiracy to extort within the construction industry, plus loansharking and a plot to engage in it[5](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1452392.html). The trial ran in August and September 2005[2](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/u-s-v-gotti-893074303).
On September 20, 2005, the jury reported it was divided. It marked the securities-fraud conspiracy "not proved" and left every other predicate act blank, while a majority of jurors believed the Sliwa kidnapping conspiracy, the kidnapping itself, the extortion conspiracy, and the loansharking counts had been proved; no act was unanimously found proved[5](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1452392.html). The court declared a mistrial on the RICO counts. Gotti argued that the government's failure to prove two predicate acts entitled him to judgment of acquittal and barred retrial under the [Double Jeopardy Clause](https://www.edgepedia.org/double-jeopardy-clause). The Second Circuit, in an opinion by a panel including Judges Leval and [Sotomayor](https://www.edgepedia.org/sotomayor), affirmed the denial of that motion on May 25, 2006, holding that retrial could proceed[5](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1452392.html).
## Later prosecutions and acquittals
On July 24, 2008, Gotti Jr. was indicted by a Florida grand jury on charges including the murder of Bruce Gotterup. The main witness against him was [John Alite](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-alite), a former associate who had fled the country by 2004. Gotti's trial ended in a mistrial on December 1, 2009[3](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-8068/226658/20220606131639411_burke%20petition%201.pdf). Alite later testified against him in earlier proceedings as well; in 2026 Alite, by then a New Jersey borough councilman, was himself arrested on extortion and loansharking charges[10](https://apnews.com/article/2ab5f7672c7b71bc511f559b4aea41b4).
In interviews years later, Gotti described leaving the criminal life behind and spoke of his father's "volcanic" temper[11](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gotti-jr-on-living-and-leaving-a-life-of-crime/). In a [Biography](https://www.edgepedia.org/biography) documentary he reflected that the Gotti name had become, in his words, metaphoric for organized crime[12](https://www.biography.com/crime/a73333340/life-and-death-john-gotti-gambino-boss).
## References
1. [John Gotti, HISTORY.com](https://www.history.com/articles/john-gotti)
2. [U.S. v. Gotti, 413 F.Supp.2d 287 (S.D.N.Y. 2005), vLex](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/u-s-v-gotti-893074303)
3. [Petition in Burke v. United States, No. 21-8068 (U.S. Supreme Court docket PDF)](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-8068/226658/20220606131639411_burke%20petition%201.pdf)
4. [Like Father Like Son, CBS News (1999)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/like-father-like-son-03-09-1999/)
5. [United States v. Gotti, No. 05-6872-CR (2d Cir. 2006), FindLaw](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/1452392.html)
6. [Like Godfather, Like Son? Gotti Wears Name on Ankle, Los Angeles Times (1999)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jan-17-mn-64219-story.html)
7. [Gotti succession, Vanity Fair (1999)](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1999/09/john-gotti-succession)
8. [In Mafia Families, The Son Also Falls, The Washington Post (2002)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/02/10/in-mafia-families-the-son-also-falls/4cde606f-cee0-407b-b643-95948aaf8736/)
9. [Gotti Rap Sheet, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gotti-rap-sheet/)
10. [Prosecutors allege that mob hitman turned councilman in New Jersey has returned to crime, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/2ab5f7672c7b71bc511f559b4aea41b4)
11. [Gotti Jr. on Living and Leaving a Life of Crime, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gotti-jr-on-living-and-leaving-a-life-of-crime/)
12. [The Life and Death of John Gotti, Biography.com](https://www.biography.com/crime/a73333340/life-and-death-john-gotti-gambino-boss)
13. [US v Frank Locascio and John Gotti](https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/en/case-law-doc/justiceobstructioncrimetype/usa/1993/us_v_frank_locascio_and_john_gotti.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Criminal law and penal justice › Organized-crime figures (biographies) › American Mafia and crime-family mobsters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license