THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Mafia boss John Gotti, aka “Teflon Don,”
sentenced to life





1992
June 23



On June 23, 1992, Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the “Teflon Don”
after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, is sentenced to life
in prison after being found guilty on 14 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 in New York City, became head of the powerful Gambino
family after boss Paul Castellano was murdered outside a steakhouse in Manhattan
in December 1985. The gang assassination, the first in three decades in New York,
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 a federal
district court in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.

On April 2, 1992, John Gotti was found guilty on all counts and on June 23 was sentenced
to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole. While still imprisoned,
Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002.




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