By Howard Koplowitz
After surviving three Manhattan trials, John Gotti Jr. now faces charges in Florida after federal authorities there unsealed an indictment Tuesday linking him to three murders — including two committed in Queens in 1988 and 1991.
Gotti, 44, of Oyster Bay, L.I., faces life in prison if convicted of the charges, which also included allegations that he took part in an illegal drug operation organized by the Gambino crime family that trafficked five kilograms of cocaine through New York, New Jersey and Florida, according to federal prosecutors in Tampa.
The charges claimed Gotti was the “de facto boss in the Gambino crime family” during “various times relevant to this indictment,” which spanned 1983 up until the date of the indictment.
Gotti is the son of former Gambino crime family boss and Howard Beach resident John Gotti Sr.
Manhattan prosecutors attempted to convict the younger Gotti three times for racketeering conspiracy, but all of the cases ended in mistrials. During those trials Gotti maintained that he left the mob before those cases were presented in court.
He was accused Tuesday of racketeering and murder conspiracy in the murders of George Grosso, who was killed Dec. 20, 1988, in Queens, and Bruce John Gutterup, who was killed Nov. 20, 1991, on the boardwalk in the Rockaways, according to the Tampa indictment.
Grosso's murder was listed as an unsolved homicide with the NYPD's Cold Case Squad before the indictment.
He was also charged in connection with the murder of Louis DiBono, who was killed Oct. 4, 1990, in the parking garage of the World Trade Center, prosecutors said.
An investigation into the alleged cocaine operation led prosecutors to discover Gotti's alleged involvement in the murders, according to Robert O'Neill, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida.
“You have the Gambino crime family reaching out to Tampa, Fla.,” O'Neill said during a news conference explaining the indictment.
A separate but related case filed Tuesday in Tampa charged five other men with racketeering conspiracy, including 33-year-old David D'Arpino of Howard Beach.
Prosecutors charged D'Arpino with racketeering conspiracy and murder in aid of a racketeering activity for the July 12, 1996, killing of John Gebert in Woodhaven.
He faces life in prison if convicted of both charges, O'Neill said.
The four others charged along with D'Arpino include John Burke, a 47-year-old currently incarcerated in a New York prison; Michael Finnerty, 43, of Oceanside, L.I.; Guy Peden, 47, of Wantagh, L.I.; and 33-year-old James Cadicamo of Tampa.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
