By Philip Newman
For John Gotti Jr., it was having children of his own that persuaded him that it was time to forsake a life of organized crime.
Gotti, 46, who has been tried four times on federal racketeering charges but never convicted, spoke to CBS’s “60 Minutes” program Sunday.
He talked with Steve Croft of CBS in a wide-ranging interview that touched on when he found out what his father did for a living and how he idolized his father.
Gotti, who lives in Oyster Bay Cove, L.I., is the son of the late John Gotti Sr., the most flamboyant mob kingpin of his era as head of the Gambino crime family. The elder Gotti died in prison in 2002 while serving a life term for murder.
John Gotti Jr., who has six children, said “before I had my children, I really didn’t care if I died in jail. But once you have children, your perspective completely changes. Now you live your life for them. I said, ‘If something happens to me, what do they do?’”
Gotti, who grew up in Howard Beach, said one morning in 1998, he was ready to leave his house for his trial on racketeering charges.
“And I saw my wife and I saw my kids and I saw my whole family and I says, ‘I got to try to end this,’ and I spoke to my lawyers and told them, ‘I’ll take the pleas.’”
He pleaded guilty to the charges and served more than six years in prison, assuming that would square things and federal authorities would leave him alone.
But the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York had new charges waiting for Gotti when he was released, leading to four trials in five years.
All ended with juries unable to agree to convict him.
Gotti also recalled how he found out about his infamous father’s occupation. The 14-year-old Gotti was at the New York Military Academy.
“And I remember it was 1979 and we’re watching a TV show and they are saying ‘this man’s a captain in the Gambino family’ and this, that and the other thing,” Gotti said. “And I’m mortified. I’m in the back row and watching this. I’m not saying nothing and they say ‘John Gotti, etc.’ So, finally, it’s all on the table.”
Gotti said some of his classmates might have been intimidated, “but most thought it was pretty cool.”
Gotti told of the scene in Howard Beach when his father returned from prison.
“Everybody came out on the block to see him,” Gotti said. “And he gives like a regal wave. It’s like he owned the place.”
“Handsome as ever,” the son said of his father.
“My father was my cause,” Gotti said. “If my father wasn’t in that life, I probably wouldn’t have been in the street life either. Whatever he was is what I wanted to be.”
At home, did his father talk about what he did for a living?
“No,” Gotti said, “he didn’t sit at the table and say, ‘You know, by the way, my take from the numbers rackets are up this week.’”
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
