Peter Arthur Gotti (October 15, 1939 – February 25, 2021) was an American mobster. He was the

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

of the

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

, part of the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

, and the elder brother of the former Gambino boss

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...

Early life

Gotti was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York, on October 15, 1939. He was one of 13 children (two had died at birth) of John Joseph Gotti Sr. and Philomena "Fannie" DeCarlo. Gotti's brothers included John J. Gotti, capo

Gene Gotti Eugene Gotti (born 1946) is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges; he was released in 2018. Early life Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York, ...

, capo

Richard V. Gotti Richard V. Gotti (born 1942) is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1942. He was one of 13 children (two had died at birth) of John Joseph Gotti Sr. and Philomena "Fannie" DeCarlo. Gotti's br ...

, and soldier Vincent Gotti. The brothers grew up in

East New York, Brooklyn East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...

. Gotti married Catherine in 1960 and fathered one child, Peter Gotti Jr. Gotti's nickname "One Eye" derives from blindness from

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

in one eye. Around 1960, at age 21, Gotti started working as an associate for the Gambino family. In 1988, at age 49, the family inducted Gotti as a

made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oat ...

. John J. Gotti designated Peter as caretaker of the

Bergin Hunt and Fish Club The Bergin Hunt and Fish Club that was located at 98-04 101st Avenue in Ozone Park Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in So ...

, and as a driver for John and Gene. By 1989, Peter was promoted to capo. John J. Gotti did not believe Peter had the ability to lead the crime family, which led to Peter's reputation as "the Dumbest Don". Like his father, Gotti had a legitimate job as a sanitation worker for the

New York City Department of Sanitation The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal. The DSNY motto "New York's Strongest" was coined ...

. Gotti eventually retired from the Sanitation Department with a disability pension after injuring his head against the back end of a garbage truck.

Rise to leadership

In April 1992, his brother, John J. Gotti (Jr.), received a life sentence for racketeering and related offenses.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 435–437 His brother asserted his prerogative to retain his title as boss until his death or retirement, with John's son

John A. Gotti John Angelo Gotti (born February 14, 1964) is an American former mobster who was the acting boss of the Gambino crime family from 1991 to 1999. Gotti became acting boss when the boss of the family, his father John Gotti, was sent to prison. The ...

and Peter relaying orders on his behalf. Federal prosecutors say Peter became head of the Gambino organization after Gotti Jr. was sent to prison in 1999, and is believed to have formally succeeded his brother John J. Gotti shortly before the latter's death in June 2002.

Conviction and prison

In June 2002, a few days before his brother John's death, Gotti was indicted on federal

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

charges. During Gotti's trial, federal prosecutors released information revealing that Gotti was having an affair with Marjorie Alexander, a longtime girlfriend. Alexander then publicly acknowledged the liaison and declared her love for Gotti. In response, Gotti berated Alexander for causing the publicity and broke off all contact with her. Alexander later committed suicide in 2004. During this time, his wife Catherine filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2006. On March 17, 2003, Gotti was convicted of extortion, money laundering, and racketeering activities centered on the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

waterfronts, and for the attempted extortion of film actor

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

. On April 15, 2004, Judge

Frederic Block Frederic Block (born June 6, 1934) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Education and career Born in Brooklyn, New York, the Honorable Frederic Block received an Ar ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, S ...

sentenced Gotti to nine years and four months in prison for the charges. During the trial, Gotti's lawyers stated that he was blind in one eye and suffered from

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

goiter A goitre, or goiter, is a swelling in the neck resulting from an enlarged thyroid gland. A goitre can be associated with a thyroid that is not functioning properly. Worldwide, over 90% of goitre cases are caused by iodine deficiency. The term is ...

sciatica Sciatica is pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may go down the back, outside, or front of the leg. Onset is often sudden following activities like heavy lifting, though gradual onset may also occur. The pain is often described ...

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

postconcussion syndrome Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) is a set of symptoms that may continue for weeks, months, or a year or more after a concussion – medically classified as a so-called mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). About 34 to 35% of people with concussi ...

, and depression. On December 22, 2004, Gotti was convicted in a separate trial of racketeering charges related to extortion in the construction industry and conspiring to murder government informant and former Gambino underboss

Sammy Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a ...

. On July 27, 2005, Judge Richard C. Casey sentenced Gotti to 25 years in prison for the charges. Gotti was imprisoned at the

Federal Correctional Complex, Butner The Federal Correctional Complex, Butner (FCC Butner) is a United States federal prison complex for men near Butner, North Carolina. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. FCC Butner ...

. His projected release date was September 10, 2031. In July 2011,

Domenico Cefalù Domenico Cefalù (; born 1947) is an Italian American mobster and is currently the boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. On February 25th, 2021, Domenico became the boss of the Gambino crime family. Biography Cefalù was born in Pal ...

reportedly replaced Gotti as Gambino boss. Gotti's requests for

compassionate release Compassionate release is a process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of "particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by t ...

under the

First Step Act The First Step Act, formally known as the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, is a bipartisan criminal justice bill passed by the 115th Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in Decembe ...

, citing his failing health, were both denied: that of July 2019 in September, and that of December 2019 in January 2020. On February 25, 2021, Gotti died of natural causes at the Federal Correctional Complex in

Butner, North Carolina Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History A bill passed by the North Carolina General ...

, at the age of 81.

Early life

Rise to leadership

Conviction and prison

References

Further reading