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NY mafia man's crime departure a 'sham:' prosecutors
US prosecutors have wrapped up the fourth trial in five years against alleged New York Mafia boss John Gotti Jr, calling his claim to have abandoned the Cosa Nostra a "sham."
"The defendant's claim is a sham. It was made up with other mob members," Assistant US Attorney James Trezevant said at a Manhattan federal court Monday during the final day of arguments before the racketeering, cocaine dealing and murder case goes to the jury.
"He has never, never quit that life," the prosecutor concluded.
Gotti, son of notorious Gambino family boss John Gotti, has for years shown himself the worthy heir to his father's nickname, "Teflon Don," for his ability to elude serious convictions.
Three previous trials have ended in hung juries.
Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and black-rimmed reading glasses, Gotti Jr bore little resemblance to the vicious drug dealer, murderer and racketeer described by the government.
His wife, sisters and brother joined numerous supporters in the courtroom, some of them walking out at the prosecutor's remarks, but most sitting stony-faced.
Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi, argued that his client was part of the Gambino network headed by his father, but went clean after pleading guilty in 1999 to racketeering and serving five years in prison.
"Everyone has free will. This isn't about the mob. This is about what you decide to do with your life," Carnesi said.
The attorney also tore into the credibility of mafia turncoats who provided the bulk of the government's evidence against Gotti during the two-month trial.
He stressed that each of these men had committed horrific crimes, including multiple murders, kidnapping, drug dealing and extortion, and now stood to get reduced sentences in exchange for assisting the prosecution.
The star prosecution witness, a confessed killer and Gotti's former best friend, John Alite, said on the witness stand that he literally could not remember how many crimes he had committed.
But Carnesi threw cold water on Alite's testimony that Gotti ordered him to commit murders, saying the killer saw his statements as a get out of jail card.
"All he has to do is add the tag line 'John told me...' Those few words wash away a multitude of sins," Carnesi said.
But Trezevant said Gotti was like an "actor" who was in fact an "unrepentant street thug" who joined the Gambino ranks in the 1980s, rose to street boss and made millions of dollars from drug sales and shakedowns.
Gotti is accused of involvement in three gangland slayings during a racketeering and drug dealing career in New York and Florida.
