Gotti Struggles From Solitary To Keep Control Of Family Appeal For New Trial Is An Attack On A Would-Be Boss And An Attempt To Protect Son’s Position

A sacred rule of the American Mafia holds that the boss of a mob family is removed only by death or abdication, even if he is in prison.

That rule, law-enforcement authorities said, has created extraordinary leadership problems for the Gambino crime family and its boss, John Gotti, who is serving a life sentence in virtual solitary confinement and without the possibility of parole.

In a battle to maintain control of the family, the authorities said, Gotti filed a long-shot appeal last month for a new trial. The appeal is based on claims that Salvatore Gravano, his former under-boss, lied when he testified against Gotti in 1992.

Investigators and prosecutors are asserting that Gotti began the appeal and a coordinated attack on Gravano, who is testifying in an upcoming mob case, largely to warn potential underworld opponents that he could still return as boss.

Gotti’s action, authorities said, is also intended to protect the position of his son, John Jr., who, as acting boss, is the titular head of the family.

“These legal maneuvers are an attempt by him to keep his authority and to keep people in tow,” said Louis Schiliro, the head of the FBI’s criminal division in New York. “If he loses this appeal, he loses control.”

Laura Ward, a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said that Gotti’s associates are “on a mission to destroy Gravano’s credibility by manufacturing false allegations.”

Ward, basing her information on intelligence from undercover informants, said in a letter to defense lawyers, “Gotti has ordered his lawyers and investigators to manufacture ‘dirt’ about Gravano to be used in cross-examining Gravano when he testifies.”

Gravano is to testify next month in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn in the murder and racketeering trial of Joseph Watts, 54, who prosecutors have identified as an associate in the Gambino family.

The tactic of appealing Gotti’s conviction is particularly important because, unlike previous imprisoned mob bosses, Gotti has limited access to his underworld confederates.

“Before Gotti, high-level mobsters could practically run the prisons they were in,” explained Ronald Goldstock, the former director of New York State’s Organized Crime Task Force. “They got the food and perks they wanted, they were in the general population and had little trouble communicating with the outside.”

But for almost four years, Gotti has been confined to a 6-by-8-foot cell at the Federal Penitentiary in Marion, Ill., far from the elegant, swashbuckling life style he led in New York.