Peter Gotti, the older brother of notorious New York mafia boss John Gotti, has died in federal prison, according to reports.
The 81-year-old former mobster died of natural causes at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. He had been suffering from thyroid problems and was blind in one eye, according to The Associated Press, which cited a source who asked to remain anonymous.
Peter Gotti, who claimed he had turned his back on the gangster lifestyle, failed to win an early release to avoid dying in prison.
James Craven, the attorney who appealed for Peter Gotti’s released, once remarked that “Stevie Wonder could see” the former boss was not a danger to the public, according to the New York Post.
He was convicted in 2003 and had served nearly 18 years of a 25-year term for racketeering and other felonies he committed after taking over the helm of the Gambino family empire for the younger Gotti, who also died in prison in 2002 while serving a life sentence for murder and numerous other crimes. The younger Gotti was 61 and had cancer.
After Peter became boss, he reportedly spent as much as $70,000 on bounties to hunt down Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, John Gotti’s former underboss who became a key witness in the federal case against the family in exchange for a 1991 plea deal.
Peter Gotti was the acting boss of the Gambinos from 1999 to 2002, the year he was arrested in Brooklyn.
Peter was known to be friendly and down-to-earth, which stood in stark contrast to the flamboyance and ruthlessness of his younger brother.
But the man’s amiable nature made him ill-equipped to lead the Gambinos, according to Lewis Kasman, a former mobster and close confidant of John Gotti. The media nicknamed the younger Gotti the “Dapper Don” because of his expensive suits and silvery slick-backed hair. He was also dubbed the “Teflon Don” after a series of acquittals made him appear untouchable.
Peter Gotti, on the other hand, was a sanitation worker and a “regular knockaround guy who didn’t let his title go to his head,” said Kasman.
“He was trying to do his brother’s bidding, and he had a tough task,” he said. “A lot of the captains were very upset with him because he wasn’t a strong boss. The Lucchese family walked all over him.”
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