Witness did not believe Gotti's claim to have quit mob
Mob informant Dominick Cicale testified at John "Junior" Gotti's racketeering trial Thursday that when he first heard in 2004 of Gotti's plan to claim that he had quit the mob, he thought it was a smart legal strategy - but not something that could actually be true.
"There is no quitting the mob," the former Bonanno family capo told jurors in federal court in Manhattan. "We're not Microsoft."
Cicale was the second witness in two days to testify that Gambino family heir Gotti and Cicale's boss, Bonanno family head Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, consulted while they were jailed in 2005 and devised plans to admit they had been part of the mob but deny recent criminal activity.
In four racketeering trials since 2005, Gotti, 45, of Oyster Bay, has claimed that he withdrew from the mob in 1999. The statute of limitations on racketeering is five years, and in the three previous trials the defense has helped produce hung juries.
Cicale, 42, a gangster from the Bronx who admitted to three murders, was dressed in a conservative suit but regaled jurors with detailed descriptions of his tattoos - including a panther on his chest, a "devil with an ax" on one arm, an executioner saying "Who's Next?" on the other, a grim reaper and a machine gun with a silencer.
After hearing from Basciano that Gotti was going to claim he had "quit the life," Cicale said, he consulted leaders of the Gambino, Genovese and Colombo families who were jailed with him in the Brooklyn federal lockup to see what they thought.
None vetoed the plan, Cicale said, but six years after Gotti now claims he had quit, no one else in organized crime seemed to know about it.
"They weren't aware of it," he testified. "I was making them aware."
In addition to racketeering, Gotti is charged with murdering two Queens men involved in the drug trade in the 1990s. If convicted, he could spend life in prison.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/gotti-witness-there-is-no-quitting-the-mob-1.1541047?qr=1
"There is no quitting the mob," the former Bonanno family capo told jurors in federal court in Manhattan. "We're not Microsoft."
Cicale was the second witness in two days to testify that Gambino family heir Gotti and Cicale's boss, Bonanno family head Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, consulted while they were jailed in 2005 and devised plans to admit they had been part of the mob but deny recent criminal activity.
In four racketeering trials since 2005, Gotti, 45, of Oyster Bay, has claimed that he withdrew from the mob in 1999. The statute of limitations on racketeering is five years, and in the three previous trials the defense has helped produce hung juries.
Cicale, 42, a gangster from the Bronx who admitted to three murders, was dressed in a conservative suit but regaled jurors with detailed descriptions of his tattoos - including a panther on his chest, a "devil with an ax" on one arm, an executioner saying "Who's Next?" on the other, a grim reaper and a machine gun with a silencer.
After hearing from Basciano that Gotti was going to claim he had "quit the life," Cicale said, he consulted leaders of the Gambino, Genovese and Colombo families who were jailed with him in the Brooklyn federal lockup to see what they thought.
None vetoed the plan, Cicale said, but six years after Gotti now claims he had quit, no one else in organized crime seemed to know about it.
"They weren't aware of it," he testified. "I was making them aware."
In addition to racketeering, Gotti is charged with murdering two Queens men involved in the drug trade in the 1990s. If convicted, he could spend life in prison.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/gotti-witness-there-is-no-quitting-the-mob-1.1541047?qr=1
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