The Debrief With MyronGainesX - Fed Explains The Gambino Crime Family & John Gotti

00:00:00.960 And we are live. What's up, guys? Welcome to FedItMan. Today, we're going to be covering

00:00:03.980 the Gambino family. This is the one that won the poll from the last episode we did on the intro to

00:00:07.860 the Mafia. So I'm not going to play an intro, guys. We're going to get right into it, not waste any

00:00:11.840 time. So here's a Wikipedia page for the Gambino crime family. 0.54

00:00:15.980 The Gambino crime family, pronounced Gambino, is an Italian-American mafia

00:00:19.680 crime family and one of the five families that dominate organized crime activities in New York City,

00:00:24.340 United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the

00:00:27.660 American mafia. The group, which went through five bosses

00:00:31.660 between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the

00:00:35.680 family at the time of the McLennan hearings in 1963, when the structure of

00:00:39.580 organized crime first gained public attention. And as you guys know, this kind of came

00:00:43.640 to public attention when people, the government was basically

00:00:47.520 subpoenaing all the bosses to come in and testify. And that's kind of when

00:00:50.740 the murder, the code of silence, basically became public knowledge. The group's operations

00:00:55.360 extend from New York and eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include

00:00:59.420 labor and destruction, dracketarian, gambling, loan sharking, extortion, money laundering,

00:01:03.260 prostitution, fraud, hijacking, and fencing. And if you guys notice, it says

00:01:07.040 in 1963. Guess what also happened right around that time? Kennedy was

00:01:11.340 assassinated. So there's a bunch of, you know, theories out there as far as

00:01:16.520 excuse me, why Kennedy was killed. But it's pretty much undoubtedly

00:01:21.300 so that the mafia, the American Italian mafia, to be specific, did have a hand in it, as well

00:01:26.360 as some other people to include them boys, if you know what I'm talking about. Okay. And

00:01:31.360 some people from the CIA. And this is a fact because it's been declassified as of the past

00:01:35.760 two months or so ago. So yeah. And also, Angie here. Angie, can you pull up the, actually,

00:01:41.760 introduce yourself to the people real quick. I got so ahead of myself. So some to the people.

00:01:45.620 Hi, guys. It's Angie here. My name is Angelica. But you know, I prefer Angie because you guys

00:01:51.640 don't know how to pronounce it well. And yeah. So I'm back here helping Myra co-hosted the

00:01:58.200 mafia family series that we're going to have on Thursdays. She means series, guys. Don't make

00:02:04.020 fun of her. What did I say? You said serious. Serious? All right. It's fine. It's all good.

00:02:09.820 English is her second language, guys. Whatever. So she actually pulled this up for you guys here. So

00:02:14.400 from a bird's eye view, guys, here's the Carlo Gambino family. Can you enlarge it for the people

00:02:18.060 real quick so they can see? As you guys can see here. And this is why if you didn't watch our

00:02:21.980 first episode, guys, make sure to watch it because we actually cover how to read this stuff. And oh,

00:02:27.900 my bad. Yeah. The mafia organization. Exactly. We actually explained that, which is why in the

00:02:32.820 first episode, we gave the hierarchy, the history, et cetera, so that when we cover all the families,

00:02:37.960 you kind of can just hit the ground running. So anyways, you guys can see here, you got the boss,

00:02:41.160 which is the top guy. You got the underboss, Joseph Biano. And then you got the consigliere,

00:02:47.960 Joseph Ricambano. And then all the capos, et cetera. So this is kind of a bird's eye view,

00:02:53.600 guys, of the organization. We're going to go ahead and react to a documentary I have here

00:02:58.000 that goes into more detail. But this is kind of like just a quick little preliminary look

00:03:02.540 at the Gambino crime family. And obviously, this family is one of the most famous ones because

00:03:07.980 your boy, John Gotti, was also a member of the Gambino family, actually took on as boss before 0.95

00:03:13.540 his arrest in the early 90s. So yeah, the successors and everything. This is pretty cool.

00:03:18.140 Yeah. Yeah. Really cool chart. We'll put the link in the description for y'all. But yeah,

00:03:21.760 let's get into it, guys. So this is a documentary right here. It's called The Gambino's First Family

00:03:26.140 of Crime Season 1, Episode 1. Let's get into it. The Gambino's No Crime Family in America has been

00:03:39.360 as powerful, as wealthy, or as treacherous. The founder, Carlo Gambino, had the intelligence of a

00:03:47.160 fox, the strength of a lion, and the nose of a hawk. This guy was calling the shots. Well, he definitely

00:03:54.320 did have the nose of a hawk, guys. You guys can see here. He had a beak on him, man. Yeah, I got a

00:04:00.020 big nose, too. So I can definitely see one of them. Shots ended in murder. How he himself. And no,

00:04:07.020 he was not one of them boys, guys. He was Sicilian. And we're going to get into his history as well.

00:04:12.480 And this guy, Carlo Gambino, guys, was one of the few mafia bosses that actually died of natural

00:04:19.440 causes, not in prison or killed through some type of murder for hire situation. So, and he's revered

00:04:27.260 pretty much as one of the best bosses of all time. Avoided being murdered is an astonishing mystery to

00:04:34.720 me. He ruled quietly, controlling so many rackets in New York City, he had more power than the mayor.

00:04:40.620 His successor. Guys, let that sink in. At his height, he had more power than the mayor. That

00:04:51.000 should let you guys know what kind of money these guys were rolling with. Paul Castellano,

00:04:57.300 a pampered businessman who had not paid his dues on the street. Guys who had been in the trenches,

00:05:03.140 robbing and stealing and killing and hijacking and everything. That's John Gotti on the left right

00:05:07.740 here, guys. Surveillance footage. You know, for years said, hey. And the short guy with the little

00:05:12.200 striped jacket there was Sammy Gravano, a.k.a. Sammy the Bull. What about me? The new boss was lonely

00:05:19.660 and fearful. When I say to him, why you are very lonely? He said, I only have money in my pocket.

00:05:26.160 People like me die in the street. He knew all too well. Then came the Gambino boss straight from 1.00

00:05:35.280 central casting. You know, I always feel good. And quick little fun fact for you guys here,

00:05:41.260 okay? I actually lived in New York when John Gotti was the boss. I actually lived in New York City.

00:05:48.440 And I remember as a child seeing this guy's face all over the papers, man. It was crazy. When was

00:05:54.820 this? I knew you were going to talk some shit, midget. This was in the early nineties, 1.00

00:05:59.320 mid-early nineties. Like, I was born in 1990. So I remember seeing him, you know, back in like

00:06:05.940 90, what? Three, four, like six, seven, seven. Maybe around like 95, 96, I would say.

00:06:12.380 Okay, oldie.

00:06:13.440 Yeah, they.

00:06:14.040 The fact that you remember this.

00:06:15.160 Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, yeah. But he was on every newspaper. I remember because my dad used to read

00:06:19.080 the New York Post every day religiously. And John Gotti's face was always spread all over.

00:06:23.560 Read that newspaper?

00:06:24.940 Back in the day, yeah. That's the only way to get, you know.

00:06:26.900 Of course. Oldie.

00:06:28.880 Yeah, okay. I know you ain't talking, midget. 1.00

00:06:31.000 They walked into a restaurant dressed impeccably. It was an event. And everybody stopped and

00:06:35.520 looked around.

00:06:36.840 And John Gotti tells Sam, you see what I, what did I tell you? Everybody loves us.

00:06:40.880 But in the end, the dapper Don would take the family down in flames.

00:06:45.480 You know, they're going to try and keep you in jail. They say you're in danger while you're out.

00:06:53.340 Men rode carriages through the quaint

00:06:55.520 100 years ago, well-dressed men rode carriages through the quaint cobblestone streets that wind

00:07:08.420 through the city of Palermo, Sicily, and converge on its ancient town square.

00:07:13.440 Many of these well-dressed men belong to the Mafia, otherwise known as the Honored Society.

00:07:21.120 A criminal brotherhood that used codes of honor, millions of lira, and above all,

00:07:26.980 violence to control every aspect of daily life throughout Sicily.

00:07:32.360 These so-called men of respect had been a law unto themselves for centuries.

00:07:37.360 So it's no surprise that Palermo has been the birthplace of many powerful Mafia bosses.

00:07:44.220 On August 24th, 1902, a boy was born who one day would build the most powerful crime

00:07:50.460 syndicate in the world.

00:07:52.120 His name was Carlo.

00:07:53.740 Carlo Gambino.

00:07:57.760 Carlo was born into a prosperous and well-connected family.

00:08:01.540 Many of his relatives were in the Mafia.

00:08:03.460 I couldn't resist.

00:08:10.220 In a part of the city so dominated by the Honored Society that it was off-limits even to police

00:08:16.140 and the military.

00:08:18.740 Like others his age, young Carlo looked up to his Mafia elders.

00:08:23.460 The men of respect had everything a man could want.

00:08:26.600 Power and money.

00:08:28.300 They were treated like royalty.

00:08:29.680 As a teenager, Carlo watched them stroll along the streets of the city in their beautifully

00:08:36.400 tailored suits.

00:08:38.400 All the men would take off their hats to them, doff their hats, and the women would 1.00

00:08:42.440 curtsy and kiss their hands.

00:08:45.880 And he said, my God, how can you get to be one of these guys?

00:08:52.040 The man who made the biggest impression on young Carlo was the head of the Honored Society

00:08:56.500 and one of the most powerful...

00:08:58.600 Makes no difference to, you know, American crime movies, you know, like Boys in the Hood,

00:09:02.620 whatever.

00:09:02.880 They see these D-Boys making all this money, whatever, and then they want to get into that 1.00

00:09:06.080 life.

00:09:06.800 Same thing going down in Sicily in a different time.

00:09:08.800 For men in Sicily, Don Vito, Cascioferro. 0.67

00:09:13.300 Don Vito was both charismatic and fearless, but it was his criminal intuition that Carlo idolized

00:09:19.680 most.

00:09:20.080 Don Vito perfected the art of extortion.

00:09:24.880 Where earlier mafiosi had pillaged and destroyed the businesses who would not cooperate with

00:09:29.400 them, Don Vito saw a greater opportunity.

00:09:33.700 In charging moderate fees for mafia protection, the businessmen could operate without fear,

00:09:40.300 so long as they paid Don Vito's share.

00:09:42.900 Also, guys, I really, if you haven't seen episode one of this mafia series where we go

00:09:55.300 over the hierarchy, et cetera, I heavily suggest you go and watch it before you finish watching

00:10:01.380 this because, as you can see here, we're going through the history, and this might not make

00:10:06.600 sense to some of you guys watching this unless you saw the first episode where we talk about

00:10:11.060 the mafia's origins in Sicily.

00:10:13.440 There are some terms that you won't understand if you don't watch the video.

00:10:17.820 Exactly.

00:10:18.480 So, because this right now, we're going over mafia history only specific to the Gambino

00:10:23.280 family, not the overall La Cosa Nostra Italian mafia as you know it, okay?

00:10:28.560 And again, like I told y'all before, this is why I was putting this off.

00:10:32.580 The Italian mafia is a monster, so if you want to properly do it, you need to be able 1.00

00:10:36.900 to separate history versus Gambino versus Lucchese versus Colombo, because if you want

00:10:42.540 to do this organization justice, you've got to break it down family by family.

00:10:47.940 So, again, if you guys have not seen it already, go watch episode one before you finish watching

00:10:52.180 this because this is only going to give you the Gambino perspective.

00:10:57.800 Out of school as a teenager and with the help of his family's connections, got a job.

00:11:02.580 As an enforcer for Don Vito.

00:11:05.740 If a businessman failed to pay his protection money on time, Carlo would arrange an accident

00:11:12.220 for a young...

00:11:13.900 Yeah, an accident.

00:11:15.160 Forget about it.

00:11:17.540 Criminal, Carlo's looks...

00:11:19.500 Accident, quote unquote.

00:11:20.920 ...were hardly threatening.

00:11:22.580 He was only 5'7", of average build, and he did not parade around in fancy suits.

00:11:29.140 Could you imagine? 0.99

00:11:30.140 This guy with the big nose walks in and freaking throws a brick through your freaking business. 0.98

00:11:35.060 Then next thing you know, hey, forget about it. 1.00

00:11:38.000 Pay the money, asshole. 1.00

00:11:39.160 Pay the money. 1.00

00:11:40.300 Only intimidating feature was his prominent nose, which looked like a hawk's beak.

00:11:45.320 He also had a mischievous grin, which became his trademark.

00:11:50.700 Carlo was shy and reserved, yet he lived by a creed which would take him to the top of

00:11:56.120 a criminal empire.

00:11:58.240 One of the great lines that he uttered was, you know, you have to be like a lion and a fox.

00:12:02.120 The fox is smart enough to recognize traps, and the lion is strong enough to scare away

00:12:07.840 the wolves.

00:12:08.520 You'll be like a lion and a fox, and, you know, no one will ever beat you.

00:12:12.840 Carlo proved to Don Vito and other men of respect that he was both a lion and a fox, carrying

00:12:20.160 out all their orders with ruthlessness and cunning.

00:12:22.880 They immediately recognized in Carlo a superior intelligence.

00:12:29.200 He was known as a man of great shrewdness from an early age.

00:12:35.300 It's a quality in Italy which they called furberia, shrewdness, the kind of intelligence

00:12:41.500 needed to pull off major crimes.

00:12:46.220 At the age of 19, Carlo's hard work and efforts were rewarded with a formal induction into the

00:12:52.380 honored society.

00:12:53.860 His boyhood dream come true.

00:12:56.900 But now, events outside Palermo would begin to shape his life.

00:13:01.720 In the early 1920s, fascism was gaining popularity throughout Italy.

00:13:07.460 Its leader, Benito Mussolini, had little tolerance for the honored society.

00:13:12.340 One of his objectives?

00:13:13.600 To destroy the mafia.

00:13:15.940 So a lot of young mafiosi thought that they're talking about.

00:13:18.080 This wasn't mentioned in episode one, but yes, this was a huge,

00:13:22.380 impact on guys getting the hell out of Italy and going to the United States where there

00:13:26.460 were more opportunities.

00:13:27.880 And by opportunities, I mean being able to commit crimes.

00:13:30.860 Mama mia! 0.99

00:13:32.660 Our future here.

00:13:34.420 They'll end up in jail.

00:13:36.360 And if they had any connections in America, they used them.

00:13:39.480 And Carlo had plenty of them.

00:13:41.440 Part of his mother's family, the Castellanos, a powerful mafia clan, had already moved to New York.

00:13:47.280 With his future at home in jeopardy, he set his sights on America where his New York relatives

00:13:53.080 could introduce him to a criminal life full of golden opportunity.

00:13:56.620 And as you guys know, Paul Castellanos is going to take over the organization later.

00:14:01.980 So as you guys can see, there's a very strong connection with everybody in the family.

00:14:06.960 Nepotism is huge.

00:14:08.020 So, on a November day in 1921, the young Carlo was smuggled aboard a freighter bound for America.

00:14:18.600 His family had paid the captain a substantial sum to escort the privileged young man across

00:14:24.520 the Atlantic.

00:14:25.820 A month later, the ship pulled into Norfolk, Virginia, with a cargo of wine, anchovies, and

00:14:31.520 olives.

00:14:32.000 Dressed in a Sunday best, one lone passenger slowly emerged.

00:14:38.260 Carlo Gambino, all of 19 years old, had arrived.

00:14:42.900 And he started off as if he owned the world.

00:14:47.220 And he was met by his Castellanos relatives who whisked him up to New York.

00:14:51.620 He made him a spectacular entry into the United States.

00:14:55.080 You know, it wasn't some scruffy little mobster.

00:14:59.080 He was treated as a prince.

00:15:00.640 A prince with...

00:15:02.260 And guys, keep in mind, he came to the United States when?

00:15:04.640 In 1921.

00:15:05.900 And what was going on during that time period?

00:15:07.880 I'll tell you what.

00:15:09.180 Prohibition.

00:15:11.120 Which, at this point, them boys and a bunch of other mafia guys were already making money

00:15:16.160 doing this.

00:15:18.400 Princely ambitions.

00:15:19.840 And he would let nothing and no one stand in his way.

00:15:22.840 Just before Christmas, 1921, the teenaged Carlo Gambino set foot on American soil and began

00:15:33.840 moving up the mafia ladder of success the old-fashioned way, through hard work and violence.

00:15:40.520 But Carlo had a leg up on other gangsters of his generation.

00:15:43.840 His American relatives, already members of New York's bustling underworld, rented him a small

00:15:50.860 apartment near the Brooklyn waterfront.

00:15:53.680 They wasted no time in introducing Carlo to the rackets.

00:15:57.240 It was the era of prohibition.

00:16:00.640 And the public was thirsty for illegal booze.

00:16:03.600 All over America, organized crime was supplying it and reaping the profits.

00:16:08.920 Some of New York's busiest bootleggers...

00:16:10.860 Guys, these bootleggers were making billions of dollars in U.S. dollars today, guys.

00:16:17.320 That's how much they were making money.

00:16:19.360 What was that?

00:16:19.780 What are bootleggers? 1.00

00:16:21.240 Oh, like guys that make fake alcohol.

00:16:23.820 Oh, okay.

00:16:24.760 Yeah.

00:16:25.020 Oh, we talked about that in episode one.

00:16:28.020 Yeah.

00:16:28.380 We're Carlo's first cousins, the Castellanos.

00:16:32.140 The Castellano family had a small trucking business.

00:16:35.500 The truck, naturally, like so many other small trucking businesses, was used to transport booze.

00:16:40.860 So he became, in effect, a rum runner.

00:16:44.060 And Gambino was both a driver and sometimes he would serve as a shotgun because different

00:16:49.120 bootleg guys used to hijack each other's trucks.

00:16:52.520 In his new criminal career, Carlo met one of the local mafia leaders, Joe the Boss Masseria.

00:16:59.240 This old-time Sicilian man of respect...

00:17:02.200 And guys, in the first episode, we talk about more details with Masseria and the war that

00:17:08.340 ensued between him and Maranzano.

00:17:09.720 So go back and watch the first episode if you haven't already, guys.

00:17:13.620 ...ran a big bootlegging racket.

00:17:16.260 Carlo, sensing an opportunity to move ahead, went to work for Masseria.

00:17:21.700 Carlo was just a very acute businessman and organizer.

00:17:27.000 And he soon became indispensable to whoever he was working for.

00:17:34.140 But Gambino was treacherous at heart.

00:17:36.560 He knew that clinging to a single boss could mark him for death by a rival gang.

00:17:41.740 Besides, his own driving ambition left no room for lasting loyalty to anyone, including Joe the Boss.

00:17:49.260 In the early 1930s, Carlo's boss was locked in a bloody turf war with a longtime Sicilian rival named Salvatore Maranzano.

00:18:00.620 The younger gangsters, including Carlo, thought the battle was tearing the mafia apart.

00:18:05.460 To include Lucky Luciano, who you guys are going to see here right now.

00:18:10.820 One of Carlo's friends, Lucky Luciano, devised a clever plan to eliminate the boss.

00:18:17.360 Lucky told Carlo about it and made him an orphan.

00:18:20.180 And Charlie Lucky said, Lucky, well, you got an option.

00:18:24.280 You can come with us and we're going to be the winning side.

00:18:26.520 This was a war.

00:18:27.380 And the war, guys, that they're talking about is called the Casta Milanese War.

00:18:32.220 Okay, Castel Marie War.

00:18:34.960 Probably butchering that name, but you guys get the idea.

00:18:37.680 This war was pivotal in the formation of the modern mafia, as you guys know now,

00:18:42.680 from the Sopranos, Goodfellas, etc.

00:18:46.920 Where was going on?

00:18:48.680 Carlo the Fox.

00:18:50.180 Quietly supported Lucky's plan.

00:18:52.840 In doing so, he positioned himself for future leadership with little personal risk.

00:18:58.500 Carlo's motivation became the motivation of practically everybody in those days.

00:19:04.600 Get as rich as you can, as fast as you can.

00:19:07.800 And don't worry about all the old rules and codes of the Sicilian mafia.

00:19:14.580 On April 15, 1931, Luciano invited Masseria to lunch

00:19:19.260 at a Coney Island restaurant.

00:19:20.580 As Lucky excused himself from the table,

00:19:23.680 four gunmen walked in and put an end to Joe the boss.

00:19:27.020 That leaving an ace card on the dead individual's hands was a tactic employed back by then the show.

00:19:39.140 So, you know, this is the hand they were dealt in life.

00:19:41.720 Those men, including Carlo Gambino, joined forces with the new boss, Salvatore Maranzano, but not for long.

00:19:49.920 Maranzano was very happy to have these really smart, bright, young thugs working for him.

00:19:58.240 But Maranzano didn't realize that those bright, young thugs were plotting his murder so they could take over everything.

00:20:05.240 Mamma mia! 0.87

00:20:06.560 And that's what they did.

00:20:08.400 On orders from Charlie Lucky, Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death in his office.

00:20:14.560 A new generation led by Luciano.

00:20:16.340 Which I talked about this in more detail, guys, in the past episode of Showell, a video clip of it.

00:20:20.560 Luciano was now in charge.

00:20:22.900 And Carlo had played his cards just right.

00:20:27.520 Cards being dealt by Carlo's friend Luciano, who turned the underworld into a corporation.

00:20:32.580 And the main reason why they killed Maranzano, guys, just as a quick little reminder, is because Maranzano, when he took power from Messeria, he called himself the boss of all bosses, right?

00:20:44.420 Or the capo of all the...

00:20:45.520 Dicapi.

00:20:46.160 Yeah, exactly. Thank you.

00:20:47.600 So, basically, that caused a lot of rift in the organization.

00:20:51.760 So, Lucky, and yet this guy, Maranzano, actually put a hit on on Lucky.

00:20:54.940 So, Lucky, so let me get to him first.

00:20:56.780 He ended up getting them killed by some of Mayor Lansky's...

00:20:59.660 Them boys, if you know what I'm saying.

00:21:01.460 And once he took power, what he ended up doing, and Lucky Luciano, I mean by this, what he ended up doing was sharing that power with all the other crime families and saying, let's start a commission where everyone has all their own organizations and dispersing the power.

00:21:18.360 So, what he was able to do, which was very smart of Lucky, by the way, was take the target off his back and have the target be put on the organizations together to keep them from killing him as being the top guy.

00:21:29.820 Because his main thing was, I just want Maranzano out so that I can work with my boy, Mary Lansky, who's a part of them boys, and all my other, you know, organized criminal individuals who aren't necessarily Italian.

00:21:42.000 So, Lucky looked at Maranzano as a, basically a block to his pat to earn more money.

00:21:46.900 So, they took him out.

00:21:47.980 Once he got power, he's like, nah, I don't want to be the boss of all bosses, guys.

00:21:50.900 Make your own families, you know, have your own boss structure.

00:21:53.620 We'll meet every couple of years to iron out issues and make sure everyone gets paid.

00:21:57.300 But I don't want the power.

00:21:58.400 I just want the money.

00:21:59.460 So, this was actually very smart by Luciano.

00:22:03.040 And that's why he's credited a lot of times as being the godfather of organized crime.

00:22:06.800 Each major gang getting a vote on the board of directors, Carlo was assigned to the boss who controlled the Brooklyn Waterfront, Vincent Mangano.

00:22:15.640 From there, Carlo began plotting a course to create his own criminal empire.

00:22:20.460 Under Mangano, Gambino learned to run a variety of mob rackets, ranging from loan sharking to numbers to cargo theft.

00:22:30.200 He was a good earner for the mob and, therefore, entitled to respect.

00:22:33.840 And the bottom line in any mafia endeavor, whatever it is, is how much money do you make?

00:22:39.620 But profit is of the supreme importance.

00:22:42.800 Carlo's knack for business soon paid off.

00:22:45.180 Just 29 years old, he earned a promotion to capo, or captain, in charge of his own crew.

00:22:52.300 One of the first men he chose for the crew was his teenage cousin, Paul Castellano.

00:22:57.300 The son of a Brooklyn numbers runner, Paul was also born into organized crime.

00:23:03.620 Carlo, having learned firsthand how mafia wars are weighed, knew that a mobster should be wary of his underlings.

00:23:11.280 And he knew he could trust Paul, a blood relative.

00:23:15.180 The less time Gambino spent watching his back, the more time he could devote to planning his rise to power.

00:23:22.300 He only really trusted the people who had been with him all his life.

00:23:26.720 And he built up this little wall where nobody could get in who wasn't a blood relative.

00:23:31.360 Blood ties would be of the highest significance to Carlo throughout his life.

00:23:35.240 Some would say, too significant.

00:23:38.720 In 1932, at the age of 30, he said,

00:23:41.960 This is why nepotism was practiced so hard in the mafia to prevent from getting whacked by your underlings who want to overtake your position in power.

00:23:49.180 He solidified his bond with the Castellano family when he took the unorthodox step of marrying Paul Castellano's sister, Catherine.

00:23:57.160 It was amazing that Carlo Gambino married Catherine Castellano because she was his first cousin.

00:24:06.580 And as a good Catholic, you're not supposed to do that.

00:24:09.200 But the Castellanos were extremely powerful in the mafia.

00:24:13.820 He multiplied his power.

00:24:15.760 And that's what he was after.

00:24:16.740 Carlo and Catherine settled into a modest Brooklyn row house.

00:24:21.560 Together they raised three sons and a daughter.

00:24:24.720 By all accounts, Carlo was a devoted husband and family man.

00:24:29.220 Marriage and family could not curb his appetite for power and money.

00:24:35.960 The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 brought harder times from many mobsters drying up their lucrative bootlegging operations.

00:24:44.160 But Carlo saw a new path to profit in a new racket, contraband liquor.

00:24:51.020 By dodging liquor taxes, Carlo could undercut his legitimate competitors.

00:24:56.120 With this scheme, Carlo made the first of his several fortunes.

00:25:00.820 His success did not go unnoticed by the law.

00:25:04.760 In 1937, he was convicted of tax evasion in connection with running a million-gallon illegal still in Philadelphia.

00:25:12.960 But Carlo somehow managed to...

00:25:15.520 And that was really all the government could get there.

00:25:17.400 My guys, back then, Rico wasn't a thing.

00:25:20.500 So the only way they were really able to go after these guys was for not paying taxes on all the money they made,

00:25:25.760 which they knew they were making illegally.

00:25:27.720 So this is way before the Giuliani era of, you know, the mid-80s,

00:25:32.140 where they actually had the tool of Rico to take these guys down.

00:25:34.380 Beat the rap.

00:25:37.420 He got off with a suspended sentence.

00:25:39.700 By 1941, with America entering World War II, Carlo was busy devising ways to make money off it.

00:25:47.100 As part of the war effort, the government began rationing essential goods like meat, chocolate, nylons, and gasoline.

00:25:55.260 Government issued ration stamps were as good as gold.

00:25:58.380 So Gambino and his crew found ways to steal them and hoard them.

00:26:03.800 Bam.

00:26:06.160 I tell you guys all the time, when things go down,

00:26:09.380 criminals always look at it as an opportunity to make money nefariously.

00:26:13.260 And this is what made the mafia so powerful.

00:26:15.920 They did any and everything to earn money for the organization scamming.

00:26:20.400 These dudes were the original scammers, you know, from back in the day. 0.92

00:26:23.940 Every scammer you know now that has these credit cards, you know, the Hinton and all this other shit, 0.88

00:26:28.380 they got that inspiration from these boys right here, man. 0.95

00:26:32.260 When the government began protecting the ration stamps by storing them in banks,

00:26:36.760 Gambino simply bribed corrupt officials to steal them for him.

00:26:41.260 It wasn't long before Carlo made his next black market million.

00:26:47.440 But he would not stop there. 0.73

00:26:49.520 Carlo saw opportunities everywhere, including a business few mobsters would touch, gay bars. 0.99

00:26:55.620 He didn't personally go in there and pat people on the ass. 0.99

00:26:59.300 He realized that a lot of gay men were lawyers, doctors, everything. 0.99

00:27:03.500 And these people at that time were much more susceptible to blackmail than they are now.

00:27:08.940 This wasn't that they were supporting the gay lifestyle.

00:27:11.380 They were supporting their own lifestyle.

00:27:13.940 And they were blackmailing a lot of people.

00:27:16.400 By the 1950s...

00:27:18.400 Ha! 0.98

00:27:19.720 Gay! 1.00

00:27:21.220 Oh my God! 1.00

00:27:21.780 They were making money, baby!

00:27:24.860 Carlo had established an excellent reputation as a big earner for the Mangano crime family.

00:27:31.040 But his path to further advancement seemed blocked.

00:27:33.660 In 1951, his boss, Vincent Mangano, mysteriously disappeared.

00:27:40.940 Many suspected that Mangano's underboss and Carlo's rival, Albert Anastasia, was responsible.

00:27:47.840 Anastasia took control of the crime family.

00:27:51.640 Nicknamed the Lord High Executioner, Anastasia was one of the most feared gangsters of his time.

00:27:57.840 He headed up the infamous mafia hit squad known as Murder Incorporated.

00:28:02.580 Though Anastasia made Carlo...

00:28:05.180 Ah!

00:28:06.840 Now y'all see where Irv Gotti and Ja Rule and all them boys came from.

00:28:12.120 The original Murder Inc. over here.

00:28:14.480 ...his underboss in 1956.

00:28:17.500 Carlo knew he was unlikely to ever become boss through natural succession.

00:28:22.600 He and Anastasia were both in their mid-50s.

00:28:25.780 Anastasia could easily outlive him.

00:28:27.800 Unlike his boss, Carlo Gambino was selected in his use of violence.

00:28:33.400 But when he saw no other way, he would not hesitate to kill.

00:28:39.100 Carlo was determined to reach the top.

00:28:42.000 So Anastasia had to go.

00:28:44.800 It was that simple.

00:28:46.540 Carlo set up the hit.

00:28:47.760 On October 25th, 1957, Anastasia went for a shave at his usual barbershop at the Park Sheraton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

00:28:59.120 As a hot towel was placed over his face, two gunmen rushed in and shot him five times.

00:29:05.200 The last bullet was penetrating his brain.

00:29:08.240 Now, no one stood in Carlo's way.

00:29:11.380 He was the boss.

00:29:13.180 His wits and tenacity had gotten him to the top of the...

00:29:15.760 Murder was way easier to get away with, guys, back then.

00:29:19.780 Because there was no forensics.

00:29:21.220 Police weren't as sophisticated.

00:29:22.660 Agencies didn't talk to each other.

00:29:24.220 There were no RICO laws in place.

00:29:25.740 So it was fairly easy, guys, to carry out a murder back then.

00:29:30.240 You know, no cell phones that can tell you where your location is.

00:29:33.560 Like, back then, murder was so simple.

00:29:36.360 This is why most serial killers, right?

00:29:37.800 Yeah, the most prolific serial killers pretty much were all from 1960, right, with the Zodiacs and et cetera, all the way up until the early 90s with people like Jeffrey Dahmer.

00:29:49.000 Why?

00:29:49.680 Well, forensic evidence really didn't get started getting used until the late 80s, mid-90s, early 2000s.

00:29:55.200 Yeah.

00:29:55.220 So it was still a relatively new thing.

00:29:58.100 So murder was very easy to get away with back then, guys.

00:30:02.620 America was a very dangerous place back then.

00:30:04.500 By the age of 55, Carlo Gambino had finally achieved his lifelong ambition to become boss of a crime family.

00:30:26.200 He had connived and killed his way to the top.

00:30:28.880 Now it was time to exploit his power in the service of that most basic mafia principle, breaking the law to make money.

00:30:37.960 The crime family, which now bore his name, already controlled the Brooklyn waterfront.

00:30:43.340 But like any good executive, Carlo knew the future lay in diversification.

00:30:48.160 He expanded into a wide range of rackets, gambling, construction, bid rigging, loan sharking, even securities fraud on Wall Street.

00:31:00.380 In 1962, Carlo once again used bloodlines to strengthen his hold on organized crime.

00:31:07.700 He arranged the marriage of his eldest son, Tommy, to the daughter of fellow New York crime boss, Thomas Lucchese.

00:31:14.000 The marriage soon gave Gambino access to yet another lucrative and more modern racket. 0.89

00:31:21.520 See, smart as hell, aligning himself with powerful people through marriage, man, and relationships.

00:31:28.280 Lucchese started doing a tremendous business by hijacking freight from JFK Airport, corrupting the unions that handle freight.

00:31:37.540 And then he cut his friend Carlo Gambino in on that racket because Carlo Gambino's son had married his daughter.

00:31:45.920 Gambino had infiltrated what had become the nation's greatest port of entry, and the cash poured in.

00:31:52.540 His men bribed airport employees to tip them off when valuable shipments were arriving.

00:31:58.640 Gambino drivers were there to haul them away.

00:32:02.460 Gambino expanded his criminal empire by taking control of yet another racket.

00:32:07.100 Extorting the new...

00:32:08.840 And see, guys, see how creative these guys are making money?

00:32:12.140 Now you guys are seeing why I want to split this up by family, because different families were getting money in different ways.

00:32:17.820 And the Gambino's were notorious for, you know, messing with the airport, stealing cargo and stuff like that. 0.99

00:32:24.800 And garments, which we're going to see how they made money in this industry.

00:32:28.320 Really interesting stuff, guys.

00:32:29.380 New York garment industry, an industry responsible for 70% of all the clothes sold in the U.S.

00:32:35.580 By infiltrating the small but powerful truckers' unions, Gambino could effectively demand a percentage of every garment sold.

00:32:45.100 If the businesses did not pay up, their goods would not get to market.

00:32:48.880 Following the old mafia tradition of secrecy, or omerta, Gambino conducted business in his Brooklyn home in code to foil any attempts by law enforcement to eavesdrop on his meetings.

00:33:01.580 If he and his capos met in the meeting room in his house to decide whether a certain guy should be killed or not, the scene would be, would go something like this.

00:33:15.740 And one of the capos would get up and say, froggy legs.

00:33:22.740 And Carla would go like this.

00:33:26.440 That meant the end of him.

00:33:27.720 That meant the end of him. 1.00

00:33:28.160 He'd be killed. 0.99

00:33:29.260 He would just nod his head. 1.00

00:33:34.400 He would never open his mouth.

00:33:36.480 The tactic worked.

00:33:38.020 Efforts to record Gambino came up empty.

00:33:40.840 And, guys, here's his house right here.

00:33:44.020 Just so you guys can kind of get a glimpse here.

00:33:46.200 2230, if I'm not mistaken, Ocean Parkway Drive.

00:33:49.420 And this is what it looks like today.

00:33:52.440 In Brooklyn.

00:33:54.520 And you know what's funny, guys?

00:33:57.200 I'm about to give you guys a treat right now.

00:34:00.440 This, guys, is where I grew up as a kid.

00:34:03.080 Check this out.

00:34:03.760 I am going to...

00:34:07.180 Let me see here.

00:34:08.460 You in Connecticut?

00:34:09.820 And when I lived in New York.

00:34:11.100 Oh, in New York.

00:34:11.840 Yeah, when I was a child.

00:34:12.800 This is where I grew up.

00:34:14.720 Brooklyn?

00:34:15.960 What?

00:34:16.500 You were in Brooklyn?

00:34:17.940 Brooklyn, yeah.

00:34:19.200 Brooklyn.

00:34:22.340 Directions, yeah.

00:34:23.760 Directions, bam.

00:34:26.840 You're going to show your house.

00:34:28.960 I mean, I left it.

00:34:29.880 This is where I was as a kid.

00:34:32.200 Check that out, guys. 0.99

00:34:33.140 I lived 16 minutes away from one of the fucking most notorious crime bosses ever. 0.98

00:34:42.480 This is where I grew up as a kid, guys. 0.98

00:34:44.080 And the reason why I even thought about this is because I remember as a kid vividly, right?

00:34:48.180 Ocean Parkway Drive.

00:34:49.300 This is the street you had to take to get to Coney Island.

00:34:53.540 So I remember going there as a child.

00:34:56.220 So if you look at it, right, here, you got this parkway, and you would have to go all

00:35:05.780 the way down back this way to go to where I used to live, right?

00:35:11.160 And then you'd get on this road, and Coney Island was this way, if I'm not mistaken.

00:35:15.980 But my house was back over this way.

00:35:18.040 So let's go ahead and try looking at a street view.

00:35:21.160 That's crazy, bro.

00:35:22.400 I only noticed it because in the documentary, it said Ocean Drive there.

00:35:27.980 You're getting nostalgic.

00:35:29.540 Yeah, this is very nostalgic.

00:35:31.280 You guys want to see Myron Gaines' old stopping grounds right here as a kid?

00:35:35.760 Oh, wow.

00:35:37.160 This house right here, guys.

00:35:41.800 This house.

00:35:42.540 It's where I lived as a child, and it's still there to this day.

00:35:49.920 And I'll never forget, my dad was a cab driver, right?

00:35:53.060 And he got robbed so many times because back then, Brooklyn was so dangerous.

00:35:56.280 Still is.

00:35:57.200 And it still is.

00:35:57.800 Not to the same degree as it was in the 80s and 90s, though.

00:35:59.940 They really cracked down.

00:36:01.400 But we were on the second floor, and the landlord lived on the first floor.

00:36:05.780 I don't know if they're still there.

00:36:07.740 Muslim family, Yugoslavian, actually.

00:36:09.380 It'll be crazy if they actually see this video one day.

00:36:13.040 But either way, my dad would go up the stairs with his cast, and my mom would help him. 0.88

00:36:18.320 And this is why, bro, I honestly have no sympathy for people that were born here that are bums. 1.00

00:36:23.300 Because my dad used to drive the cab every night, been robbed multiple times.

00:36:26.720 One time, he got hit by a car, and when they tried to rob him, broke his leg, drove the cab with a broken leg and cast.

00:36:34.100 And he would come up these stairs, and my mom would come down every night, get him, and walk him up the stairs to get up to the second floor, guys.

00:36:40.320 What is this down there? 0.98

00:36:41.460 This is bringing back so many fucking memories. 0.99

00:36:43.540 What was that? 0.99

00:36:44.040 What is this down there?

00:36:45.960 Down.

00:36:46.980 Yeah, this.

00:36:47.860 Yeah, so this used to be, growing up, I remember, this was like a little storage thing that they would use, which is crazy.

00:36:52.900 Oh, okay.

00:36:53.720 The landlord would. 0.96

00:36:55.140 But I remember this grocery store right here, okay, was where I used to always go to get candy and shit like that. 0.74

00:37:01.360 And I'll tell y'all a funny story.

00:37:06.280 I've never told this story before in my life, so you guys are about to get a treat right now. 0.89

00:37:11.200 I remember me and my sister were sitting on this balcony one day, not balcony, like this window, and we were fucking with, like, the people walking by, and we were, like, throwing, like, fucking water balloons at them. 0.97

00:37:19.860 Bro, we were throwing water balloons at them, fucking, like, can't, you know, fruit and shit, and they'd get hit, and they'd be like, what the fuck? 1.00

00:37:28.340 And they'd, like, look back and say, you motherfucker, I'm going to get you. 1.00

00:37:31.800 And we'd just be up in the window laughing at them and shit. 1.00

00:37:34.060 It was hilarious. 0.94

00:37:35.000 And then my dad found out, right, because he owned a mechanic shop down the street over here, right?

00:37:41.400 This mechanic shop right here, guys, okay?

00:37:45.820 My dad used to own this, guys, right?

00:37:48.220 It used to be called Amru Car Care, right?

00:37:51.260 Oh, wow.

00:37:52.040 Yep.

00:37:52.360 My dad named it after me.

00:37:53.520 Hilarious.

00:37:54.020 I'm doxing myself. 1.00

00:37:55.100 I don't go fuck. 1.00

00:37:55.620 Y'all already know what it is. 1.00

00:37:57.160 When?

00:37:57.800 Back in the 1800s?

00:37:58.640 This is in the 90s.

00:38:00.040 Okay.

00:38:00.260 This is, like, 90.

00:38:02.040 We left in New York City in 99, but he opened this up, I think, in, like, 94, 95.

00:38:07.220 Boy.

00:38:07.460 So he comes back, right?

00:38:09.240 I wasn't even born.

00:38:10.400 He walks back, as you can see the distance, and he finds out that we have been throwing water

00:38:14.220 balloons at people. 0.96

00:38:14.960 So he comes, right, sees the water spots on the fucking corner over here. 0.99

00:38:20.220 That's how close it was. 1.00

00:38:21.580 And he starts losing his shit, and he comes upstairs and whoops the fuck out of us. 1.00

00:38:28.700 He literally whooped the fucking shit out of us, guys. 1.00

00:38:32.540 I will never forget that ass whooping, bro. 1.00

00:38:35.240 And it was truly a lesson in life not to fuck with people. 1.00

00:38:39.660 And to this day, I remember that shit. 1.00

00:38:41.540 Bro, W parents beating their kids. 1.00

00:38:46.200 Almost 30 years later, I remember this story vividly because I did something so fucking 1.00

00:38:50.480 dumb I deserved to get my ass kicked. 0.99

00:38:52.020 I was, like, maybe six or seven years old at the time. 1.00

00:38:54.320 Come on.

00:38:55.000 Yeah.

00:38:55.500 I mean, you were kids.

00:38:57.080 So maybe seven or eight, somewhere in that range.

00:38:59.320 But hilarious, man.

00:39:00.640 Really good times.

00:39:01.480 The fact, like, ooh, that just went down memory lane right there.

00:39:04.960 But there you go, guys. 1.00

00:39:06.320 Like the goddamn video. 0.99

00:39:07.180 Let's get back to Carlo Gambino, my neighbor, now that I know. 0.99

00:39:10.000 He very rarely spoke at meetings.

00:39:15.160 So, you know, it was hard to wiretap him.

00:39:18.140 He was shrewd that way.

00:39:19.180 And, of course, that was the successful way to be.

00:39:21.840 The boss also kept a low profile in his personal life.

00:39:25.740 For all his wealth and power, he lived modestly and eluded the media.

00:39:29.260 Yeah, and that area, guys, he lives in is a middle class neighborhood.

00:39:33.720 You know, you wouldn't think a mob boss of his stature making the kind of money he made would be there just, you know, chilling.

00:39:41.880 Gambino was hard to get on your radar screen.

00:39:45.060 He did not go bouncing at night.

00:39:46.920 He didn't keep, you know, a routine schedule.

00:39:49.080 You know, he was an elusive character.

00:39:50.640 And I think very deliberately so.

00:39:53.580 He was a low profile character.

00:39:55.500 And very successfully so.

00:39:57.300 Because his invisibility ultimately was his power.

00:40:00.920 Mr. Gambino, do you have any idea why you've been brought here?

00:40:06.340 His desire for anonymity aside, Gambino could not resist one public indulgence.

00:40:11.800 Here was a guy who went to so much trouble to live in the small, modest house.

00:40:16.580 He went to so much trouble to not have the big, long, shiny black Cadillac.

00:40:21.520 He kind of had this gray or dark, you know, Oldsmobile.

00:40:25.080 And the license plate was CG1, I think.

00:40:28.640 And he had to allow himself that one little trapping of power, that one little vanity,

00:40:33.600 the license plate with his initials.

00:40:35.780 Back then, it showed you had a little juice.

00:40:37.980 By the mid-60s, Carla was moving into his mid-60s.

00:40:42.460 Aging gracefully and looking more like a grandfather than a mafia godfather.

00:40:47.320 He liked to give the appearance of a harmless, humble old immigrant. 1.00

00:40:52.700 I was at the Westchester Premiere Theater.

00:40:56.100 And I was introduced to Carlo Gambino.

00:40:59.960 And he said, pleasure to meet you.

00:41:02.180 Very polite old gentleman.

00:41:04.620 He spoke with a very heavy accent.

00:41:08.260 He was wearing an overcoat, top hat.

00:41:10.620 And you would never know who he was.

00:41:13.680 If it wasn't brought to your attention, you'd say, oh, a nice little old Italian man.

00:41:18.240 If you met Carlo Gambino.

00:41:19.720 Can you do?

00:41:21.580 And this is why he was able to get away for so long.

00:41:24.800 Looks harmless.

00:41:25.360 What was that, Angie?

00:41:26.120 No, I was going to ask you to do an impression of an Italian accent.

00:41:29.640 Forget about it.

00:41:32.280 Forget about it.

00:41:33.940 Pretty close to the original, right?

00:41:36.360 He was going to be sleeping with the fishes.

00:41:38.860 I got a funny story to tell y'all actually here later on in this podcast.

00:41:42.200 You're going to be sleeping with the fishes?

00:41:43.680 Yeah, that's a phrase I use all the time.

00:41:45.800 I got a funny story.

00:41:46.600 I'll tell the audience when we hit maybe 30 minutes left in the show.

00:41:50.540 Remind me.

00:41:51.100 I'll tell you a funny story.

00:41:51.780 Say, this guy looks like Geppetto, the shoemaker with Pinocchio.

00:41:55.640 He's the mean.

00:41:56.160 It was so low-key and so grandfatherly.

00:41:58.800 It was incredible.

00:42:00.060 He was what he was.

00:42:01.940 Yeah, he looks like an abuelito.

00:42:03.380 One side of Carlo's high-powered business life was his strong addiction to coffee.

00:42:07.960 When he went to these cafes, he drank from a bottomless cup.

00:42:12.180 I couldn't believe that anybody could drink that kind of black coffee and not get a jolt of adrenaline

00:42:16.440 that would drive you over a cliff.

00:42:18.580 He told me how many cups he used to drink a day.

00:42:21.580 He used to drink a dozen cups of black coffee a day.

00:42:25.960 The outwardly mild manner did not fool those who knew Carlo well, allies and enemies alike.

00:42:32.200 Carlo Gambino, his middle name was Treachery. 0.69

00:42:35.140 He was the most treacherous mafia boss of them all. 0.99

00:42:41.260 He would not hesitate to kill someone who would help them very much. 0.63

00:42:46.760 By the late 60s, the Gambino crime family had swelled to 25 crews with a total of about 800 men. 0.79

00:42:55.360 That's crazy, guys.

00:42:57.780 Carlo Gambino had arguably become the most powerful in all of New York.

00:43:02.940 Do you think that a man who never became an American citizen, who never got out of high school in Italy,

00:43:11.200 could assemble this gigantic empire worth millions and millions and millions of dollars,

00:43:18.220 a conglomeration of rackets, 30, 40, 50 rackets during his lifetime, and it took some brains. 1.00

00:43:26.400 Meanwhile, stupid Americans broke as hell, speaking in English, taking handouts. 1.00

00:43:32.780 L Americans. 1.00

00:43:36.940 And earned the respect of those around him, and they were careful to show it.

00:43:42.000 When in Little Italy, he always stopped by Ferrara's Bakery for espressos and cannoli.

00:43:47.840 There, he would hold court, dispensing advice and favors.

00:43:51.580 And the thing is, guys, is a lot of people think, like, you know, the Italian mafia, all they do is criminal stuff.

00:43:56.400 A lot of these Boston guys actually operated legitimate businesses as well.

00:44:00.360 It's just that, you know, greed always gets the better of us, and you want to make money in other ways,

00:44:03.820 and sometimes you've got to break the law to do so.

00:44:05.840 But, you know, this goes to show that if he can do it, anybody can.

00:44:11.560 Talk about the patron.

00:44:13.160 Don't be a criminal.

00:44:14.400 Nice to somebody.

00:44:15.260 I mean, if people would come in, they would fall over themselves to kiss his ring.

00:44:18.500 It would be like visiting the Pope.

00:44:20.100 In one of his rare nights on the town, Carlo took in a performance by Frank Sinatra at the Westchester Theater.

00:44:28.280 Sinatra may have been the star, but it was Gambino who received the royal treatment.

00:44:33.760 Sinatra invited him and his entire group into the dressing room between the two shows Sinatra was putting on.

00:44:40.500 The second show was going to start, like, at, say, 10 o'clock, for example.

00:44:45.480 It started at 10.40 that night because Sinatra didn't want to chase him out of the room.

00:44:51.800 I mean, it was that kind of respect.

00:44:53.020 Yeah, guys, this dude had crazy respect.

00:44:55.100 Even Michael Francis, guys, who you guys know, former capo for the Colombo crime family,

00:45:00.300 I think he made a video talking about the top bosses that, you know, ran the mafia.

00:45:03.960 Pretty much Carlo Gambino was the number one guy on his list.

00:45:07.980 So this goes to show elite-level type boss maneuvers by a mafia head honcho

00:45:15.120 because he was one of the few that never went to, you know, extended time or was killed.

00:45:21.520 And he has that disarming look as well.

00:45:24.320 In fact, there was something.

00:45:25.740 Carlo's dedication to the crime family was matched by his devotion to his other family at home.

00:45:31.260 To insulate his eldest son, Tommy, from his own violent world,

00:45:36.440 Carlo sent him to Manhattan College, a rarity among the sons and daughters of mob bosses.

00:45:42.720 Carlo was extremely close to his wife, Catherine, who never asked too many questions

00:45:47.820 and, in her own way, proved quite an asset to the boss. 0.55

00:45:52.060 Her warmth softened even the toughest wise guys who came to call on Gambino.

00:45:56.480 She would offer you an espresso coffee and she would invariably ask you how your family was

00:46:03.620 and how your charming children were.

00:46:07.940 She completely disarmed you, you know, but she melted you.

00:46:11.840 She was a sweet lady.

00:46:12.380 You were going to go in there pretty tough, you know, trying to make a deal or scare the boss.

00:46:17.240 And by the time you left Catherine Gambino, you were a marshmallow.

00:46:23.560 Catherine helped Carlo keep the appearance of a decorous and respectable household.

00:46:29.300 But mere appearance could not fool the feds. 0.94

00:46:32.900 They knew Gambino was the biggest crook in the country 0.55

00:46:35.540 and they kept his home under constant surveillance. 0.88

00:46:39.240 There was a marked police car parked in front, right in front.

00:46:43.780 And on the door it said, Organized Crime Control Bureau.

00:46:47.480 A marked police car with two plainclothesmen sitting in it.

00:46:50.640 And this was the police department.

00:46:53.560 That was probably Carlo Gambino's response to them sitting outside his house, bro.

00:46:58.160 And this was back when Rico did exist.

00:47:00.760 Yeah, way before.

00:47:01.560 Yeah, way before.

00:47:02.260 Yeah.

00:47:02.840 I'm saying, okay, you know, this is our harassment.

00:47:05.900 You know, we're telling everybody, all your neighbors.

00:47:08.420 Rico wasn't created until like the 70s.

00:47:10.560 And then actually implemented until like the 80s.

00:47:13.080 The end of the 60s marked the beginning of the decline in Gambino's fortunes.

00:47:18.300 In 1969, a Gambino associate by the name of John Gotti and his brother Gene were caught hijacking...

00:47:26.500 Probably one of the most famous Gambino eventual crime bosses. 0.99

00:47:30.860 ...a cargo truck at JFK Airport.

00:47:33.360 The incident didn't disrupt family business for long, but it brought more unwelcome attention to the Godfather.

00:47:41.600 A year later, Carlo was a...

00:47:43.760 And you're going to see this as a recurring trend, guys, with John Gotti.

00:47:46.520 John Gotti did a terrible job of being, sticking to Armurta, basically that code of science.

00:47:53.580 Everyone knew he was a mob boss. 0.99

00:47:55.860 Everyone knew he was a crook. 0.98

00:47:57.240 The cameras were always in his face. 0.98

00:47:58.800 He brought a lot of heat to the mafia.

00:48:01.480 Again in the spotlight, the boss was charged with masterminding an armed robbery.

00:48:07.860 They were holding up armored cars, Chase Manhattan armored cars.

00:48:11.860 And he was actually arrested, indicted and arrested, and was supposed to go to trial.

00:48:15.780 Carlo and his attorney succeeded in getting one delay after another.

00:48:19.760 But the law was not Carlo's only worry.

00:48:22.880 His wife, Catherine, had been diagnosed with cancer.

00:48:26.360 In 1971, she died.

00:48:31.900 Carlo's troubles were not over.

00:48:34.100 Frustrated with delays in the armed robbery case,

00:48:36.760 the government pushed to deport Gambino to Sicily as an illegal alien.

00:48:41.560 But each time he was about to be sent back to Sicily,

00:48:44.980 Carlo's heart troubles would conveniently get worse.

00:48:49.040 When doctors...

00:48:50.120 My man is smart. He activated that trap card.

00:48:52.160 You triggered my trap card!

00:48:54.380 Heart attack from 12 cups of coffee a day.

00:48:58.620 Finally gave feds the green light.

00:49:01.000 Gambino's connection stepped in to save the day.

00:49:04.480 They were all set to deport him.

00:49:06.080 And all of a sudden, a word comes down, blocking this.

00:49:09.940 Gambino's people made a deal with two very powerful congressmen.

00:49:13.940 And the deal was that they would be paid $1,000 a month for life if Gambino was allowed to stay here.

00:49:24.120 And Carlo, what? 0.99

00:49:25.540 Could you imagine these fucking Italian guys like walking into the Capitol and be like, 1.00

00:49:29.820 Hey, buddy, we need you to do us a favor, okay? 1.00

00:49:33.360 All those crimes that Carlo did that y'all got them on, you know, I need y'all to forget about it. 0.99

00:49:39.600 Or else we're going to break your fucking kneecaps, okay? 0.99

00:49:42.140 So the guy ain't going back to Italy. 0.99

00:49:44.680 And then they're just like,

00:49:45.700 Mama Mia! 0.99

00:49:47.000 Next thing you know,

00:49:47.920 be free.

00:49:48.960 I need some congressmen to do that for me, too. 0.90

00:49:52.180 Yep.

00:49:52.660 Yep.

00:49:53.040 That just goes to show their power, man. 1.00

00:49:54.800 Dudes could literally walk into a fucking government building, 1.00

00:49:57.000 tell the fucking law enforcement and government, 1.00

00:49:59.700 Oh, his crimes? 1.00

00:50:00.440 Forget about it! 0.99

00:50:02.260 You guys better not fucking deport him. 0.99

00:50:04.520 He was allowed to stay. 1.00

00:50:05.800 Or you'll be sleeping with the fucking fishes. 1.00

00:50:09.100 But the years had taken a toll on him. 1.00

00:50:11.620 As his heart weakened, he grew increasingly frail.

00:50:14.400 On October 15th, 1976, Carlo died of a heart attack

00:50:19.360 while watching a New York Yankees game at his summer home on Long Island.

00:50:23.880 How he himself avoided being murdered is an astonishing mystery to me

00:50:30.080 because he had harmed so many tough mafia bosses.

00:50:35.660 And yet no one ever laid a hand on him.

00:50:38.720 Carlo Gambino had successfully led the crime family for 20 years

00:50:43.000 and left a criminal dynasty that would far outlive him,

00:50:46.380 all without serving a single day in prison.

00:50:51.380 His funeral was a spectacle,

00:50:53.080 drawing mourners from New York and around the country.

00:50:58.040 My guess is there were thousands and thousands and thousands of people

00:51:01.180 who walked through there and paid their respects.

00:51:03.980 I mean, he was a legend.

00:51:05.380 I've always said, guys,

00:51:06.840 look at the amount of people that attended man's funeral

00:51:09.140 and you'll see that man's impact on the world.

00:51:11.260 After the death of the patriarch,

00:51:14.600 the search for a new direction would carve a bloody trail

00:51:17.520 through the Gambino crime family.

00:51:24.380 Following the death of boss Carlo Gambino,

00:51:27.200 there was strife within the crime family,

00:51:29.540 strife which Carlo himself created.

00:51:32.220 Just before his death, Carlo had picked a successor.

00:51:35.120 In making this faithful decision about the future of his criminal empire,

00:51:40.080 Carlo, like the mythical King Lear,

00:51:42.060 set off a chain of events that would eventually bring the family down.

00:51:47.140 His own sons were not in the running.

00:51:49.540 None of them had positions of sufficient seniority in the family.

00:51:52.600 But bloodlines were still paramount to Carlo,

00:51:56.180 so he chose his 61-year-old first cousin and brother-in-law,

00:51:59.980 Paul Castellano.

00:52:02.220 Big Paulie, as he was known,

00:52:04.140 was more a businessman than a street mobster.

00:52:07.660 He was a button man.

00:52:08.900 He didn't kill anybody.

00:52:11.080 And so what does he know?

00:52:12.300 You know, he's never been a loan shark.

00:52:13.860 A button man, guys, is a slang term

00:52:15.780 for a hitman in the mafia.

00:52:19.100 Shark and...

00:52:20.560 So what does he know?

00:52:22.400 But Paul was family.

00:52:24.560 A half century earlier,

00:52:26.060 the powerful Castellano clan back in Sicily

00:52:28.480 had helped Carlo get a foothold in the New York underworld.

00:52:32.680 Exactly, they don't forget.

00:52:34.160 Marin, can you show this for a minute?

00:52:35.880 Show your screen?

00:52:36.620 Yeah, if you guys see this,

00:52:39.800 so here is Paul Castellano.

00:52:41.700 He used to be a capo, okay?

00:52:43.960 So he basically skipped this.

00:52:48.520 Right to...

00:52:49.800 Well, yeah, that's the next path, though,

00:52:52.220 is to be a capo from...

00:52:53.620 to be underboss.

00:52:54.720 Yeah, but you see?

00:52:55.780 But he went quick.

00:52:57.040 Mm-hmm.

00:52:58.820 Gotcha.

00:52:59.320 Yeah, and he became the capo to the capi.

00:53:02.880 Well, not the boss of all bosses.

00:53:04.180 Well, it wasn't anymore because of the commission.

00:53:07.460 Yeah, but, you know, he was the boss.

00:53:09.240 But I would say he was probably, yeah,

00:53:10.540 Gambino was probably the closest thing

00:53:12.480 to a boss of all bosses.

00:53:13.520 Because he was so widely respected.

00:53:15.300 Yeah.

00:53:16.280 But, yeah.

00:53:17.120 No, this chart is pretty extensive, guys.

00:53:19.160 We'll put that in the description for y'all.

00:53:20.560 Mm-hmm.

00:53:24.180 Now, Carlo had shown his gratitude,

00:53:27.120 but he...

00:53:28.180 Wait, did it show that he had been a capo before?

00:53:30.300 No, Paul Castellano.

00:53:32.180 Yeah.

00:53:32.660 Castellano.

00:53:33.080 That's what I'm saying here.

00:53:34.060 Okay, so he wasn't...

00:53:35.200 He was a capo.

00:53:36.520 He had chosen the wrong man.

00:53:38.840 Did he skip underboss?

00:53:42.940 Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

00:53:44.140 Oh, okay, okay, okay.

00:53:44.860 I was confused by...

00:53:45.700 Okay.

00:53:45.800 Because you said...

00:53:46.500 So you're saying he skipped underboss,

00:53:47.620 and he went, right, okay, gotcha, gotcha.

00:53:49.700 Yeah.

00:53:49.860 Paul, 13 years younger than his cousin Carlo,

00:53:53.440 was born in Brooklyn in 1915.

00:53:56.360 His father, a butcher,

00:53:57.920 ran numbers for mob-control bookies.

00:54:01.140 Paul dropped out of school in the 8th grade.

00:54:03.740 He learned to be a meat cutter

00:54:04.800 and began helping his father in the numbers record.

00:54:08.380 Paul was attracted to a life in the mafia,

00:54:10.760 not out of any personal taste for violence,

00:54:13.200 but out of greed.

00:54:13.980 There was no real reason

00:54:16.940 why he had to have a life of crime.

00:54:19.680 He grew up in a middle-class,

00:54:21.900 too-laboring-class Italian neighborhood

00:54:24.620 where there was not a great deal of crime.

00:54:28.080 That was partly what his relative did,

00:54:30.140 and it was a chance to make more money.

00:54:33.340 In 1934, at the age of 19,

00:54:36.620 Paul and two of his buddies

00:54:37.740 botched an armed robbery in Brooklyn.

00:54:40.620 Paul's cohorts got away,

00:54:42.000 but he was arrested.

00:54:43.980 The police questioned him for hours,

00:54:46.220 yet Paul wouldn't rat on his partners in crime.

00:54:48.960 He served three months in jail.

00:54:53.540 When he got out,

00:54:54.780 the story made the rounds

00:54:56.180 about how Paul had kept his mouth shut,

00:54:58.460 and he became a hero

00:54:59.500 among the thugs in his neighborhood.

00:55:01.780 He was noticed.

00:55:02.680 Police were like,

00:55:03.320 hey, what kind of criminal activity are you doing?

00:55:04.840 Forget about it! 0.55

00:55:06.220 Next, you know, three months in jail.

00:55:08.900 By made men in the mob.

00:55:10.920 With his connection to the Mangano family,

00:55:13.040 through his cousin Carlo,

00:55:14.720 young Paul was initiated into La Cosa Nostra.

00:55:18.700 When he was 22,

00:55:20.500 Paul took after Carlo in another way.

00:55:22.820 He used marriage to solidify his ties

00:55:25.240 to organized crime.

00:55:27.280 He married a distant cousin of his,

00:55:29.580 who just happened to be Carlo's sister-in-law.

00:55:31.840 Her name, Nina Mano.

00:55:35.220 She was the typical Italian lady. 1.00

00:55:38.880 You walked into her house,

00:55:40.020 she had a house dress on.

00:55:41.140 She was talking about what she was going to make

00:55:42.840 that night for dinner.

00:55:44.160 Very simple lady.

00:55:45.780 Paul and Nina had four children,

00:55:47.660 three sons and a daughter.

00:55:49.300 While Paul had joined the mafia,

00:55:51.280 he didn't give up his legitimate career.

00:55:53.000 In fact,

00:55:54.320 by the early 50s,

00:55:55.960 he owned a lucrative wholesale meat company.

00:55:59.280 By all outward appearances,

00:56:00.980 he was an upstanding businessman,

00:56:03.080 dressing well and driving a sleek Buick convertible.

00:56:06.760 But out of the office,

00:56:08.160 Paul stayed close to his cousin Carlo

00:56:09.900 and earned his trust.

00:56:12.100 During the long reign of his cousin Carlo,

00:56:14.540 Paul became a captain in the family.

00:56:16.220 He was a key player in the boss's plan

00:56:19.800 to diversify the mafia

00:56:21.020 and develop the so-called white rackets.

00:56:24.620 Construction bid rigging,

00:56:26.540 union infiltration,

00:56:27.880 and political corruption.

00:56:31.540 These crimes guys are like the bread and butter of the mafia,

00:56:34.500 especially infiltrating labor organizations

00:56:36.820 and getting construction contracts.

00:56:40.140 Like New York City guys is arguably built by the mob.

00:56:44.500 Like a significant amount of New York City projects

00:56:47.500 had mafia influence in them.

00:56:50.880 And of course,

00:56:51.480 you know,

00:56:51.660 that didn't go over with the meat and potatoes thieves,

00:56:54.880 you know,

00:56:55.120 down at the bottom

00:56:55.780 because they didn't know how to do that.

00:56:58.660 So by 1976,

00:56:59.820 when Carlo died

00:57:01.140 and Big Paulie was suddenly named boss,

00:57:04.120 he was seen as someone who rose to the top,

00:57:06.460 not because he had paid his dues on the street,

00:57:09.080 but because of his relationship to Carlo.

00:57:11.820 He was the mob's version of Little Lord Fauntleroy.

00:57:17.120 I mean,

00:57:17.380 you know,

00:57:17.980 he came all dressed up neat and clean.

00:57:19.840 He didn't have to get his hands dirty or bloody.

00:57:22.160 And this empire was then given to him,

00:57:24.660 given unto him as this great gift

00:57:26.380 where guys who had been in the trenches,

00:57:28.880 robbing and stealing and killing

00:57:30.380 and hijacking and everything,

00:57:32.620 you know,

00:57:32.960 for years said,

00:57:33.720 hey,

00:57:34.680 what about me?

00:57:35.800 Among the 800 or so gangsters

00:57:39.060 who now made up the Gambino crime family, 0.99

00:57:41.680 the more popular candidate to take over after Carlo

00:57:44.620 was a second in command or underboss,

00:57:47.900 Neil Della Croce.

00:57:49.660 Bam.

00:57:50.220 And he didn't,

00:57:50.740 Castellano didn't have to,

00:57:52.080 you know,

00:57:52.640 go through this part to become the boss,

00:57:54.920 which is obviously going to cause a lot of resentment.

00:57:57.280 Della Croce operated out of the Ravenite Social Club

00:58:00.580 in Little Italy

00:58:01.240 and ran the blue collar faction of the family.

00:58:04.220 Crimes like it.

00:58:04.820 He was super respected too, guys,

00:58:06.920 which is another reason why people didn't like the fact

00:58:08.700 that Castellano took over versus this guy.

00:58:12.140 Extortion, gambling, loan sharking

00:58:14.740 and whenever necessary, murder.

00:58:18.680 Della Croce,

00:58:19.600 one of the scariest individuals I've ever met in my life.

00:58:23.080 Della Croce's eyes were like,

00:58:25.320 like he didn't have any eyes.

00:58:28.820 You ever see that Children of the Damned?

00:58:31.400 Like his eyes were so blue

00:58:32.680 that they weren't even there.

00:58:35.520 It was like looking right for him.

00:58:37.420 Della Croce was the epitome

00:58:38.700 of the Mafia's old school.

00:58:40.920 He was a soldier who believed in the tradition

00:58:43.000 of unquestioning loyalty.

00:58:45.160 When he was passed over for the top job,

00:58:47.520 he accepted his fate quietly,

00:58:49.760 even if he was bitterly disappointed.

00:58:52.920 Some of Della Croce's thugs,

00:58:54.700 including the ambitious John Gotti,

00:58:56.860 did not accept the decision so lightly.

00:59:00.220 Gotti was an upstart.

00:59:02.200 Gotti was like,

00:59:02.760 what do you mean,

00:59:03.260 so it shall be?

00:59:04.220 You know, what about you?

00:59:05.300 You were number two.

00:59:06.200 You were in line. 0.97

00:59:07.600 But the new boss was no fool.

00:59:09.840 He knew the blue-collar guys resented him.

00:59:12.400 So he made peace with Della Croce and his gang

00:59:14.660 by letting them control and profit

00:59:16.980 from the street rackets they were running.

00:59:19.900 Big Pauly looked down his nose at such activities

00:59:22.660 and at men like John Gotti in their polyester suits.

00:59:26.580 He preferred to dress like a banker

00:59:28.120 and read the Wall Street Journal.

00:59:30.860 He thought of the Gambino crime family 0.88

00:59:32.740 as a corporate entity with various investments.

00:59:35.680 And he had numerous legitimate businesses

00:59:38.300 that he could front that were his cover,

00:59:41.580 that were his way to respect in private industry

00:59:44.400 as well as in organized crime.

00:59:46.200 I think that the fact that he went to so much trouble

00:59:49.140 to show that he was a legitimate businessman

00:59:51.420 and not a gangster,

00:59:52.760 that he transmitted such an air

00:59:54.040 that he was, you know, not to be feared,

00:59:55.720 that he was to be dealt with, negotiated with,

00:59:58.920 lost him a lot of respect in the family.

01:00:01.560 If Paul resembled Carlo

01:00:03.120 in wanting to modernize the mafia,

01:00:05.160 he differed from him in essential ways.

01:00:07.860 While the old boss had lived

01:00:09.400 in a modest house in Brooklyn,

01:00:11.480 Paul built himself a mansion on Staten Island,

01:00:13.800 a mansion worth three and a half million dollars.

01:00:18.140 He called it his White House.

01:00:20.680 The mansion was designed partly an imitation

01:00:25.480 of the president's White House in Washington

01:00:27.660 to give you an idea of the size of the ego

01:00:30.240 that Paul Castellano had.

01:00:32.240 And there it sits on the top of Todd Hill,

01:00:34.940 totally isolated from the life

01:00:37.100 of the average mobster in the family,

01:00:42.000 the copy who hung out at these clubs.

01:00:44.540 The new boss did not seem to appreciate

01:00:46.680 the need to mix with the troops

01:00:48.400 the way his predecessor had.

01:00:51.240 Carlo Gambino was a standoff.

01:00:53.160 He was approachable, and he would listen.

01:00:54.980 If he could do something for you,

01:00:57.580 then he would do it. 0.98

01:00:58.980 Castellano was a lot more arrogant. 0.76

01:01:01.320 Castellano preferred to spend his time 0.92

01:01:03.120 dining with Fortune 500 executives

01:01:05.320 at Manhattan steakhouses like Sparks,

01:01:07.980 where the staff catered to his every desire.

01:01:11.260 He used to go into Sparks

01:01:12.360 and tell them what cut of meat he wanted them to cut

01:01:14.300 because of his butcher background.

01:01:16.840 People would be falling all over themselves

01:01:19.140 to wait on him.

01:01:20.180 He may get eight waiters at his table.

01:01:22.760 He was spoiled.

01:01:25.520 Back at his White House,

01:01:27.180 Paul was leading a life of deception.

01:01:29.820 Though his marriage to Carlo Gambino's sister-in-law

01:01:32.280 had served him well politically in the Mafia,

01:01:34.940 it was an unhappy one.

01:01:37.380 Paul suffered from diabetes,

01:01:39.060 and it was said that one of the side effects

01:01:41.340 was sexual impotence.

01:01:43.600 Mrs. Nina and Mr. Paul

01:01:45.300 were all the time sleeping in their separate rooms.

01:01:51.340 Sometimes they used to speak.

01:01:54.240 And, guys,

01:01:55.240 excuse me,

01:01:57.560 Sparks Steakhouse is still open to this day, guys.

01:02:00.620 If you look here,

01:02:02.020 located at

01:02:02.820 210 East 46th Street

01:02:05.100 out there in New York City.

01:02:07.000 Let's see here and click

01:02:07.740 what it looks like nowadays.

01:02:10.180 This seems to be it right here.

01:02:11.680 This was back when?

01:02:13.640 This is back in the,

01:02:15.400 I think,

01:02:16.080 70s now at this point.

01:02:18.600 Okay.

01:02:18.900 What kind of something else?

01:02:20.880 Nice,

01:02:21.580 and,

01:02:22.280 you know,

01:02:23.940 they have a good time together,

01:02:26.760 watching TV,

01:02:28.360 playing cards,

01:02:29.600 and sometimes they,

01:02:31.000 they don't speak at all

01:02:32.780 by a week or two weeks.

01:02:35.560 Feeling lonely and isolated,

01:02:37.720 Paul turned to his young Colombian maid for solace. 1.00

01:02:40.760 He gave her these toy clowns,

01:02:42.760 telling Gloria it was her duty

01:02:44.180 to make him smile.

01:02:47.280 I asked him,

01:02:48.840 why you want

01:02:49.820 that I smile for you?

01:02:52.640 Why do you want 0.81

01:02:53.900 I be like a clown 0.59

01:02:55.740 all the day? 0.88

01:02:58.100 Then he said,

01:02:59.000 because I am very lonely.

01:03:01.320 Because I only have money

01:03:02.800 in my pocket.

01:03:05.660 And because I don't have love.

01:03:07.080 To his soldiers on the street

01:03:09.840 who heard rumors about the affair,

01:03:11.880 it was Paul 0.99

01:03:12.740 who was acting like the clown. 0.96

01:03:14.480 In order to consummate 0.83

01:03:15.720 his relationship

01:03:16.320 with Gloria properly, 0.99

01:03:17.880 Paul got a penile implant. 0.99

01:03:19.940 His wife left him. 1.00

01:03:22.280 Crazy, right?

01:03:23.020 Yeah, I know.

01:03:27.840 It was found.

01:03:29.080 It's what happens

01:03:29.480 when you're out of shape, guys. 1.00

01:03:30.520 Get in the goddamn gym, man. 1.00

01:03:31.800 It was found by everybody 1.00

01:03:32.760 and all his copy

01:03:34.260 knew he was making 0.99

01:03:35.260 an ass out of himself. 0.99

01:03:37.080 He lost a great deal 1.00

01:03:39.780 of respect

01:03:40.380 in his own family,

01:03:41.760 in the Mausser family.

01:03:43.380 As the Gambino family members

01:03:45.320 lost more and more respect

01:03:46.620 for the boss,

01:03:47.840 they began to fear him less

01:03:49.300 and then to hate him.

01:03:51.300 One man in particular

01:03:52.700 carried that hate around

01:03:54.140 like a badge of honor.

01:03:56.080 John Gotti.

01:04:01.420 In the early 1980s,

01:04:03.580 Gambino crime boss

01:04:04.640 Paul Castellano

01:04:05.460 lived a double life.

01:04:07.080 Balancing his status

01:04:08.200 as a prosperous

01:04:09.000 and legitimate businessman

01:04:10.380 against his role

01:04:11.960 as New York's

01:04:12.660 most powerful mafia godfather.

01:04:16.320 At a secluded White House

01:04:17.880 on Staten Island,

01:04:19.220 Paul surrounded himself

01:04:20.240 with his trusted capos.

01:04:22.460 Yet, with all his power

01:04:24.340 and prestige,

01:04:25.540 Paul admitted

01:04:26.160 to his maid and lover,

01:04:27.680 Gloria Olarte,

01:04:28.940 the loneliness and fear

01:04:30.440 that came with running

01:04:31.480 a crime family.

01:04:32.600 And one day he said to me,

01:04:34.600 I want to be happy,

01:04:36.520 I want you make me happy

01:04:37.720 because people like me

01:04:39.100 die in the street. 0.75

01:04:41.320 Paul and Gloria

01:04:42.420 would often cook

01:04:43.280 Italian food together.

01:04:44.860 Then Paul,

01:04:45.680 who had a ravenous appetite,

01:04:47.600 would sit down to eat.

01:04:48.700 He normally spend

01:04:51.120 four or five hours

01:04:53.660 and eat anything.

01:04:56.500 The meat,

01:04:57.720 the spaghetti,

01:04:58.620 the vegetables,

01:05:01.660 the coffee,

01:05:02.500 the cake,

01:05:03.320 the cookies.

01:05:05.820 You know,

01:05:06.140 he never stopped to eat.

01:05:07.820 Paul could also be gluttonous

01:05:09.380 as a crime boss.

01:05:10.740 He began demanding

01:05:11.680 a bigger piece of the action

01:05:13.080 through each of his

01:05:13.800 two dozen crews.

01:05:15.480 The typical 10% 0.71

01:05:17.040 of a crew's earnings

01:05:17.960 wasn't enough for Paul.

01:05:19.420 He wanted 15%.

01:05:21.440 If there's a fight,

01:05:23.360 he's acting like

01:05:24.040 one of the boys.

01:05:25.660 $100,000 score.

01:05:27.780 And he only gets $50,000.

01:05:29.420 He goes crazy.

01:05:30.180 How come I'm only getting 10%?

01:05:31.760 He'd fly off the handle

01:05:32.640 about who's running this.

01:05:34.600 He didn't do anything,

01:05:35.700 but he's the boss.

01:05:37.280 So he should get more.

01:05:38.500 And he certainly wasn't shy

01:05:39.780 about voicing his dissatisfaction.

01:05:41.980 If his Christmas present

01:05:43.800 wasn't big enough,

01:05:45.180 if the envelope

01:05:46.020 wasn't thick enough,

01:05:47.740 if a certain crew

01:05:49.180 didn't come up.

01:05:49.840 And greed always gets you

01:05:50.940 jammed up, guys,

01:05:51.580 when it comes to mafia business.

01:05:52.660 Remember,

01:05:53.020 Maranzano was the same thing.

01:05:54.760 Wanted to be the boss

01:05:55.460 of all bosses

01:05:56.080 and have all his power.

01:05:57.440 Ended up backfiring.

01:05:58.340 Are you guys going to see

01:05:58.880 what happens to Castellano

01:05:59.760 in the same situation?

01:06:01.060 With enough money

01:06:01.820 at the end of the week

01:06:02.400 because they didn't make that much,

01:06:03.880 he didn't expect that

01:06:04.660 to cut into his end.

01:06:06.240 Paul's excessive greed,

01:06:08.100 even by mob standards,

01:06:09.740 was not the only

01:06:10.940 character flaw

01:06:11.740 alienating him

01:06:12.720 from his own crime family.

01:06:14.800 He persisted in snubbing

01:06:16.600 the blue-collar faction

01:06:17.820 of the family

01:06:18.500 headed by his underboss,

01:06:20.480 Neil de la Croce.

01:06:21.640 The crews complained

01:06:22.920 to each other,

01:06:23.640 but that was about

01:06:24.440 all they could do.

01:06:26.000 It was no use

01:06:27.280 telling their boss,

01:06:28.300 Neil de la Croce,

01:06:29.400 who oversaw many of the crews

01:06:30.800 and was considered

01:06:31.800 a hoodlum's hoodlum.

01:06:33.720 De la Croce just wanted

01:06:34.840 to keep the peace

01:06:35.900 and keep the boss happy. 0.98

01:06:37.880 and keep the money flowing.

01:06:43.260 If $200,000

01:06:45.240 came in

01:06:46.040 from a construction project,

01:06:47.960 he would go up

01:06:48.700 to the White House

01:06:49.340 and give $100,000

01:06:50.440 to Big Paul

01:06:51.360 because he believed

01:06:53.440 that the boss

01:06:54.140 is the boss

01:06:54.860 is the boss.

01:06:56.160 Big Paul certainly

01:06:57.480 shared that view

01:06:58.420 of himself.

01:06:59.520 He demanded respect

01:07:00.640 and was not above

01:07:02.020 using his powers

01:07:02.920 of intimidation

01:07:03.780 to make that point

01:07:04.980 even to total strangers.

01:07:07.040 He drove his wife 0.99

01:07:07.760 to a supermarket one day

01:07:08.960 and he sent

01:07:10.620 some young thug

01:07:12.460 kind of kids

01:07:13.180 cut him off

01:07:14.060 and screamed 0.94

01:07:15.520 at him out of the car

01:07:16.400 and gave him gestures,

01:07:18.100 the profane gestures

01:07:19.380 with their hands and all.

01:07:20.640 And he quietly

01:07:21.260 took down the plate

01:07:22.280 and then sent

01:07:24.660 some young men

01:07:26.840 in his organization

01:07:27.660 over to get these kids 1.00

01:07:28.820 and they brought them

01:07:29.320 to the house.

01:07:30.400 And he said,

01:07:31.020 you know who I am now?

01:07:32.540 So they said yes.

01:07:33.620 They were trembling

01:07:34.280 and they were frightened.

01:07:35.220 He said,

01:07:35.600 nobody's going to hurt you.

01:07:36.840 I just want you to know

01:07:38.040 that if you see

01:07:39.400 an old man 0.70

01:07:39.980 driving in a car,

01:07:41.660 you shouldn't think

01:07:42.560 that it's okay

01:07:43.400 to make profane gestures.

01:07:45.120 You better never

01:07:45.660 do it again.

01:07:46.380 And they were frightened

01:07:47.260 to death

01:07:47.660 and he let them

01:07:48.420 out of the house.

01:07:49.320 But that was

01:07:49.840 Paul Castellano.

01:07:51.240 Some of the others

01:07:51.960 might have given him 0.78

01:07:52.560 a beating 0.78

01:07:52.980 or physically abused him

01:07:54.740 or done worse.

01:07:56.080 But he was trying

01:07:57.480 to give them a lesson

01:07:58.080 and it was an interesting

01:07:58.920 lesson, I thought.

01:08:00.380 But while the boss

01:08:01.460 was teaching lessons

01:08:02.380 in respect to young punks,

01:08:04.280 the ever-growing

01:08:05.180 disrespect for Castellano

01:08:06.680 within the crime family

01:08:07.960 was becoming poisonous.

01:08:12.360 In the roaring 80s,

01:08:14.180 Manhattan was

01:08:14.880 in a furious building boom

01:08:16.240 and Big Paul

01:08:17.280 was getting a huge cut

01:08:18.640 from it all

01:08:19.220 as contractors

01:08:20.280 paid a mom tax

01:08:21.560 to get their concrete

01:08:22.920 delivered.

01:08:24.140 It made the Gambinos rich. 0.98

01:08:26.420 It also helped

01:08:27.240 make construction costs

01:08:28.360 in New York

01:08:28.880 the highest in the nation.

01:08:30.100 Big Paul wanted

01:08:32.520 to make sure

01:08:33.040 no one in the family

01:08:34.020 disrupted the safe

01:08:35.140 money-making machine.

01:08:38.380 One crew Paul kept his eye

01:08:40.140 on was John Gotti's

01:08:41.560 at the Bergen Hunt

01:08:42.640 and Fish Club

01:08:43.280 in Queens.

01:08:45.180 All right.

01:08:46.140 So now we're going

01:08:46.900 to be introduced

01:08:47.580 to the OG himself,

01:08:49.700 John Gotti.

01:08:50.980 Gotti, who was now

01:08:52.420 a couple,

01:08:53.280 was letting it be known

01:08:54.320 he wanted a bigger

01:08:55.260 piece of the action

01:08:56.280 in the cargo hijacking

01:08:57.880 racket at JFK.

01:08:59.960 And they were

01:09:00.660 And remember, guys,

01:09:01.700 as a capo,

01:09:02.240 that means he's a captain

01:09:03.000 on the street.

01:09:03.700 So he's basically

01:09:05.160 like a third-line guy.

01:09:08.160 So you got boss,

01:09:09.140 consigliere,

01:09:10.380 underboss,

01:09:11.080 and then capos.

01:09:11.880 So he's pretty much

01:09:12.640 third in line at this point

01:09:14.220 if you're going to

01:09:14.740 roughly speak that way.

01:09:16.280 And again,

01:09:16.980 watch the first episode, guys,

01:09:18.100 where we show that hierarchy

01:09:18.940 and break this all down

01:09:20.000 so you kind of

01:09:20.900 can keep tracking.

01:09:22.960 Gotti's crew

01:09:23.680 was involved

01:09:24.360 in drug trafficking.

01:09:25.340 A crime the boss

01:09:26.840 told his men

01:09:27.640 never to get into.

01:09:30.060 And guys, remember,

01:09:31.220 I know a bunch of you guys

01:09:32.140 are going to say,

01:09:32.560 that's a lie.

01:09:33.320 I know the mafia

01:09:34.100 sells drugs.

01:09:35.180 This is,

01:09:35.740 what are you talking,

01:09:36.380 like, why would they not,

01:09:37.580 like, care?

01:09:38.640 Guys, back then,

01:09:40.600 you could get killed 0.95

01:09:41.500 for selling drugs 0.95

01:09:42.640 because when you sell drugs,

01:09:44.260 it brings with it

01:09:45.800 a lot of snitches.

01:09:46.840 It brings in

01:09:47.600 other criminal organizations.

01:09:49.080 It pretty much locks you

01:09:50.260 into conspiracy

01:09:50.960 automatically.

01:09:52.880 And since at the time,

01:09:54.440 drugs were getting

01:09:55.220 football-type numbers,

01:09:57.140 the mafia didn't want

01:09:58.060 anyone involved

01:09:58.640 because if one guy

01:09:59.460 gets pinched for that,

01:10:00.620 it could basically

01:10:01.980 cause problems

01:10:04.860 for all the other ways

01:10:05.900 they were making money.

01:10:06.660 So they looked at it

01:10:07.420 as a risk

01:10:08.300 that wasn't necessary.

01:10:09.300 If you're making

01:10:09.740 200K,

01:10:11.060 300K a week

01:10:12.580 with your construction

01:10:13.640 scamming,

01:10:14.820 you know,

01:10:15.360 and then more

01:10:15.800 with the garment district

01:10:16.600 and all the other ways

01:10:17.180 they were making money,

01:10:18.600 why the hell

01:10:19.560 would you sit there 0.89

01:10:20.380 and risk it all

01:10:21.820 selling a product

01:10:22.840 that carries

01:10:23.420 10,

01:10:24.120 20,

01:10:24.480 30-year sentences,

01:10:25.920 you know?

01:10:26.620 So that's why

01:10:28.000 drug trafficking

01:10:29.140 was so frowned upon.

01:10:30.080 Did guys do it?

01:10:31.060 Yes.

01:10:31.680 Especially Cavalier

01:10:32.700 bought people

01:10:33.340 like John Gotti.

01:10:34.460 They just did it

01:10:35.000 under the table,

01:10:36.280 kind of on the side

01:10:37.160 and didn't tell anybody

01:10:37.760 about it.

01:10:38.480 But if people knew,

01:10:40.060 pretty much 0.91

01:10:40.600 it would get you whacked. 0.77

01:10:41.360 The kind of

01:10:44.100 unsophisticated crews

01:10:45.260 like John Gotti's crew

01:10:46.460 were looked on

01:10:47.100 as, you know,

01:10:47.960 possible career

01:10:49.040 threateners,

01:10:49.900 you know,

01:10:50.180 because these are the guys,

01:10:51.120 they're going to get us

01:10:51.900 in the papers,

01:10:52.600 they're going to get

01:10:53.100 locked up,

01:10:54.020 they're, you know,

01:10:54.620 involved in drugs.

01:10:56.140 This is bad news for us.

01:10:57.520 You know,

01:10:57.680 we've got big things

01:10:58.720 cooking here.

01:10:59.780 Gotti would complain

01:11:00.800 about Big Paul's

01:11:02.180 attitude toward him,

01:11:03.960 saying,

01:11:04.740 that guy,

01:11:05.540 Big Paul,

01:11:06.300 he's a stuffed shirt,

01:11:07.400 he thinks he's a

01:11:07.940 big boss

01:11:09.100 and all he has 0.99

01:11:09.720 is a pain in the neck.

01:11:11.360 Paul knew Gotti

01:11:12.440 was unhappy,

01:11:13.500 but he didn't seem

01:11:14.260 to care.

01:11:15.560 The boss was thinking

01:11:16.360 about splitting

01:11:17.040 the Bergen crew

01:11:17.780 up anyway.

01:11:18.840 They just weren't

01:11:19.760 fitting in with

01:11:20.300 the new business plan

01:11:21.240 and the manpower

01:11:22.580 could be used elsewhere.

01:11:24.640 It would be

01:11:25.160 a fatal mistake

01:11:26.240 and it would cost

01:11:27.620 Castellano his life.

01:11:30.100 Just as Carlo Gambino

01:11:31.360 had come to power

01:11:32.640 30 years earlier

01:11:33.620 in a violent coup,

01:11:35.240 John Gotti

01:11:35.900 and other members

01:11:36.560 of the Gambino family

01:11:37.620 would soon begin

01:11:38.760 plotting the same

01:11:39.780 kind of bloody

01:11:41.060 takeover.

01:11:46.820 While Gambino crime boss

01:11:48.620 Paul Castellano

01:11:49.500 played the part

01:11:50.320 of the well-dressed

01:11:51.340 New York businessman,

01:11:52.900 he was no stranger

01:11:54.300 to violence,

01:11:55.340 mafia style.

01:11:57.180 Paul knew

01:11:57.620 when it was time 0.93

01:11:58.160 to kill, 0.97

01:11:58.980 but he preferred 0.99

01:11:59.820 deal-making 0.85

01:12:00.480 to murder.

01:12:03.260 Nothing showed

01:12:04.360 that side

01:12:04.920 of Paul's character

01:12:05.740 better than the way

01:12:06.860 he dealt with 0.97

01:12:07.440 a gang of Irish thugs 0.99

01:12:08.860 known as the Westies. 0.91

01:12:11.540 The Westies 0.96

01:12:12.600 operated out of

01:12:13.440 Manhattan's

01:12:14.020 Westside neighborhood

01:12:14.940 known as

01:12:15.640 Hell's Kitchen

01:12:16.320 where they were

01:12:17.300 into labor racketeering,

01:12:18.880 extortion,

01:12:19.780 drugs,

01:12:20.480 and murder for hire.

01:12:22.680 The Westies 0.96

01:12:23.280 wanted to eliminate

01:12:24.120 the competition

01:12:24.920 on their turf.

01:12:26.240 They began

01:12:26.740 roughing up,

01:12:27.900 robbing,

01:12:28.500 kidnapping, 0.99

01:12:28.880 and killing 0.99

01:12:29.860 mafia associates, 0.99

01:12:31.560 including allies

01:12:32.420 of the Gambino family.

01:12:35.680 Big Paulie,

01:12:36.580 in a move

01:12:37.280 that reflected

01:12:38.260 his style

01:12:38.860 of mafia deal-making,

01:12:40.580 called a meeting

01:12:41.220 at his favorite

01:12:41.860 restaurant in Brooklyn,

01:12:43.180 Tommaso's.

01:12:44.840 He invited

01:12:45.800 the leaders

01:12:46.240 of the Westies,

01:12:47.000 Jimmy Coonan

01:12:47.640 and Mickey Featherstone.

01:12:49.980 Castellano

01:12:50.560 did not arrange

01:12:52.080 to have the two

01:12:52.800 Irish gangsters killed, 0.99

01:12:54.300 as some other mob bosses 0.53

01:12:55.560 might have done.

01:12:56.120 Instead,

01:12:57.340 he made them

01:12:58.120 an offer

01:12:58.600 they could not refuse.

01:13:01.620 In exchange

01:13:02.420 for 10%

01:13:03.180 of their earnings

01:13:04.000 on the street,

01:13:05.320 Paul gave the Westies

01:13:06.320 permission

01:13:06.760 to use his name

01:13:07.700 and the name

01:13:09.040 of the Gambino crime family

01:13:10.640 on the west side

01:13:11.440 of Manhattan.

01:13:13.280 Paul's only caveat

01:13:14.400 was that

01:13:15.020 if the Westies 0.84

01:13:16.000 wanted anyone killed,

01:13:17.960 permission had to come

01:13:19.060 first from the Gambinos.

01:13:21.060 The Westies 0.96

01:13:22.140 took the deal.

01:13:23.840 Then,

01:13:24.340 in the fall of 78,

01:13:25.500 New York police

01:13:26.900 detectives were

01:13:27.660 businessmen first,

01:13:29.240 gangster second.

01:13:30.160 Smart move, man.

01:13:31.420 Some people might

01:13:31.960 look at it as weak,

01:13:33.140 but if you look at it

01:13:33.900 objectively speaking,

01:13:35.120 it's protecting the brand.

01:13:36.420 Stymied in their 1.00

01:13:37.120 investigations

01:13:37.820 of several

01:13:38.520 Westside homicides.

01:13:40.700 Witnesses wouldn't talk

01:13:41.780 because they had heard

01:13:42.880 Paul Castellano's name

01:13:44.220 in connection

01:13:44.720 with the crimes.

01:13:46.140 The Westies 0.96

01:13:46.700 were milking the privilege

01:13:47.920 to use Paul's name

01:13:49.180 for all it was worth.

01:13:51.720 That's when the police

01:13:52.800 decided to go

01:13:53.600 straight to Paul.

01:13:54.420 Paul agreed to meet

01:13:56.300 with the police,

01:13:57.240 but on his own turf

01:13:58.380 in Tommaso's restaurant.

01:14:01.200 Paul Castellano

01:14:01.980 walks through the door

01:14:02.700 with his entourage

01:14:03.400 with about six or seven

01:14:04.500 what we call

01:14:05.240 jabeeps 0.99

01:14:05.740 with the mafia uniform,

01:14:07.280 the gold chains,

01:14:08.580 the pointed shoes,

01:14:09.480 the camel hair coats,

01:14:10.460 you know,

01:14:11.260 the hair,

01:14:12.420 the whole bit.

01:14:13.200 Paul and the police

01:14:14.000 were taken to the rear

01:14:15.060 dining room

01:14:15.660 and the people eating

01:14:16.880 there were moved

01:14:17.680 so Paul and his interrogators

01:14:19.360 could be alone.

01:14:20.160 discussing

01:14:21.180 the problem.

01:14:23.980 Problem being

01:14:24.700 I want you to cut the cord

01:14:26.720 with the Irish kids

01:14:27.520 on the west side

01:14:28.220 because

01:14:28.700 they're denigrating you

01:14:30.660 and I'm trying to use

01:14:32.040 a little psychology

01:14:32.800 with them.

01:14:33.960 And he listens

01:14:34.620 and he admits to me

01:14:36.080 that he knows them

01:14:36.820 and he tells me

01:14:37.880 yes,

01:14:38.120 they're nice little

01:14:38.620 Irish kids.

01:14:40.440 So we have our conversation

01:14:41.860 at the end of the conversation

01:14:43.060 he says,

01:14:43.640 by the way,

01:14:44.180 he says,

01:14:44.600 I just built a new home

01:14:45.940 in Staten Island.

01:14:46.760 I'd like you and your wife

01:14:47.520 to come

01:14:48.000 as my guests

01:14:49.280 for the housewarming.

01:14:51.020 And here's Tommaso's

01:14:52.340 right here, guys.

01:14:53.160 It's still open

01:14:54.020 to this day.

01:14:55.220 So I guess

01:14:55.940 these mob guys

01:14:56.640 really had a good taste

01:14:57.420 of food

01:14:57.720 because all these restaurants

01:14:58.600 back in the day

01:15:01.140 are all still open.

01:15:02.620 So I guess

01:15:02.940 mafia guys

01:15:03.460 have good taste

01:15:04.140 of food.

01:15:06.120 I said, 0.99

01:15:06.760 are you crazy? 0.66

01:15:07.960 Paul had no interest 0.90

01:15:09.080 in cooperating

01:15:09.760 with the police

01:15:10.380 but to protect himself

01:15:12.140 he told the Westies

01:15:13.520 to stop using

01:15:14.560 his name specifically.

01:15:16.560 Too much money

01:15:17.200 was coming out

01:15:17.820 of Hell's Kitchen

01:15:18.460 to stop anything

01:15:19.540 just because the cops

01:15:20.680 asked for Paul's help.

01:15:22.000 So the murder

01:15:22.640 and mayhem continued

01:15:23.840 and Castellano

01:15:24.900 kept collecting his tithe.

01:15:27.020 But the most violent gang

01:15:28.560 connected to Paul

01:15:29.520 was a crew

01:15:30.560 within the Gambino family

01:15:32.180 run by a serial killer

01:15:33.980 named Roy DeMeo.

01:15:35.600 DeMeo and his gang

01:15:36.760 specialized

01:15:37.400 in loan sharking,

01:15:38.760 narcotics

01:15:39.280 and their peculiar talent

01:15:40.840 murder.

01:15:41.780 And guys,

01:15:42.500 loan sharking

01:15:43.100 is lending money

01:15:43.960 at an extremely

01:15:45.460 high interest rate

01:15:46.320 that people

01:15:47.940 typically can't pay back.

01:15:50.140 So,

01:15:51.320 and then if they

01:15:52.180 don't pay it back,

01:15:53.520 they basically

01:15:54.060 beat them up

01:15:54.800 or take over

01:15:55.340 their business

01:15:55.920 or whatever.

01:15:56.660 It allows them

01:15:57.380 to get their tentacles

01:15:58.200 in to desperate people.

01:16:01.220 What they would do

01:16:03.700 is lure you

01:16:05.760 into a spot.

01:16:08.360 You'd be shot 1.00

01:16:09.320 in the head 1.00

01:16:09.720 with a silencer 1.00

01:16:10.740 or a quick pistol.

01:16:12.620 They would wrap

01:16:13.440 a towel around

01:16:14.280 your head

01:16:14.600 real quick

01:16:15.400 so the blood

01:16:16.340 wouldn't go

01:16:16.760 all over the place.

01:16:18.300 And then they 0.98

01:16:18.760 would hang you 0.62

01:16:19.880 upside down 1.00

01:16:20.440 and bleed you. 0.99

01:16:22.100 And you can see 0.92

01:16:22.860 a scene like this,

01:16:23.760 guys,

01:16:23.940 in the movie

01:16:24.300 Goodfellas

01:16:24.880 where they shoot

01:16:25.380 John Pesci

01:16:25.860 in the back

01:16:26.180 of the head

01:16:26.500 after he thinks

01:16:27.320 he's going to be made.

01:16:28.660 And then dismember 0.99

01:16:29.260 the body, 0.99

01:16:29.880 box it,

01:16:31.080 bag it,

01:16:31.460 and the next morning

01:16:33.480 you were under

01:16:33.900 30 tons of garbage 0.90

01:16:34.800 in the fountain

01:16:35.300 there when you dump.

01:16:37.700 Don't worry,

01:16:38.260 that doesn't give

01:16:38.680 anything away.

01:16:39.300 They probably did

01:16:41.960 in excess of

01:16:42.940 250 murders.

01:16:46.920 Paul happily collected

01:16:48.040 his due from their

01:16:48.780 And you just

01:16:49.480 forget about it! 0.55

01:16:51.380 Oh my God.

01:16:51.980 And used the DeMeo crew

01:16:53.160 to carry out hits.

01:16:55.000 One of the hits

01:16:55.860 Paul ordered

01:16:56.600 was on his own

01:16:57.300 son-in-law

01:16:57.860 and Gambino soldier

01:16:59.140 Frank Amato.

01:17:01.460 Amato was married

01:17:02.680 to Paul's daughter,

01:17:03.720 Connie.

01:17:05.000 He got crazy

01:17:05.960 by Miss Connie.

01:17:06.900 He loved her.

01:17:07.620 Miss Connie

01:17:08.060 is the only daughter

01:17:08.900 he had.

01:17:10.260 Every time

01:17:10.880 he talk about Miss Connie,

01:17:12.240 he sighs a lot up.

01:17:14.540 In 1980,

01:17:15.820 Paul heard rumors

01:17:16.640 that his son-in-law

01:17:17.460 was fooling around 0.81

01:17:18.360 with other women

01:17:19.000 and beating up Connie 0.99

01:17:20.420 who was pregnant

01:17:21.360 at the time.

01:17:22.300 Oh my God.

01:17:22.920 When Connie suffered

01:17:23.720 a miscarriage,

01:17:25.040 Paul blamed Frank

01:17:26.240 and ordered DeMeo 0.79

01:17:27.240 to kill him. 0.93

01:17:29.660 On September 20, 0.98

01:17:30.940 1980,

01:17:32.340 Frank Amato

01:17:33.180 disappeared.

01:17:34.320 His body

01:17:34.840 was never found

01:17:35.760 and the crime

01:17:36.720 was never solved.

01:17:38.740 Over the next two years,

01:17:40.160 Paul let DeMeo

01:17:41.000 and his crew

01:17:41.540 do as they pleased.

01:17:42.900 As long as he got

01:17:43.620 his cut on time,

01:17:44.860 Paul was happy.

01:17:47.080 But in 1982,

01:17:48.780 Paul got word

01:17:49.640 the feds

01:17:50.140 were investigating

01:17:50.900 DeMeo's activities,

01:17:52.460 specifically drug dealing

01:17:54.160 and dozens of murders.

01:17:56.300 Paul summoned DeMeo

01:17:57.580 to a strategy session

01:17:58.720 to deal with

01:17:59.600 the investigation.

01:18:01.180 DeMeo didn't show up, 0.90

01:18:02.620 so Paul had him killed.

01:18:04.960 DeMeo's body

01:18:05.620 was found in the trunk

01:18:06.580 of his own car

01:18:07.300 on January 10, 1983.

01:18:11.500 So, behind the facade

01:18:13.660 of the well-dressed

01:18:14.560 Manhattan businessman

01:18:15.600 was a ruthless mob boss.

01:18:18.240 And while Castellano's

01:18:19.520 excessive greed,

01:18:20.960 as well as his affair

01:18:21.980 with his maid

01:18:22.620 were losing him respect

01:18:23.800 within the Gambino family,

01:18:25.200 no one doubted

01:18:26.740 his willingness

01:18:27.220 to use violence.

01:18:29.820 In fact,

01:18:30.880 as tensions

01:18:31.740 within the family

01:18:32.520 grew worse,

01:18:33.700 those who knew

01:18:34.380 they had alienated

01:18:35.300 the boss,

01:18:36.200 including John Gotti,

01:18:38.060 realized that

01:18:38.820 the best way

01:18:39.560 to save their own lives

01:18:40.980 was to strike first.

01:18:42.480 The downfall of Gambino boss

01:18:50.840 Paul Castellano

01:18:51.760 can be traced

01:18:52.760 to an ambitious underling

01:18:53.980 and an unwitting lover.

01:18:56.220 In March 1983,

01:18:58.380 the FBI was eager

01:18:59.580 to plant bugs

01:19:00.500 inside Paul's

01:19:01.340 Staten Island mansion.

01:19:02.840 But the agents

01:19:04.060 needed to know

01:19:04.700 exactly where in the house

01:19:06.080 Paul sat and held court.

01:19:07.640 They have a bug

01:19:09.740 in the kitchen

01:19:10.740 and they talk

01:19:12.160 in the kitchen

01:19:12.540 most of the time

01:19:13.400 and then all of a sudden

01:19:14.300 when they have

01:19:14.700 something really critical

01:19:15.560 to say,

01:19:15.920 like, 0.52

01:19:16.040 they're going to kill somebody 0.52

01:19:16.800 and they go out on the porch, 1.00

01:19:17.900 you're screwed. 0.99

01:19:19.000 That's where the maid came in. 1.00

01:19:21.360 Paul's maiden lover,

01:19:22.520 Gloria Olarte,

01:19:23.420 was no stranger

01:19:24.400 to the FBI.

01:19:26.260 Agents would stop her

01:19:27.160 while she was running errands

01:19:28.220 and offered to buy her coffee

01:19:29.260 just to see

01:19:30.280 if they could get

01:19:30.860 any information out of her.

01:19:32.940 Gloria had told Paul

01:19:33.960 about it

01:19:34.420 and he'd given her

01:19:35.260 only one piece of advice.

01:19:37.640 Don't worry.

01:19:39.480 Be careful.

01:19:42.240 If he asks you something,

01:19:43.860 answer whatever

01:19:44.480 you have to answer.

01:19:45.560 Don't lie.

01:19:46.360 Please don't lie.

01:19:47.720 One day,

01:19:48.700 Gloria casually mentioned 0.77

01:19:49.980 to an agent

01:19:50.500 that Mr. Paul,

01:19:51.780 as she called him,

01:19:52.520 sat at the kitchen table

01:19:53.580 where he talked on the phone

01:19:55.160 and held his meetings.

01:19:56.620 Gloria had no idea.

01:19:57.940 She had just told them

01:19:58.960 where to plant the bug.

01:20:01.560 But Paul... 1.00

01:20:02.420 You stupid! 1.00

01:20:04.700 Paul didn't make things 1.00

01:20:05.620 easy for the FBI.

01:20:06.600 He protected his home

01:20:08.120 with a state-of-the-art

01:20:09.020 security system,

01:20:10.480 a high wrought-iron fence,

01:20:11.900 and a Rottweiler

01:20:12.480 named Duke

01:20:13.060 who roamed

01:20:13.940 the three-and-a-half-acre estate.

01:20:16.880 So the FBI

01:20:17.880 sent an agent to Paul...

01:20:19.060 And guys,

01:20:19.640 when I cover

01:20:20.220 how the FBI dismantled

01:20:22.160 La Cosa Nostra,

01:20:23.900 we're going to go into

01:20:24.720 more detail

01:20:25.120 about how they put

01:20:25.720 this specific bug

01:20:26.540 in Costello's house.

01:20:28.440 Paul's house

01:20:29.140 posing as a repairman.

01:20:30.260 At the time,

01:20:32.820 Paul, Gloria,

01:20:33.880 and Paul's driver,

01:20:35.100 Tommy Bellotti,

01:20:35.880 were all in the house.

01:20:37.500 In fact,

01:20:38.220 Bellotti hovered

01:20:39.160 over the agent

01:20:39.700 watching every move.

01:20:42.060 Here you got the agent

01:20:43.200 who's got this

01:20:43.820 known killer

01:20:44.720 that's watching over him.

01:20:45.820 So right while

01:20:46.320 he was standing there,

01:20:47.200 watching him,

01:20:48.040 guarding him,

01:20:48.560 standing guard,

01:20:49.720 the agent

01:20:51.360 installed the microphone

01:20:52.300 and thinking

01:20:53.520 he was fixing

01:20:54.160 what he was supposed

01:20:54.980 to be fixing.

01:20:55.540 With the bug planted,

01:20:57.440 the FBI began

01:20:58.340 the task of monitoring

01:20:59.580 Paul's day-to-day life.

01:21:01.960 Over the next

01:21:02.640 four and a half months,

01:21:04.160 the FBI recorded

01:21:05.300 over 600 hours

01:21:07.040 of conversations.

01:21:08.920 I think 70%

01:21:10.080 FBI, open up!

01:21:13.600 None of those tapes

01:21:14.380 were recipes

01:21:15.420 and conversations.

01:21:16.240 Somebody should have

01:21:16.960 made a cookbook out of it.

01:21:17.900 Go ahead.

01:21:18.140 How are the microphones 0.99

01:21:19.460 and bugs and shit 0.99

01:21:20.700 they will put in this time? 0.99

01:21:22.620 Because, you know...

01:21:23.840 They were good, man.

01:21:24.880 I mean, you know,

01:21:26.300 even back then

01:21:27.400 they had fairly

01:21:27.900 sophisticated equipment.

01:21:29.140 So, I mean,

01:21:30.600 the government's

01:21:31.020 been wiretapping people

01:21:31.780 since even, like,

01:21:32.940 the early 1900s.

01:21:34.800 It's something that

01:21:35.520 kind of came out

01:21:36.060 even, like,

01:21:38.000 in the 1920s.

01:21:39.120 It was already, like,

01:21:39.680 technology that

01:21:40.320 they were doing it.

01:21:41.200 So, yeah.

01:21:42.220 Wow.

01:21:43.040 So, crazy stuff.

01:21:44.000 Nowadays,

01:21:44.360 you can buy a pen

01:21:44.940 on Amazon that records

01:21:46.180 when you click it.

01:21:47.860 Yeah, of course.

01:21:48.480 So, it goes a show

01:21:48.620 how far we become.

01:21:49.820 I don't know.

01:21:51.560 But we were facing

01:21:53.800 some not very nice

01:21:57.860 conversations

01:21:59.540 in the sense

01:22:00.320 that they were

01:22:00.900 clearly talking

01:22:03.160 about business

01:22:03.760 and how they were

01:22:04.320 going to slice up business.

01:22:05.940 With the audiotapes rolling,

01:22:07.540 Paul outlined

01:22:08.380 mafia business,

01:22:09.820 badmouthed

01:22:10.540 other family bosses

01:22:11.460 and made loving

01:22:12.600 asides to his maid.

01:22:14.300 He was digging

01:22:15.060 a hole for himself

01:22:16.300 and the entire

01:22:17.600 New York mafia.

01:22:19.620 Then, a family crisis

01:22:21.460 centered on the

01:22:22.180 John Gotti crowd.

01:22:23.580 On August 23rd, 1983,

01:22:26.480 eight Gambino soldiers,

01:22:27.960 including Gotti's friend,

01:22:29.300 Angelo Ruggiero,

01:22:30.880 and Gotti's younger brother,

01:22:32.140 Gene,

01:22:32.620 were arrested

01:22:33.180 for smuggling heroin.

01:22:35.420 Most of the evidence

01:22:36.560 came from the FBI's tap

01:22:38.120 on the Long Island home

01:22:39.600 of Angelo Ruggiero,

01:22:41.300 nicknamed Quack Quack

01:22:42.300 because he talked

01:22:43.240 so much.

01:22:45.820 Angelo was one

01:22:46.960 of the biggest

01:22:47.300 talks I've ever

01:22:47.960 ever wanted to find.

01:22:48.820 Angelo would go up

01:22:49.820 to visit

01:22:51.060 Paul Castellano

01:22:51.940 on Sunday.

01:22:52.880 He's one of those

01:22:53.660 forget about it

01:22:54.960 type guys.

01:22:58.820 With Neil Della Croce

01:23:00.220 and John Gotti.

01:23:01.520 And Castellano

01:23:02.000 would talk about

01:23:02.540 a lot of things.

01:23:03.620 So, Angelo

01:23:03.980 would come back.

01:23:05.360 All right, guys,

01:23:05.900 I got a treat

01:23:06.380 for you here.

01:23:06.860 This is from

01:23:09.400 the Netflix series

01:23:10.600 Fear City

01:23:13.180 when they

01:23:14.720 planted the bug

01:23:16.500 in Costello's house.

01:23:19.340 Let's see.

01:23:20.600 A series of bugs

01:23:21.540 to capture conversations

01:23:22.700 between key figures

01:23:23.980 in the mafia.

01:23:25.200 We got a chance

01:23:25.840 to see just how complex

01:23:27.320 the operations were

01:23:28.280 that went into

01:23:28.820 setting them up,

01:23:29.860 such as

01:23:30.420 the phone plant.

01:23:31.560 The complaint goes in

01:23:32.620 because he has

01:23:33.320 absolute legitimate

01:23:34.480 trouble

01:23:35.160 on his phone.

01:23:36.860 We would ask

01:23:39.380 the phone company

01:23:40.360 to not dispatch

01:23:41.300 and I would

01:23:43.640 show up.

01:23:45.740 And this guy

01:23:46.480 that's talking

01:23:46.920 in interview,

01:23:47.420 guys,

01:23:47.640 is the FBI

01:23:48.140 tech guy.

01:23:53.020 I learned

01:23:53.980 it's very easy

01:23:55.160 to introduce

01:23:56.360 interference

01:23:57.220 in cable systems.

01:23:59.080 Good morning.

01:23:59.480 I'm the cable man

01:24:05.880 now.

01:24:10.300 We pulled the van in.

01:24:12.200 It's really crazy

01:24:12.920 that they had

01:24:13.300 technology like this

01:24:14.100 back then,

01:24:14.860 so it's even

01:24:15.380 scarier than

01:24:16.020 what we probably

01:24:16.440 have nowadays.

01:24:17.700 Yeah.

01:24:18.260 The view of the car.

01:24:19.140 The real high tech

01:24:24.960 we got guys,

01:24:26.200 I guarantee

01:24:26.600 is probably

01:24:26.960 classified,

01:24:27.560 which back then

01:24:28.040 this was also

01:24:28.620 probably considered

01:24:29.340 classified.

01:24:37.380 Oh, wow.

01:24:38.080 We confirmed

01:24:38.760 the bug was working

01:24:39.640 and off we went

01:24:40.480 and we were running

01:24:41.080 again.

01:24:41.500 With things

01:24:41.920 getting so personal,

01:24:43.540 it was...

01:24:44.180 Crazy stuff,

01:24:45.020 guys, huh?

01:24:45.400 Yeah.

01:24:49.140 Back to the main documentary.

01:24:51.940 And he would start

01:24:52.740 to talk about

01:24:53.320 what happened

01:24:53.720 up there

01:24:54.040 at these meetings.

01:24:54.960 We couldn't believe it.

01:24:55.860 He would talk

01:24:56.380 about everything.

01:24:56.900 He's the kind of guy,

01:24:57.520 if you hear something,

01:24:58.220 he has to let you know

01:24:59.820 that he is in

01:25:01.560 on what's going on.

01:25:03.040 So he'd come

01:25:03.600 and he would brag

01:25:04.240 about it.

01:25:05.260 And that's perfect

01:25:07.080 for what we want.

01:25:08.240 The FBI knew

01:25:09.200 the tapes

01:25:09.700 could easily prove

01:25:10.940 that Paul Castellano

01:25:12.160 ran the Gambino

01:25:13.220 crime family.

01:25:15.080 Paul was still

01:25:15.700 in the dark

01:25:16.180 about this,

01:25:17.000 but was furious

01:25:17.980 with Gotti

01:25:18.600 and his crew

01:25:19.200 for breaking

01:25:20.060 the family rule

01:25:20.980 against dealing

01:25:21.560 drugs.

01:25:22.460 I don't think

01:25:22.960 there's any question

01:25:23.780 that Paul Castellano

01:25:25.060 thought about killing

01:25:27.480 John Gotti 0.72

01:25:28.760 and Angelo Ruggiero.

01:25:31.260 It's unclear if he

01:25:32.940 would have.

01:25:34.140 Paul Castellano

01:25:34.940 was not as trigger

01:25:36.220 happy as John Gotti

01:25:37.440 was.

01:25:37.900 Maybe not for any

01:25:39.000 benevolent reason,

01:25:39.900 but because murder

01:25:41.160 does have a way

01:25:42.080 of bringing heat

01:25:43.360 from law enforcement

01:25:44.380 officials.

01:25:45.680 Paul was desperate

01:25:46.480 to learn if he had

01:25:47.480 been implicated

01:25:48.200 on the Ruggiero tapes.

01:25:49.920 So he demanded

01:25:50.880 that the crew leader,

01:25:52.160 Neil de la Croce,

01:25:53.160 bring a copy

01:25:54.020 of the wiretap

01:25:54.940 evidence to him

01:25:55.760 at his White House.

01:25:57.240 A copy that had

01:25:58.560 now been provided

01:25:59.480 to the Gambino

01:26:00.280 men awaiting trial.

01:26:02.340 The boss wanted

01:26:03.200 to hear, remember guys,

01:26:04.260 the discovery process,

01:26:05.400 when you get charged

01:26:06.060 with a crime,

01:26:06.660 the government must

01:26:07.360 turn over what

01:26:08.600 they have on you.

01:26:09.420 So that's how the

01:26:10.760 crooks typically find

01:26:12.340 out that they're

01:26:13.120 a wiretap and then

01:26:13.860 they're able to trace

01:26:14.720 it back and figure

01:26:15.520 out who the snitch

01:26:16.180 was.

01:26:17.260 So discovery is a

01:26:19.880 very powerful process

01:26:20.800 for crooks to be able

01:26:21.920 to figure out who was

01:26:22.980 responsible for putting

01:26:23.700 them in jail.

01:26:25.420 Even now,

01:26:27.240 the feds were still

01:26:28.260 listening in,

01:26:29.160 this time on a bug

01:26:30.380 they had planted

01:26:31.040 in the bedroom

01:26:31.740 of Neil de la Croce.

01:26:33.420 And remember guys,

01:26:34.680 they can't place a bug

01:26:36.200 in a sensitive area

01:26:37.760 like that unless they

01:26:38.500 have an informant

01:26:39.160 telling them that

01:26:40.140 that's where they talk

01:26:40.860 about criminal

01:26:41.300 activities.

01:26:42.240 So if you're

01:26:43.900 getting your phone

01:26:44.800 tapped or your house

01:26:46.040 tapped or whatever

01:26:46.680 in the United States,

01:26:48.380 that pretty much

01:26:49.240 means guaranteed

01:26:50.420 there was an informant

01:26:52.140 or someone involved

01:26:53.380 that was there

01:26:55.040 at that location

01:26:56.100 that was able to

01:26:57.760 identify as a means

01:26:58.800 to commit criminal

01:26:59.380 activity, right?

01:27:00.380 So for example,

01:27:01.480 let's say you talk

01:27:02.820 to an informant

01:27:03.480 about selling drugs,

01:27:05.220 blah, blah, blah.

01:27:05.760 Now your phone has

01:27:06.720 been used in the

01:27:07.300 commission of a crime.

01:27:08.300 So the feds can talk 0.70

01:27:09.400 to that informant.

01:27:10.020 What'd y'all talk

01:27:10.540 about?

01:27:11.200 We talk about this.

01:27:11.920 Here's the recording.

01:27:12.580 Boom.

01:27:12.800 Now they could write

01:27:13.320 a wiretap for that

01:27:14.580 phone, an affidavit

01:27:15.680 and listen to it.

01:27:16.800 They want to bug your

01:27:17.460 house.

01:27:18.140 They can basically get

01:27:19.120 an informant or

01:27:20.100 someone to say,

01:27:20.720 yo, this is where

01:27:21.280 they have their

01:27:21.700 meetings and talk

01:27:22.740 about criminal

01:27:23.140 activity.

01:27:23.480 You want the bugs

01:27:23.960 here?

01:27:24.500 Bam.

01:27:24.740 That's the probable

01:27:25.180 cause they need.

01:27:25.940 They go in there

01:27:26.780 and put the bugs in.

01:27:28.920 So anytime you see

01:27:30.800 a wiretap, guys,

01:27:31.760 where the feds are

01:27:32.820 able to actively

01:27:33.920 listen, remember

01:27:35.020 Title III means

01:27:35.760 listening to it

01:27:36.580 as it's happening,

01:27:37.480 capturing it live.

01:27:38.360 That means that an

01:27:39.280 informant was involved

01:27:40.080 99% of the time

01:27:41.540 because there's no way

01:27:42.900 that you can develop

01:27:43.880 probable cause to

01:27:45.140 listen to people

01:27:45.940 and through such

01:27:46.560 sensitive means unless

01:27:47.940 you have someone

01:27:48.640 that is close to them

01:27:49.800 to be able to get

01:27:50.460 those sensitive

01:27:51.220 conversations.

01:27:52.480 Does that make sense? 1.00

01:27:53.580 Like the goddamn video. 0.99

01:27:54.840 You ain't gonna get 0.99

01:27:55.340 sauce like that

01:27:55.840 anywhere else because

01:27:56.440 I'm the only person 0.99

01:27:57.580 on fucking YouTube 0.99

01:27:58.380 that has written 1.00

01:27:59.160 Title III affidavits

01:28:00.080 and you can take

01:28:00.620 that to the bank, man.

01:28:01.960 No other concert creator

01:28:02.880 has written an affidavit

01:28:04.020 for Title III's.

01:28:05.180 By this point, Neal was

01:28:07.760 dying of brain cancer.

01:28:09.500 And here was John Gotti

01:28:10.740 and Angelo standing

01:28:12.800 there at Neal's deathbed

01:28:15.820 while the tapes were

01:28:17.440 turning and the FBI

01:28:18.780 was listening in.

01:28:19.780 I'm gonna tell you

01:28:20.780 something.

01:28:21.540 If you two never

01:28:22.460 bother with me again,

01:28:23.720 I get them the rest

01:28:24.460 of my life.

01:28:25.260 I ain't giving them

01:28:25.920 pay for it.

01:28:26.700 I can't.

01:28:27.680 I can't.

01:28:29.140 There's good friends

01:28:30.160 of mine on them 1.00

01:28:30.720 fucking face. 1.00

01:28:31.780 Well, he's divorced, 1.00

01:28:32.640 you have to do

01:28:33.160 what he's hurting.

01:28:33.640 You see, that's why

01:28:35.420 I said to you before,

01:28:36.680 you don't understand 0.50

01:28:37.680 what the hell is. 0.95

01:28:38.940 The lust for me 0.97

01:28:40.140 is that the boss

01:28:41.020 is your boss.

01:28:43.060 You understand?

01:28:44.780 But Ruggiero

01:28:45.760 wouldn't give the tapes up,

01:28:47.620 fearing that would mean

01:28:48.540 death for him

01:28:49.280 and the other soldiers 0.83

01:28:50.380 who'd been dealing drugs.

01:28:52.360 Yeah, he was too busy

01:28:53.300 saying,

01:28:53.780 forget about it! 0.55

01:28:55.680 Anytime he was

01:28:56.540 selling dope

01:28:57.160 and talking with all

01:28:58.040 the other guys

01:28:58.560 that were doing it.

01:29:00.320 De La Croce

01:29:00.840 didn't want to go to war

01:29:01.940 with the tapes

01:29:02.540 and strolled for time.

01:29:03.640 The heads of the other

01:29:06.600 mafia families 0.98

01:29:07.480 in New York

01:29:08.020 watched to see

01:29:08.860 how Paul would

01:29:09.840 discipline his own men.

01:29:12.100 But before he could

01:29:13.200 make a decision,

01:29:14.580 Paul was arrested

01:29:15.360 on March 30th, 1984

01:29:16.900 and charged with

01:29:18.260 51 counts of racketeering

01:29:19.960 for sanctioning

01:29:21.040 the killing of 25 people,

01:29:22.940 stealing cars

01:29:23.620 and selling drugs.

01:29:25.180 At the courthouse,

01:29:26.360 Paul was out of his element.

01:29:27.680 If you looked at the man,

01:29:29.560 the charges were somewhat

01:29:30.500 out of the place.

01:29:31.140 And I remember being

01:29:32.260 in the hallway

01:29:32.800 of the courthouse.

01:29:34.100 I walked right up to him.

01:29:35.560 He was a big guy.

01:29:36.640 He must have been

01:29:37.100 6'5 or something.

01:29:39.020 And I stuck out my hand

01:29:40.460 and said,

01:29:41.280 how do you do,

01:29:41.780 Mr. Castellano?

01:29:42.400 John Miller.

01:29:43.520 And I remember

01:29:44.100 he put out his hand

01:29:45.120 and I grabbed this big hand

01:29:46.320 and I remember

01:29:46.820 it was very sweaty,

01:29:48.800 clammy.

01:29:49.560 It was like

01:29:49.900 he was a nervous man

01:29:51.920 and you thought,

01:29:52.460 well, gee,

01:29:53.160 this guy runs

01:29:53.640 the Gambino crime family.

01:29:55.020 You know,

01:29:55.180 if he presses a button, 0.59

01:29:56.200 people get killed.

01:29:57.480 You know,

01:29:57.760 here he was nervous.

01:29:58.600 Paul was released

01:30:01.040 on $2 million bond.

01:30:02.940 He put on a brave face

01:30:04.680 and tried to get back

01:30:05.860 to business.

01:30:07.240 Then the dam broke.

01:30:08.680 That's the equivalent

01:30:09.480 to about $4 million today,

01:30:10.860 guys.

01:30:11.220 Maybe even a little bit more.

01:30:12.460 On February 25th, 1985,

01:30:15.640 Paul was arrested

01:30:16.560 along with the bosses

01:30:17.460 of New York's

01:30:18.240 other crime families

01:30:19.340 in what became known

01:30:20.700 as the commission case.

01:30:23.000 Because remember, guys,

01:30:23.960 by now,

01:30:24.740 RICO is in effect.

01:30:26.680 So they're finally able

01:30:27.460 to use it

01:30:28.000 and Rudy Giuliani,

01:30:29.200 who I remember

01:30:29.560 was the mayor

01:30:30.080 right around the time

01:30:31.720 I was in New York.

01:30:32.560 He was a prosecutor

01:30:33.380 back then at AUSA,

01:30:34.480 a federal prosecutor.

01:30:35.480 And he was responsible.

01:30:36.860 That's actually

01:30:37.240 one of the reasons

01:30:38.080 he rose up to fame

01:30:39.540 so quick.

01:30:40.000 He was the guy

01:30:40.500 that prosecuted

01:30:41.120 the five families

01:30:43.980 of New York.

01:30:45.160 The bosses,

01:30:46.400 who all sat

01:30:47.100 on the mob's

01:30:47.840 board of directors

01:30:48.500 or commission,

01:30:49.440 were charged

01:30:50.080 with racketeering

01:30:50.920 in connection

01:30:51.500 with shaking down

01:30:52.540 New York building

01:30:53.520 contractors

01:30:54.160 and demanding

01:30:55.180 a 2% tax

01:30:56.400 on big cement jobs.

01:30:57.780 Much of the evidence

01:30:59.360 came from the FBI bug

01:31:00.940 in Paul's kitchen.

01:31:02.940 He was in the backseat

01:31:04.140 of the car

01:31:04.660 being brought in

01:31:05.980 for processing.

01:31:07.640 And the newscast

01:31:09.040 came over

01:31:10.240 the car radio

01:31:11.060 that the FBI

01:31:12.160 had just arrested

01:31:13.440 the commission.

01:31:15.100 And a lot of the information

01:31:16.500 was based on

01:31:17.440 the microphonic surveillance,

01:31:18.820 a bug placed

01:31:19.460 in Paul Castellano's house.

01:31:20.880 He said,

01:31:21.240 did you guys really

01:31:21.940 bug my house?

01:31:22.680 And he was muttering

01:31:23.800 something to himself

01:31:24.800 about it.

01:31:25.320 He knew

01:31:26.020 at that point

01:31:27.300 that he was

01:31:28.540 in big trouble.

01:31:29.840 There were rumors

01:31:30.640 within the crime family

01:31:31.740 that Big Paulie

01:31:33.000 might cooperate

01:31:33.760 with the government 0.99

01:31:34.480 and become a rat. 0.94

01:31:35.800 The kind of rumors

01:31:36.860 that make mobsters

01:31:37.860 reach for their guns.

01:31:39.960 John Gotti

01:31:40.580 wanted to kill Paul 0.74

01:31:41.620 because he said 0.99

01:31:42.480 the Gambino family

01:31:43.680 would be better off

01:31:44.700 without him.

01:31:45.600 But Neil Della Croce,

01:31:47.260 the ever-loyal underbossed,

01:31:48.900 wouldn't hear of it.

01:31:50.820 Then,

01:31:51.240 on December 2nd,

01:31:52.540 1985,

01:31:54.140 Neil Della Croce

01:31:55.000 died from brain cancer.

01:31:57.140 John Gotti

01:31:57.920 was now in charge

01:31:59.060 of the blue-collar wing.

01:32:01.400 In the days

01:32:02.060 following Neil's death,

01:32:03.640 Paul's own action

01:32:04.740 sealed his doom.

01:32:06.180 First,

01:32:06.940 he announced to the family

01:32:08.180 that he was breaking up

01:32:09.260 Gotti's crew

01:32:10.000 and reassigning them.

01:32:11.800 Punishment

01:32:12.200 because he had a big problem

01:32:13.260 with Gotti

01:32:13.620 for the heroin dealing.

01:32:15.040 Then,

01:32:15.820 knowing the FBI

01:32:16.800 was watching

01:32:17.500 his every step,

01:32:18.700 he skipped Della Croce.

01:32:19.620 If the FBI

01:32:20.200 wasn't watching Gotti, 0.81

01:32:21.140 he would have killed him, guys.

01:32:22.740 But obviously, 0.96

01:32:24.040 it was a hot time,

01:32:25.120 so he didn't want

01:32:25.700 to be involved

01:32:26.140 in any other murders

01:32:27.020 to add to the 25

01:32:28.920 that they already got him on.

01:32:30.240 Croce's wake,

01:32:31.480 a sign of disrespect

01:32:32.740 in La Cosa Nostra.

01:32:34.260 Paul Castellano

01:32:35.180 was a very shrewd

01:32:36.260 and, you know,

01:32:37.560 maneuvering.

01:32:38.920 Way before

01:32:39.460 they got them,

01:32:43.400 they thought

01:32:44.220 they were invincible.

01:32:45.660 Yeah.

01:32:46.320 Right?

01:32:46.600 Absolutely.

01:32:47.180 They thought

01:32:47.400 they were invincible

01:32:47.820 back then.

01:32:49.400 Until they got caught.

01:32:50.960 They always do, man.

01:32:52.640 This is crazy.

01:32:53.920 Kind of fellow

01:32:54.500 and he said,

01:32:55.000 that would be bad

01:32:55.600 for business

01:32:56.060 for me to show up there.

01:32:57.440 So forget about Neil.

01:32:58.920 Forget about the wake.

01:32:59.940 We'll send a card.

01:33:01.280 And many

01:33:02.420 in the Gambino family,

01:33:04.320 most particularly

01:33:05.360 John Gotti,

01:33:06.460 would have said,

01:33:07.060 hey,

01:33:07.860 your own underboss

01:33:08.960 and your lifelong friend dies.

01:33:10.920 You throw all that

01:33:11.600 out the window.

01:33:12.260 You be a man.

01:33:13.400 You go to the wake.

01:33:14.700 You pay your respects.

01:33:17.580 That was the last straw

01:33:19.320 for John Gotti.

01:33:20.740 And with Della Croce dead,

01:33:22.200 there was no one

01:33:23.080 to stop him

01:33:23.660 from putting his coup

01:33:24.700 into action.

01:33:25.700 First,

01:33:26.620 Gotti won over

01:33:27.380 a longtime supporter

01:33:28.620 of Castellano

01:33:29.360 named Frank DiCicco.

01:33:31.640 DiCicco agreed

01:33:32.640 to help Gotti

01:33:33.460 in exchange

01:33:33.980 for being named

01:33:34.680 underboss

01:33:35.280 when Gotti took over.

01:33:37.720 DiCicco went to work

01:33:38.900 on the boss.

01:33:39.720 Now you can see,

01:33:40.800 right,

01:33:41.100 John Gotti's smart,

01:33:42.440 man.

01:33:42.540 He sees Castellano's

01:33:43.420 really feeling it.

01:33:44.500 He's being charged

01:33:45.240 right now.

01:33:46.120 He's in the dumps.

01:33:47.340 He can't really

01:33:47.800 enforce anything.

01:33:48.600 He's more concerned

01:33:49.140 when not going to prison.

01:33:50.280 So this creates,

01:33:51.160 what,

01:33:51.380 a ripe opportunity

01:33:52.360 for John Gotti

01:33:53.200 to come in

01:33:54.180 and take over.

01:33:56.260 And you can see

01:33:57.380 him plotting

01:33:58.820 and setting up

01:34:00.020 all the pieces

01:34:00.920 to take over

01:34:02.480 the family.

01:34:04.020 He told Paul

01:34:05.200 that the men

01:34:05.940 were upset

01:34:06.460 that he had snubbed

01:34:07.320 Della Croce's wake.

01:34:08.860 So DiCicco offered

01:34:09.760 to arrange a dinner

01:34:10.660 at Spark Steakhouse

01:34:11.800 in Manhattan

01:34:12.340 with Neal's son,

01:34:13.680 Armand.

01:34:14.760 DiCicco told Paul

01:34:16.040 this would be his chance

01:34:17.480 to pay his respects.

01:34:19.260 The dinner was set

01:34:20.020 for December 16th.

01:34:23.180 After doing

01:34:24.060 a little Christmas shopping

01:34:25.160 and dropping off

01:34:26.180 some gifts

01:34:26.640 for the secretaries

01:34:27.560 in his lawyer's office,

01:34:29.420 Paul headed for Sparks

01:34:30.500 around 5 p.m.,

01:34:31.960 escorted by his driver,

01:34:33.340 Tommy Bellotti.

01:34:34.100 I think he was

01:34:35.860 too trustworthy.

01:34:36.960 That jaunt up

01:34:37.760 to Sparks

01:34:38.780 that evening,

01:34:39.480 I think probably

01:34:40.420 a street boss

01:34:43.000 would have suspected

01:34:44.000 something was going

01:34:44.760 to happen

01:34:45.120 because they were

01:34:45.800 having problems.

01:34:47.060 When Paul

01:34:47.580 and Tommy Bellotti

01:34:48.360 pulled up the curb

01:34:49.360 outside Spark Steakhouse,

01:34:51.200 four men rushed

01:34:52.760 the car

01:34:53.220 and shot Paul

01:34:54.460 and Tommy

01:34:55.020 several times

01:34:56.080 each in the head.

01:34:56.920 and demonetization.

01:35:05.720 Oh, Lord.

01:35:07.780 No.

01:35:08.940 That's all good.

01:35:09.640 We'll see what happens.

01:35:10.520 Maybe I'll beat it.

01:35:12.700 It was the ultimate disrespect. 1.00

01:35:14.940 If you're going to kill 1.00

01:35:15.720 a guy of Paul 0.99

01:35:17.260 Castellano's stature

01:35:18.340 and you do it like that,

01:35:20.840 you're telling him

01:35:21.720 and everybody

01:35:22.380 even remotely

01:35:23.160 connected with him

01:35:24.200 that, you know,

01:35:25.160 this is a slap.

01:35:27.020 It's not just a murder.

01:35:28.080 It's a slap at everything

01:35:29.240 the guy stood for

01:35:30.140 and everybody

01:35:30.580 who's connected with him.

01:35:32.260 Within minutes of the hit,

01:35:33.920 the cops had a list

01:35:34.980 of likely suspects.

01:35:36.660 At the top of that list

01:35:37.780 was a 45-year-old gangster

01:35:39.360 who wanted to bring back

01:35:40.740 the good old days

01:35:41.680 of La Cosa Nostra,

01:35:43.180 John Gotti.

01:35:49.360 Christmas, 1985,

01:35:51.560 just nine days

01:35:52.460 after the hit

01:35:53.040 on boss Paul Castellano.

01:35:54.340 Among the questions

01:35:56.880 swirling within the ranks

01:35:57.980 of the New York underworld

01:35:58.900 and the FBI,

01:36:00.300 who was the new boss

01:36:01.380 of the Gambino crime family?

01:36:03.500 The answer was soon apparent.

01:36:08.120 In a stakeout across

01:36:09.520 from the Ravenite Social Club

01:36:10.780 on Little Italy's Mulberry Street,

01:36:12.960 FBI agents watched

01:36:14.140 as throngs of New York's

01:36:15.760 top mafiosi lined up

01:36:17.460 to kiss the cheek

01:36:18.260 of the new man in charge,

01:36:20.240 John Gotti.

01:36:21.800 All the captains

01:36:22.740 got together.

01:36:23.620 It was to vote

01:36:24.520 John and his boss.

01:36:26.000 And he was, you know,

01:36:27.140 unanimously voted in.

01:36:29.300 The word is already out there.

01:36:31.300 This is the guy

01:36:32.260 who killed the last guy.

01:36:33.600 And I think there was

01:36:34.260 a real hunger

01:36:34.960 for a guy like him

01:36:35.900 in the family

01:36:36.420 at that point.

01:36:37.800 At the age of 45,

01:36:39.880 John Gotti

01:36:40.440 had achieved

01:36:41.020 his life's dream.

01:36:42.840 The Brown Lincoln 0.77

01:36:43.540 was traded

01:36:44.180 for a black Mercedes

01:36:45.560 that cost 70-something thousand dollars.

01:36:48.700 John Gotti

01:36:49.460 was wearing

01:36:50.180 $2,000 Brioni suits.

01:36:52.140 He was wearing

01:36:52.620 diamond pinky rings

01:36:53.740 and there were guys

01:36:54.500 driving him

01:36:55.140 and guys opening

01:36:55.960 his doors for him

01:36:56.920 and closing his doors

01:36:57.820 for him.

01:36:59.640 Now he was the boss.

01:37:04.220 John Joseph Gotti Jr.

01:37:06.120 Born October 27, 1940.

01:37:09.300 All right, guys.

01:37:09.880 So I'm going to

01:37:11.160 pretty much end it here

01:37:12.980 because I'm going to do

01:37:14.140 an episode.

01:37:15.160 So actually,

01:37:15.600 you know what?

01:37:16.740 Hmm.

01:37:18.800 I was going to do

01:37:19.640 an entire episode

01:37:20.320 on John Gotti,

01:37:21.380 but we could just

01:37:22.900 cover it here.

01:37:24.220 You know what?

01:37:24.800 Now we'll go.

01:37:25.620 We'll go.

01:37:26.160 We'll go with it

01:37:26.700 and continue on

01:37:27.360 because I was thinking

01:37:28.900 about another documentary

01:37:29.740 that I know

01:37:30.060 in the back of my mind

01:37:30.600 that's pretty good

01:37:31.120 with John Gotti,

01:37:31.820 but this one is okay.

01:37:33.300 It's this one is good, too.

01:37:34.660 This one is actually good, too.

01:37:36.000 I'll just fill in the blanks.

01:37:36.980 So let's get back to it.

01:37:38.780 He grew up

01:37:39.240 in the South Bronx,

01:37:40.300 one of 13.

01:37:41.100 Don't worry, guys.

01:37:42.180 I go nowhere, man. 0.98

01:37:43.940 I'm not fucking leaving. 0.99

01:37:45.160 This is my home. 0.99

01:37:54.740 They're going to need 1.00

01:37:55.580 a fucking wrecking ball 1.00

01:37:57.160 to take me out of here. 1.00

01:37:59.240 6.51 in the morning. 1.00

01:38:14.700 Let's keep fucking going. 1.00

01:38:15.820 This is my home. 1.00

01:38:20.700 They're going to need 1.00

01:38:21.580 a fucking wrecking ball 1.00

01:38:23.160 to take me out of here. 1.00

01:38:25.180 6.51 in the morning. 1.00

01:38:26.660 Let's keep fucking going. 1.00

01:38:29.880 His parents barely scraping by. 1.00

01:38:34.060 On the streets

01:38:34.660 of the South Bronx,

01:38:35.840 everybody knew about the mob.

01:38:37.720 The well-dressed men

01:38:38.900 flashing wads of bills

01:38:40.440 and driving expensive cars.

01:38:43.200 Young Gotti

01:38:43.820 gazed at them

01:38:44.560 with the same eyes

01:38:45.460 as Carlo and Paul

01:38:46.440 had done

01:38:46.840 when they were boys.

01:38:47.680 John Gotti

01:38:48.960 was drawn to the mob

01:38:50.120 for the same reasons

01:38:51.480 that everybody else is.

01:38:53.640 The chance to make

01:38:54.860 a quick, easy dollar,

01:38:56.820 the influence,

01:38:58.440 the power,

01:38:59.740 the clout,

01:39:01.040 you know,

01:39:01.540 driving the big-ass Cadillacs

01:39:03.180 that all the other guys

01:39:04.720 did around that time.

01:39:07.040 Growing up on the streets,

01:39:08.600 John ran with the gangs,

01:39:10.180 staking out turf

01:39:10.980 in the neighborhood. 0.75

01:39:11.540 A natural thug,

01:39:13.680 John was soon

01:39:14.360 running his own gang.

01:39:16.080 John Gotti

01:39:16.540 was a tough guy.

01:39:17.960 He was good

01:39:18.480 with his fists.

01:39:19.960 He was also

01:39:21.280 a charismatic

01:39:23.060 born leader type.

01:39:24.960 Even as a youngster,

01:39:26.920 kids followed him

01:39:28.720 and he could get people

01:39:30.380 to do

01:39:31.000 what he wanted.

01:39:32.760 He knew the buttons

01:39:33.440 to push him.

01:39:34.940 John and his friends

01:39:36.080 hung around

01:39:36.580 the Mafia Social Club

01:39:37.760 in Brooklyn

01:39:38.140 run by Carmine Fatigo,

01:39:40.020 a capo

01:39:40.500 first for Albert

01:39:41.520 Anastasia

01:39:42.120 and later

01:39:42.640 for Carlo Gambino.

01:39:44.100 From Carmine,

01:39:45.220 John learned

01:39:45.800 the coarse language

01:39:46.920 of the mob.

01:39:48.000 The guy had

01:39:48.480 the vocabulary

01:39:49.040 of a cell.

01:39:51.900 No imagination at all.

01:39:53.300 Every other word

01:39:53.900 was F

01:39:54.380 or MF

01:39:56.540 or CS.

01:39:59.560 I mean,

01:39:59.840 it was incredible. 1.00

01:40:01.140 It's a moron. 1.00

01:40:02.860 John set out 1.00

01:40:03.760 to impress

01:40:04.220 the wise guys

01:40:04.900 by stealing.

01:40:06.300 Once,

01:40:06.860 when roaming

01:40:07.440 the streets

01:40:07.920 of Brooklyn,

01:40:08.480 14-year-old Gotti

01:40:09.480 and his buddies

01:40:10.000 tried stealing

01:40:10.800 the cement mixer.

01:40:12.660 When the mixer

01:40:13.260 tipped over,

01:40:14.200 it fell on

01:40:14.960 John's left foot,

01:40:16.080 crushing it.

01:40:17.340 After that,

01:40:18.400 he walked

01:40:18.960 with a bounce.

01:40:20.520 It was one

01:40:20.900 of those

01:40:21.200 interesting characteristics

01:40:23.240 of John Gotti

01:40:24.140 that was not

01:40:25.000 a put-on,

01:40:25.660 not an act.

01:40:26.760 He liked

01:40:27.900 to carry himself

01:40:28.860 with flair

01:40:29.620 and with dignity,

01:40:31.000 but that

01:40:31.880 little special bounce

01:40:34.060 that he had

01:40:34.700 in his walk

01:40:35.640 had to do

01:40:36.660 with the incident

01:40:37.900 back when he was

01:40:38.620 a 14- or 15-year-old.

01:40:40.480 In 1956,

01:40:42.660 John dropped

01:40:43.260 out of Franklin

01:40:43.920 K. Lane High School,

01:40:45.320 taking with him

01:40:45.980 a sizable chunk

01:40:47.100 of his classmates'

01:40:48.320 lunch money,

01:40:49.080 which he had earned

01:40:50.000 as a class bookie.

01:40:52.120 John got a job

01:40:52.980 as a coat presser

01:40:53.820 and began building

01:40:54.660 upon his criminal resume.

01:40:57.080 At 17,

01:40:58.120 arrested for stealing

01:40:58.980 copper from

01:40:59.540 a construction firm.

01:41:01.040 He pleaded guilty

01:41:01.800 and got probation.

01:41:03.480 At 20,

01:41:04.260 a 60-day suspended

01:41:05.580 sentence for disorderly conduct.

01:41:07.060 In 1960,

01:41:09.920 he met and fell in love

01:41:11.240 with the daughter

01:41:11.740 of a Jewish sanitation worker,

01:41:13.520 Victoria DiGiorgio.

01:41:16.940 Vicki and John

01:41:17.980 got engaged.

01:41:19.140 They were both

01:41:19.680 short-tempered

01:41:20.340 and called it off

01:41:21.060 several times

01:41:21.860 before getting married

01:41:23.180 in March 1962.

01:41:25.660 The couple

01:41:26.340 had five children

01:41:27.360 and eventually settled

01:41:28.500 into the Howard Beach

01:41:29.340 section of Queens.

01:41:31.800 Shortly after the wedding,

01:41:33.500 John took a job

01:41:34.300 as a trucker's assistant,

01:41:35.240 but his paycheck

01:41:36.800 didn't cover

01:41:37.640 his frequent nights

01:41:38.720 on the town gambling.

01:41:40.840 Gotti resorted

01:41:41.440 to stealing cars

01:41:42.340 to make ends meet,

01:41:43.580 but the law

01:41:44.280 caught up with him

01:41:44.980 in 1965

01:41:45.820 and this time,

01:41:47.700 Gotti was sent to prison.

01:41:49.480 With John behind bars

01:41:50.780 and no money coming in,

01:41:52.560 Vicki Gotti

01:41:53.120 went on welfare.

01:41:55.100 Many people

01:41:55.660 would look at that

01:41:56.520 as an act of weakness

01:41:57.320 while she went on welfare.

01:41:58.700 Mama Mia! 0.99

01:41:59.480 Many people

01:41:59.960 would look at that

01:42:00.540 as an act of,

01:42:01.480 an act of a strong woman

01:42:03.500 sending a signal.

01:42:04.460 Hey, if you guys

01:42:05.420 won't take care of me,

01:42:06.620 you know,

01:42:07.140 I'll take care of it.

01:42:08.480 And you know,

01:42:08.960 not in a way

01:42:09.720 that will make anybody

01:42:11.460 look very good here.

01:42:12.720 When he was released

01:42:13.360 from prison in 1966,

01:42:15.780 Gotti desperately

01:42:16.640 needed money

01:42:17.340 to support his family.

01:42:18.980 So,

01:42:19.580 he turned to a short thing,

01:42:21.420 hijacking trucks.

01:42:22.960 His hunting ground,

01:42:24.260 JFK Airport, Queens.

01:42:26.640 But Gotti

01:42:27.400 was not too successful

01:42:28.640 in eluding...

01:42:29.360 And this is one

01:42:29.940 of the most hot box ways

01:42:31.520 the mafia was making money,

01:42:32.720 which is why

01:42:33.040 so many people

01:42:33.500 don't like John Gotti.

01:42:34.460 He did high-risk,

01:42:35.920 high-reward type crimes.

01:42:37.360 You know,

01:42:37.700 jacking cargo,

01:42:39.540 freaking,

01:42:40.120 you know,

01:42:40.440 selling drugs,

01:42:41.040 all this other stuff.

01:42:42.220 Though it helped Gotti

01:42:43.280 become notorious,

01:42:44.140 it also hurt him

01:42:45.080 within a confinement

01:42:46.080 to the mafia

01:42:46.600 because he drew

01:42:47.180 so much attention

01:42:48.000 to himself.

01:42:49.320 Along with his brother,

01:42:51.300 Gene,

01:42:51.580 and his best friend,

01:42:52.460 Angelo Ruggiero,

01:42:53.660 he was soon arrested.

01:42:55.280 He was sentenced

01:42:56.080 to nearly three years

01:42:57.380 in the maximum security

01:42:58.640 federal prison

01:42:59.460 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

01:43:01.440 John got out in 1972.

01:43:03.060 He went back

01:43:04.960 to Carmine Fatigo's crew,

01:43:06.520 now operating

01:43:07.260 on the Bergen Hunt

01:43:08.260 and Fish Club

01:43:08.960 in Ozone Park.

01:43:09.940 It really shocked me

01:43:10.840 how short their sentences are,

01:43:13.520 you know?

01:43:13.960 Yeah, yeah.

01:43:15.060 This is before

01:43:15.840 Johnny Boy.

01:43:18.960 Gotti presented himself

01:43:20.140 like a man

01:43:20.820 that's been around,

01:43:22.020 you know,

01:43:23.440 a guy that you don't

01:43:24.000 want to mess around with,

01:43:25.340 you know,

01:43:25.660 but he also was

01:43:27.840 very gentle

01:43:28.800 and good-natured

01:43:30.120 and he'd sit around

01:43:32.320 playing cards.

01:43:34.540 Gotti's passion

01:43:35.320 for gambling

01:43:36.000 qualified him

01:43:37.100 to run Fatigo's

01:43:38.060 gambling operations,

01:43:39.360 which controlled

01:43:40.160 a few small

01:43:41.480 illegal casinos

01:43:42.440 in Queens.

01:43:43.700 If anyone failed

01:43:44.840 to pay their debts

01:43:45.580 to Fatigo,

01:43:47.060 Johnny Boy

01:43:47.620 roughed them up.

01:43:50.780 Gotti quickly

01:43:51.780 built the reputation

01:43:52.720 as a tough guy

01:43:53.700 and a valuable soldier.

01:43:55.820 So valuable

01:43:56.620 that John

01:43:57.940 was appointed

01:43:58.580 acting capo

01:43:59.960 of the Bergen crew.

01:44:02.260 Gotti was just 31

01:44:03.400 and not even

01:44:04.520 a full-fledged

01:44:05.540 made man

01:44:06.460 in the mafia.

01:44:07.880 It was John Gotti's

01:44:08.740 goal to be boss

01:44:09.500 of the crime family

01:44:10.200 back when he was

01:44:11.140 running a teenage gang

01:44:12.920 back in the 1950s.

01:44:14.860 As acting capo,

01:44:16.340 John reported

01:44:16.980 directly to Gambino

01:44:18.180 underboss

01:44:18.840 Neil Delacroce.

01:44:20.200 Delacroce took care

01:44:21.020 of him,

01:44:21.360 Delacroce's relationship

01:44:22.400 with Gotti.

01:44:23.000 It was like

01:44:23.300 a father and son

01:44:24.120 as opposed to

01:44:24.980 a subordinate

01:44:25.700 to a boss.

01:44:29.000 Delacroce protected him.

01:44:30.740 Gotti did

01:44:31.180 Delacroce's bidding.

01:44:33.300 100% loyal

01:44:34.460 to Delacroce

01:44:35.080 to the end.

01:44:36.440 Gotti's rise to glory

01:44:37.640 got a big boost

01:44:38.560 in 1973

01:44:39.660 after an Irish thug

01:44:41.380 kidnapped

01:44:41.840 and then murdered

01:44:43.020 the nephew 0.55

01:44:43.480 of the aging boss,

01:44:44.660 Carlo Gambino.

01:44:46.800 Carlo Gambino

01:44:47.680 had never received

01:44:48.680 such an instance

01:44:51.640 of utter disrespect

01:44:53.460 in his life. 1.00

01:44:55.480 Kill the bastard. 1.00

01:44:57.320 Gotti was chosen 1.00

01:44:58.400 to rub out the culprit,

01:44:59.760 James McBrattney.

01:45:01.200 When Gotti was arrested,

01:45:02.680 he scored big points

01:45:04.280 in the Gambino family

01:45:05.380 by avoiding

01:45:06.400 what would have been

01:45:07.020 a highly publicized trial

01:45:08.860 and accepting

01:45:09.900 a plea bargain.

01:45:11.280 After spending

01:45:11.960 three years in prison,

01:45:13.420 Gotti returned

01:45:14.040 to a crime family

01:45:15.120 straining to get along

01:45:16.500 under the new leadership

01:45:17.460 of Paul Castellano.

01:45:19.140 In the summer

01:45:19.680 of 1976,

01:45:21.420 John Gotti

01:45:22.040 was formally sworn

01:45:23.180 into the mafia.

01:45:24.540 While Gotti

01:45:25.180 had now control

01:45:26.300 over his own crew.

01:45:27.480 And again, guys,

01:45:28.720 first episode,

01:45:29.500 we talk about

01:45:29.920 how you get sworn in

01:45:30.800 opening the books,

01:45:31.920 being a made guy,

01:45:33.600 all the prerequisites

01:45:34.360 it takes to be

01:45:35.120 a made guy,

01:45:36.220 which I forgot to mention,

01:45:37.080 by the way, guys,

01:45:37.900 you must be Italian. 0.90

01:45:39.980 Your father must be Italian 0.98

01:45:41.100 for you to be a made man.

01:45:43.000 You know,

01:45:43.240 there were times

01:45:43.720 where you had to be,

01:45:44.640 you know,

01:45:44.900 both parents had to be

01:45:45.740 or whatever,

01:45:46.660 but what I've seen

01:45:48.460 the most is that

01:45:49.720 as long as your father

01:45:50.780 was Italian,

01:45:51.500 you become,

01:45:52.040 you can become made.

01:45:53.500 True.

01:45:54.160 He soon began

01:45:54.840 to lose control

01:45:55.480 of himself.

01:45:56.920 The first sign

01:45:57.780 was his gambling habit.

01:45:59.380 We have a bug

01:46:00.080 in the Burger Hunt

01:46:00.900 and Fish Club

01:46:01.480 in Ozone Park. 0.98

01:46:04.280 And he's a degenerate gambler. 0.99

01:46:06.580 Got it. 0.88

01:46:07.600 He would bet

01:46:08.080 on two cockroaches

01:46:08.960 running up the wall.

01:46:10.000 That's how bad he was.

01:46:10.980 He's in the club

01:46:11.540 all by himself

01:46:12.260 Sunday evening

01:46:12.820 and he gets the result

01:46:13.640 of the baseball games.

01:46:16.560 He lost every one of them.

01:46:17.960 He blew $20,000

01:46:18.920 plus the VIG.

01:46:19.940 The VIG is the interest.

01:46:21.340 Right?

01:46:22.960 He's all alone.

01:46:24.820 What do you think

01:46:25.600 his reaction was

01:46:26.400 to losing $20,000? 1.00

01:46:30.620 God is a blankety blank fag. 1.00

01:46:34.720 That's it. 1.00

01:46:35.600 We're rolling.

01:46:36.000 John Gotti was living

01:46:44.660 that rumble life

01:46:45.560 if you guys know

01:46:46.160 what I'm saying, man.

01:46:47.900 He said that in words.

01:46:49.980 Gotti became notorious.

01:46:51.520 My man said, 1.00

01:46:52.060 fuck it, 1.00

01:46:52.360 I'm on rumble. 1.00

01:46:53.020 Rumble.com.

01:46:55.400 His first temper tantrums.

01:46:57.340 I walk up the street.

01:46:58.600 Speaking of which, guys,

01:46:59.400 rumble.com slash freshman.

01:47:00.480 Go subscribe.

01:47:00.960 I stop in at the club

01:47:03.260 and there was John.

01:47:05.540 He was sitting at the table.

01:47:08.020 While we're talking,

01:47:09.380 in walks a guy,

01:47:10.560 one of his people,

01:47:12.780 with his hands outstretched

01:47:14.700 and he has a silver leisure suit

01:47:17.140 in his hands.

01:47:20.100 And as he's walking

01:47:21.080 toward the table,

01:47:22.800 John says,

01:47:23.780 what the is that?

01:47:26.500 He says,

01:47:27.160 John,

01:47:27.420 that's the leisure suit

01:47:28.900 you told me to get you.

01:47:29.960 The gray one

01:47:30.600 that you told me to get you.

01:47:31.780 He says,

01:47:32.300 is that gray?

01:47:33.580 Are you gonna 1.00

01:47:34.100 f***ing kill you 1.00

01:47:35.380 and this and that? 1.00

01:47:36.160 Like nearly every other

01:47:37.460 young wise guy,

01:47:38.780 Gotti had a round

01:47:39.560 of girlfriends

01:47:40.120 who were easily impressed

01:47:41.640 with his money.

01:47:42.960 I know a woman 1.00

01:47:43.540 who dated John

01:47:44.240 who John would take her out

01:47:46.380 and he said to her,

01:47:47.780 you know,

01:47:48.680 you need anything?

01:47:49.920 Can I, you know,

01:47:50.300 why don't you go shopping?

01:47:51.300 She says,

01:47:51.680 no, he says,

01:47:52.100 come on, go shopping.

01:47:52.680 He takes out a...

01:47:54.020 My man out here is simping.

01:47:55.500 Gives her a whole bunch 0.98

01:48:01.320 of money out of his pocket

01:48:02.080 and she says,

01:48:02.540 John, 1.00

01:48:03.100 hey, bitch, 1.00

01:48:03.800 you want some money? 1.00

01:48:04.680 Forget about it.

01:48:06.500 That's all the money

01:48:07.180 you have in your pocket.

01:48:08.240 He says,

01:48:08.740 I got two pockets.

01:48:10.700 There was a...

01:48:11.600 Forget about it.

01:48:12.500 ...in Gotti's family life.

01:48:13.920 In March 1980,

01:48:15.580 just a few blocks

01:48:16.580 from Gotti's home in Queens,

01:48:18.200 his 12-year-old son,

01:48:19.520 Frankie,

01:48:20.240 riding a minibike,

01:48:21.520 darted out

01:48:22.000 from behind a dumpster

01:48:22.940 and into the path

01:48:23.640 of a car

01:48:24.200 driven by a neighbor.

01:48:25.720 John Favaro.

01:48:26.980 The boy was killed.

01:48:28.320 The police ruled it an accident.

01:48:30.640 One of the factors

01:48:31.440 that apparently

01:48:33.100 or allegedly annoyed

01:48:34.580 Victoria Gotti

01:48:35.540 was that he never really

01:48:37.640 came and apologized,

01:48:39.220 but he had been warned

01:48:41.100 by others

01:48:41.920 not to apologize.

01:48:44.160 So I think Favaro

01:48:45.980 was in the middle

01:48:47.020 of a very untenable situation,

01:48:49.860 unfortunately,

01:48:50.660 and the best advice

01:48:53.380 to him would have been

01:48:54.080 to get out of town

01:48:54.920 very quickly.

01:48:56.200 He had been planning

01:48:57.020 to leave

01:48:58.000 and had just made

01:48:58.900 arrangements to buy a house,

01:49:00.860 but he didn't move

01:49:02.940 quick enough.

01:49:04.180 Just two days

01:49:04.960 before the neighbor

01:49:05.660 was set to move,

01:49:06.960 three men beat him

01:49:07.720 and threw him into a van

01:49:08.720 as he was leaving work.

01:49:10.120 He was never seen again.

01:49:12.240 At the time,

01:49:13.140 John and Vicky Gotti

01:49:14.040 were conveniently

01:49:14.820 out of town.

01:49:16.500 No one was ever charged.

01:49:19.440 John Gotti

01:49:20.440 took over

01:49:20.980 the Gambino family. 1.00

01:49:22.280 Crazy shit, right? 1.00

01:49:23.420 Five years 1.00

01:49:24.280 after that incident,

01:49:25.640 soon became

01:49:26.320 a media superstar

01:49:27.360 and made the mistake

01:49:28.900 of believing

01:49:29.480 his own press clipings.

01:49:35.380 In January 1986,

01:49:37.800 just a month

01:49:38.600 after John Gotti

01:49:39.600 became boss,

01:49:40.600 he made it clear

01:49:41.440 to his associates

01:49:42.100 that he had big plans

01:49:43.460 for the Gambino crime family.

01:49:45.400 He did not know

01:49:46.360 the FBI was listening

01:49:47.680 to every boast.

01:49:48.820 And for a while,

01:50:04.640 it seemed that Gotti

01:50:05.540 really was invincible.

01:50:07.120 No matter what charge

01:50:08.400 was thrown at him,

01:50:09.140 it wouldn't stick.

01:50:10.340 He became known

01:50:11.260 as the Teflon Don.

01:50:13.380 The first two trials

01:50:14.600 he faced

01:50:15.080 were for racketeering

01:50:16.020 and assault.

01:50:17.180 In the assault case,

01:50:18.180 prosecutors said Gotti

01:50:19.300 beat up this man

01:50:20.220 named Romulo Pisiac,

01:50:21.840 a refrigerator repairman,

01:50:23.340 and robbed him

01:50:24.100 of $300

01:50:24.820 following a traffic dispute.

01:50:29.580 John was able to- 1.00

01:50:30.740 Hey, asshole! 1.00

01:50:32.060 The fridge is still warm! 1.00

01:50:33.480 Forget about it! 0.55

01:50:34.660 I'm gonna smack 1.00

01:50:35.160 the shit out of ya! 1.00

01:50:37.440 Control his emotions 0.99

01:50:38.460 in the court.

01:50:38.840 You just wanna press

01:50:39.400 that button, huh?

01:50:40.500 His wife, Vicky,

01:50:41.300 was running out of patience

01:50:42.480 and she let John know

01:50:44.080 it over the phone.

01:50:46.120 She says,

01:50:46.600 you haven't been home

01:50:47.120 in three weeks.

01:50:48.180 I'm leaving.

01:50:48.960 I don't wanna be part

01:50:49.580 of this life anymore.

01:50:51.200 When are you coming home?

01:50:52.040 He said,

01:50:52.180 let me tell you something.

01:50:54.520 I'm on trial

01:50:55.280 for this one here.

01:50:57.100 If I beat this,

01:50:58.100 I go on trial

01:50:58.700 for the one in Brooklyn.

01:51:00.500 If I beat both of them,

01:51:02.000 I'll be home

01:51:02.480 in three days.

01:51:03.960 If I lose,

01:51:04.640 I'll be home

01:51:05.020 in 35 years. 0.99

01:51:06.380 Screw you 0.99

01:51:06.860 when he hangs up 0.99

01:51:07.320 the phone.

01:51:07.660 Hey,

01:51:08.940 that's what we're talking

01:51:09.820 about, baby. 1.00

01:51:11.180 Let these bitches know 1.00

01:51:12.960 what time it is, man. 1.00

01:51:14.060 Booking stories

01:51:14.700 why women deserve less. 1.00

01:51:16.240 Holy,

01:51:16.860 I guess John Gotti

01:51:17.760 must have had a copy

01:51:18.500 back then or something

01:51:19.380 because that's what we're

01:51:21.120 talking about over here

01:51:21.980 at Fresh and Fit, guys.

01:51:23.480 Booking stories,

01:51:24.120 why women deserve less? 1.00

01:51:25.120 So she's nagging you

01:51:26.080 when you're facing

01:51:26.700 three Ricos. 1.00

01:51:28.160 You let that bitch 1.00

01:51:28.880 know what time it is, man. 1.00

01:51:29.760 It hasn't been five minutes

01:51:30.720 you said the main

01:51:31.420 most simple.

01:51:31.860 Winning the assault case

01:51:34.980 was a cinch.

01:51:36.060 As soon as the repairman

01:51:37.080 began reading news reports

01:51:38.340 that the man he was accusing

01:51:39.740 was a new boss

01:51:40.980 of the Gambino crime family,

01:51:43.260 he

01:51:43.340 forget about it.

01:51:45.460 Oh, my God.

01:51:46.360 Developed a sudden case

01:51:47.800 of amnesia

01:51:48.500 and could no longer remember

01:51:50.020 who beat him up.

01:51:51.140 Oh, man.

01:51:52.560 So, sir,

01:51:53.700 is it not true

01:51:54.640 that John Gotti

01:51:56.020 in the courtroom 0.97

01:51:56.600 beat the crap out of you? 0.98

01:51:58.440 Forget about it. 0.99

01:51:59.800 Next thing you know,

01:52:00.340 he gone. 0.98

01:52:00.820 I ain't saying shit. 0.98

01:52:03.280 I'm not trying to die. 0.97

01:52:05.420 This was dropped.

01:52:07.440 Next came the racketeering case.

01:52:10.040 The government brought in

01:52:11.020 convicted killers

01:52:11.860 and drug dealers

01:52:12.700 who had bargained

01:52:13.340 lighter sentences

01:52:14.060 in exchange for ratting

01:52:15.580 on Gotti.

01:52:16.740 John's attorney,

01:52:17.880 Bruce Cutler,

01:52:18.940 ripped into the credibility

01:52:20.020 of the witnesses.

01:52:21.420 The jury found Gotti

01:52:22.980 not guilty.

01:52:24.640 That's what we're talking about.

01:52:26.500 Yeah, Blondon.

01:52:27.400 Paid witnesses,

01:52:28.600 witnesses who've lied

01:52:29.440 in the past,

01:52:29.980 witnesses who've gotten

01:52:30.840 new identities,

01:52:32.080 witnesses who've sold drugs,

01:52:33.800 witnesses who've killed people.

01:52:35.380 The moment Gotti

01:52:36.520 was a media superstar,

01:52:38.440 he savored his celebrity.

01:52:41.020 You know,

01:52:41.320 I was filming it.

01:52:42.480 The whole story

01:52:43.720 of John Gotti

01:52:44.480 took on a life of its own.

01:52:45.820 And I've often said

01:52:47.160 that the media created

01:52:48.320 the superstar John Gotti

01:52:50.140 because basically,

01:52:51.820 we just chased him

01:52:52.820 and chased him.

01:52:53.680 The more he smirked,

01:52:54.620 the more we chased him.

01:52:55.560 And he made one remark

01:52:57.260 that really stuck out

01:52:58.780 in my head.

01:53:00.160 He said,

01:53:00.840 he didn't seek out

01:53:02.700 the media.

01:53:03.520 They sought him out.

01:53:05.060 He was the kind of personality

01:53:06.120 that the media

01:53:06.900 was attracted to.

01:53:08.460 He didn't go look saying,

01:53:09.980 wow,

01:53:10.280 I want to be on television.

01:53:11.760 I want to do this.

01:53:13.180 They wanted to meet him.

01:53:15.800 Now that he was the boss,

01:53:17.660 Gotti moved his place

01:53:18.740 of business

01:53:19.160 to the Ravenite Social Club

01:53:20.680 in Manhattan's Little Italy.

01:53:21.900 And he says,

01:53:23.560 hey,

01:53:24.120 I ain't going to hide

01:53:24.800 from nobody.

01:53:25.500 I ain't no lay down Sally

01:53:26.660 like that old boss Castellano.

01:53:28.720 I'm going to go to Manhattan.

01:53:30.300 I ain't going to be

01:53:31.060 hiding from nobody.

01:53:32.420 And, you know,

01:53:33.000 we're going to do business.

01:53:35.460 The rank and file Gambino soldiers

01:53:37.620 saw Gotti as one of them,

01:53:39.300 a hardworking soldier

01:53:40.780 who had fought his way

01:53:41.860 to the top,

01:53:43.080 a welcome change

01:53:44.020 for those who had felt

01:53:45.000 slighted by Paul Castellano.

01:53:47.160 He was great for morale.

01:53:49.020 You know,

01:53:49.380 he made wise guys

01:53:50.280 feel like wise guys again.

01:53:52.180 He brought back

01:53:52.840 a lot of that spree de corps

01:53:54.220 that Castellano

01:53:55.140 and even Gambino

01:53:56.400 to some extent.

01:53:57.900 Yeah, a lot of his people

01:53:59.100 supported him

01:53:59.940 and respected him

01:54:00.740 because he really did

01:54:01.640 get it out the mud

01:54:02.340 unlike everybody else

01:54:03.240 getting it through nepotism.

01:54:04.780 Well, John Gotti

01:54:05.540 pretty much got it through murder,

01:54:06.640 but you know what I mean.

01:54:07.620 Forget about it! 0.55

01:54:09.320 Seeped out of the family.

01:54:11.400 On the business side,

01:54:12.780 it was a prosperous time

01:54:14.140 for Gotti

01:54:14.640 and the Gambino family.

01:54:16.200 The rackets were earning

01:54:17.260 the family

01:54:17.760 half a billion dollars a year.

01:54:20.340 Much of the success

01:54:21.480 was due to

01:54:22.000 Gotti's consigliere,

01:54:23.300 or senior.

01:54:23.900 Half a billion a year.

01:54:25.520 Wild stock.

01:54:26.300 Advisor.

01:54:27.300 Salvatore.

01:54:28.020 Sammy the Bull Gravano.

01:54:30.220 A thick-necked,

01:54:31.360 gravel-voiced contractor

01:54:32.580 who watched over...

01:54:33.980 Another very famous mobster.

01:54:35.420 This guy has a YouTube channel

01:54:36.360 as well as Mike Francis, guys.

01:54:37.760 You should go check out his channel.

01:54:39.480 The old family interests

01:54:40.940 in construction.

01:54:42.760 There's one of my best friends.

01:54:44.420 We played paddle ball one time.

01:54:45.920 He hit the ball.

01:54:47.520 I thought the wall

01:54:48.340 was going to break.

01:54:49.400 He hit it a ton.

01:54:50.960 Wow.

01:54:51.600 The ball broke,

01:54:52.400 as a matter of fact,

01:54:53.280 but Sammy was very,

01:54:54.520 very strong.

01:54:55.280 That's why they call him

01:54:55.980 Sammy the Bull.

01:54:56.800 It's a little bit surprising

01:54:57.940 that John Gotti

01:55:00.100 would have picked

01:55:00.720 Sammy Gravano.

01:55:01.780 Sammy was someone

01:55:03.540 who did have

01:55:04.900 a little bit on the ball,

01:55:05.960 was young enough

01:55:06.920 to be a threat

01:55:08.420 to John Gotti,

01:55:10.240 but I guess

01:55:11.320 John Gotti

01:55:12.040 never thought

01:55:13.500 that Sammy Gravano

01:55:14.700 would take him down.

01:55:17.100 Gotti treated Gravano

01:55:18.260 as a brother,

01:55:19.460 someone he could trust

01:55:20.420 with his life.

01:55:21.500 He always talked

01:55:22.480 about hating rats.

01:55:25.160 Sammy's rhetoric

01:55:26.780 always downrated 0.95

01:55:29.520 rat, rat, rat. 0.95

01:55:32.220 On FBI tapes, 0.98

01:55:33.920 Gotti let Gravano

01:55:34.820 know just how much

01:55:36.080 he cared for.

01:55:37.280 That's why I say

01:55:38.020 I love you more

01:55:38.700 than myself.

01:55:39.300 To the public,

01:55:44.940 Gotti made himself

01:55:45.820 the most visible

01:55:46.900 mob boss

01:55:47.760 since Scarface Al Capone.

01:55:50.160 His perfectly

01:55:50.840 coiffed hair,

01:55:51.900 $2,000 suits,

01:55:53.640 and frequent appearances

01:55:54.600 at New York's

01:55:55.420 hottest night spots

01:55:56.480 painted a picture

01:55:57.400 of a bygone mafia era.

01:55:59.620 When John Gotti

01:56:00.440 walked into a restaurant,

01:56:01.580 it was an event.

01:56:03.340 Ten people

01:56:03.900 walked into that restaurant.

01:56:05.880 A cashmere coat

01:56:07.220 over his shoulders,

01:56:07.980 dressed impeccably.

01:56:10.140 Everybody stopped

01:56:10.980 and looked around.

01:56:12.760 He began to believe

01:56:14.100 that he was all-powerful.

01:56:16.300 In one conversation,

01:56:18.180 he and Sammy Gravano

01:56:19.320 were sitting at a table

01:56:20.400 in a restaurant,

01:56:21.620 and John turned to Sammy

01:56:22.620 and said,

01:56:22.940 hey, look at those people

01:56:23.800 over there.

01:56:24.040 They're smiling at me.

01:56:25.040 They love me.

01:56:26.000 And sure enough,

01:56:26.880 Gravano looks over,

01:56:27.800 and there are two

01:56:29.400 young,

01:56:31.600 recently married people

01:56:32.960 looking at

01:56:33.940 John Gotti in awe.

01:56:35.160 The guy gets up

01:56:35.980 and says,

01:56:37.020 hello, Mr. Gotti,

01:56:38.080 I really wanted to meet you.

01:56:39.080 I think you're great.

01:56:40.000 Guys,

01:56:40.300 he was really,

01:56:40.920 this is an understatement.

01:56:41.780 Back then,

01:56:42.400 when I was living in New York,

01:56:43.320 this dude was like

01:56:43.960 an A-list celebrity, man. 0.97

01:56:45.460 Crazy.

01:56:45.820 He goes back 0.96

01:56:47.560 and sits down,

01:56:49.240 and John Gotti

01:56:49.780 tells Sammy,

01:56:50.400 you say,

01:56:50.600 what did I tell you?

01:56:51.820 Everybody loves us.

01:56:52.820 In January 1989,

01:56:55.760 Gotti was indicted again,

01:56:57.240 this time for ordering

01:56:58.300 the shooting

01:56:58.780 of a construction

01:56:59.560 union agent,

01:57:00.540 John O'Connor.

01:57:02.220 Four years earlier,

01:57:03.520 O'Connor had sent

01:57:04.340 union thugs

01:57:05.060 into this restaurant

01:57:05.960 to destroy the work

01:57:07.280 of non-union labor.

01:57:08.940 Only the restaurant

01:57:10.160 turned out to be owned

01:57:11.120 by the Gambinos.

01:57:12.880 O'Connor was shot 0.93

01:57:13.920 four times in the buttocks. 0.68

01:57:15.720 John O'Connor 0.89

01:57:17.340 was shot

01:57:18.880 because John Gotti

01:57:20.080 ordered it

01:57:20.700 to teach him a lesson.

01:57:22.820 To prove its point,

01:57:24.300 prosecutors played

01:57:25.300 surveillance.

01:57:26.100 Yeah, it's a sucky 0.88

01:57:27.040 way to get shot. 0.92

01:57:27.840 It's a Gotti

01:57:28.440 repeating O'Connor's

01:57:29.580 address over the phone.

01:57:31.180 It's a story,

01:57:31.780 John O'Connor.

01:57:34.180 John O'Connor,

01:57:35.380 it's a story.

01:57:38.180 It's a 16-something.

01:57:39.640 And then a garbled sentence

01:57:41.580 the prosecution said

01:57:43.680 was bust him up.

01:57:46.540 The jury was left

01:57:48.020 with reasonable doubt.

01:57:49.460 How say you

01:57:50.240 with respect

01:57:50.740 to the defendant,

01:57:51.340 John Gotti,

01:57:51.940 guilty or not guilty.

01:57:53.620 We find him

01:57:54.400 not guilty.

01:57:56.560 Hey.

01:57:59.060 Oh, man,

01:58:00.620 out here making

01:58:01.300 all types of juries.

01:58:02.860 Forget about it.

01:58:04.640 Oh, my God.

01:58:06.020 No way.

01:58:06.900 Shout out to the G, man.

01:58:08.800 Another one.

01:58:09.420 Don DeMarco.

01:58:12.040 Be in cases left

01:58:13.020 and right, man.

01:58:13.700 That's why he had

01:58:14.120 that nickname,

01:58:14.780 Teflon Don.

01:58:19.100 Gotti was free again

01:58:20.220 and held the fireworks

01:58:21.420 display in Little Italy

01:58:22.500 to celebrate.

01:58:23.700 But the feds

01:58:24.460 were still listening

01:58:25.160 and waiting for the

01:58:26.560 right moment

01:58:27.160 to pounce.

01:58:31.420 Remember, guys,

01:58:32.220 it's the state

01:58:32.680 that's trying to take him down,

01:58:33.760 but the feds are watching.

01:58:34.780 As the 1990s began,

01:58:37.240 John Gotti

01:58:37.900 seemed to be making good

01:58:39.260 on his reputation

01:58:40.480 as the Teflon Don.

01:58:42.180 But he did not count

01:58:43.540 on the betrayal

01:58:44.180 of his closest ally,

01:58:45.800 Sammy the Bull Gravano.

01:58:47.740 On December 11, 1990,

01:58:50.340 Gotti,

01:58:51.180 Sammy the Bull,

01:58:52.240 and John's underboss,

01:58:53.720 Frank Locascio,

01:58:55.100 met for dinner

01:58:55.700 at the Ravenite Social Club.

01:58:57.860 FBI agents

01:58:58.720 were waiting in a car

01:58:59.660 across the street.

01:59:00.940 They had enough

01:59:01.720 taped evidence

01:59:02.380 to bring Gotti

01:59:03.220 and company

01:59:03.820 to trial again.

01:59:05.900 The three men

01:59:06.520 were arrested

01:59:07.060 just after 6.30 p.m.

01:59:09.740 Gotti faced

01:59:10.500 a slew of racketeering charges

01:59:12.140 in cheating order

01:59:12.960 for murders.

01:59:14.640 Yeah, because he thinks

01:59:15.760 he's going to beat it again,

01:59:16.640 but what he didn't realize

01:59:17.420 is it was the best this time.

01:59:18.720 Murders was the hit

01:59:19.560 on Paul Castellano.

01:59:19.700 This guy is just living

01:59:20.260 his life?

01:59:21.380 Getting arrested

01:59:22.380 and arrested.

01:59:22.840 They're both denied bail.

01:59:24.280 While Sammy and John

01:59:26.000 were still in prison

01:59:27.460 together,

01:59:28.700 they were both

01:59:30.860 ruminating

01:59:31.820 on ways

01:59:33.100 of getting out

01:59:33.780 of jail.

01:59:35.280 Sammy Gravano

01:59:36.060 gave the suggestion

01:59:38.140 that perhaps

01:59:38.800 they could break out

01:59:39.860 by scaling down

01:59:41.540 bedsheets.

01:59:43.220 And John Gotti

01:59:43.780 thought he was crazy.

01:59:45.360 John Gotti's suggestion

01:59:46.440 was even a little bit

01:59:49.420 more crazy,

01:59:50.280 I think,

01:59:51.180 than Sammy's.

01:59:52.400 And that was

01:59:53.020 to bribe a president.

01:59:54.860 And his suggestion

01:59:56.180 to Sammy Gravano

01:59:57.100 was somewhere

01:59:58.280 down the line

01:59:59.200 five years from now

02:00:00.460 we put together

02:00:01.560 a $5 million package

02:00:02.980 where we can walk

02:00:04.220 right out the front door

02:00:05.120 and we can bribe

02:00:05.680 a president.

02:00:07.200 And Sammy looked...

02:00:07.860 Yeah, it's not 1930

02:00:09.100 anymore, my friend.

02:00:10.300 In the Prohibition area,

02:00:11.720 that ain't gonna work.

02:00:12.660 Mama mia! 0.99

02:00:14.000 You could go ahead

02:00:14.540 and take that idea.

02:00:15.100 So it's either the sheets

02:00:16.240 or bribe the president.

02:00:17.780 Yeah, like at this point,

02:00:18.760 you know...

02:00:20.640 The elusional time.

02:00:22.820 Yeah, facts.

02:00:24.120 I looked at John

02:00:24.760 and John looked at Sammy

02:00:25.760 and the way I get it

02:00:26.880 was they both thought

02:00:28.400 that each other

02:00:28.960 was crazy.

02:00:30.280 This time,

02:00:30.880 John could not count

02:00:32.180 on his longtime lawyer,

02:00:33.340 Bruce Cutler.

02:00:34.400 The government said

02:00:35.300 Cutler was too close

02:00:36.440 to organized crime.

02:00:37.960 On one tape,

02:00:39.280 Gotti was heard

02:00:39.860 complaining about

02:00:40.680 Cutler's fees.

02:00:41.760 What is it?

02:00:44.940 You've been on my family.

02:00:46.660 This is a shock.

02:00:47.560 Cutler was a political crime.

02:00:49.620 You know that you know

02:00:51.860 that you're taking

02:00:53.720 the money they're paying for.

02:00:54.820 Oh my God.

02:00:57.240 This recording

02:00:57.780 basically threw his lawyer

02:00:58.920 under the bus

02:00:59.600 so now the police,

02:01:00.780 the feds were able

02:01:01.600 to articulate that

02:01:02.600 he's a criminal

02:01:03.460 for charging him 1.00

02:01:04.340 so goddamn much. 1.00

02:01:05.980 Goddamn. 0.99

02:01:07.720 Actually, 0.98

02:01:08.240 pretty smart tactic though.

02:01:12.560 In jail,

02:01:13.940 Sammy the Bull

02:01:14.660 knew he could be implicated

02:01:15.880 in as many

02:01:16.500 as 19 mob hits.

02:01:19.000 That's when Sammy

02:01:20.040 decided to become

02:01:21.080 what he always said

02:01:22.340 he hated, 0.97

02:01:23.220 a rat. 0.94

02:01:23.680 He agreed to testify 0.94

02:01:25.280 against the boss

02:01:26.220 in exchange

02:01:26.900 for a lighter sentence.

02:01:28.100 Ole.

02:01:28.740 Boom,

02:01:29.060 Baca! 0.99

02:01:29.360 Gotti was devastated.

02:01:30.860 At the trial,

02:01:32.020 his closest ally,

02:01:33.300 Sammy the Bull,

02:01:34.040 took the stand

02:01:34.700 and told the world

02:01:35.960 how John ran

02:01:36.860 the Gambino family

02:01:37.920 and how he and Gotti

02:01:39.480 had plotted

02:01:40.280 the assassination

02:01:40.940 of Castellano.

02:01:43.060 It became a pentito.

02:01:44.360 It took a while

02:01:44.480 for Gravano

02:01:44.880 to look over at Gotti,

02:01:47.400 but when he saw

02:01:49.500 the way Gotti

02:01:50.240 was looking at him,

02:01:51.860 it was the same

02:01:52.760 kind of look

02:01:53.280 on his face.

02:01:53.980 It's really hard

02:01:54.580 to describe,

02:01:55.340 but if looks could kill,

02:01:56.860 two people would have been

02:01:57.660 dead in the courtroom

02:01:58.360 that day.

02:01:59.200 Mama mia! 0.99

02:01:59.820 The jury took less

02:02:00.740 than two days

02:02:01.480 to find Gotti guilty

02:02:02.660 on all counts.

02:02:04.780 I was with John

02:02:05.440 when he was sentenced.

02:02:07.240 He gets life

02:02:08.040 without parole

02:02:08.680 and the judge imposes

02:02:09.820 a $50 special assessment.

02:02:12.000 And we're back

02:02:12.660 in the holding cell

02:02:13.440 afterwards

02:02:13.880 and John's taking off

02:02:15.120 his tie,

02:02:16.180 getting out of his suit.

02:02:17.460 He says,

02:02:18.120 boy,

02:02:19.260 that $50 special assessment,

02:02:20.920 they really know

02:02:21.280 how to stick it

02:02:21.760 to a guy, huh?

02:02:22.780 And he laughs.

02:02:24.240 Forget about it! 0.55

02:02:25.700 Life without parole

02:02:26.560 and he laughs.

02:02:27.000 Gotti was sent off

02:02:29.300 to the Maximum Security

02:02:30.460 Federal Penitentiary

02:02:31.580 at Marion, Illinois.

02:02:33.280 Gravano,

02:02:34.080 after a short prison term,

02:02:35.920 was put in the

02:02:36.720 Witness Protection Program

02:02:37.840 under a new name.

02:02:39.920 The Gambino crime family 0.99

02:02:41.360 would never be the same.

02:02:42.700 Yeah, guys.

02:02:43.500 John Gotti wrote me a lot.

02:02:45.140 Go ahead.

02:02:45.760 Do you have something

02:02:46.060 you want to show?

02:02:46.640 Yeah.

02:02:47.480 So a pentito

02:02:48.140 is what I've been saying.

02:02:49.460 A pentito

02:02:50.220 is what they call

02:02:52.120 a snitch.

02:02:53.220 So it's basically

02:02:53.960 a person that...

02:02:55.540 What is it called?

02:02:56.160 A what?

02:02:56.580 A snitch.

02:02:57.220 No, no.

02:02:57.500 What was the term?

02:02:58.400 Pentito.

02:02:59.080 Pentito, okay.

02:03:00.140 Yeah, so it basically

02:03:01.600 means it's a person

02:03:02.640 that turns...

02:03:03.460 Can you highlight

02:03:03.900 it on the screen?

02:03:06.000 Sure.

02:03:06.860 Or do you need

02:03:07.320 the screen?

02:03:08.640 Well, here.

02:03:11.280 I don't know.

02:03:11.800 Hang on.

02:03:12.240 Here.

02:03:12.900 Okay, here we go.

02:03:14.880 So it's basically

02:03:16.000 a person that

02:03:17.660 collaborates to...

02:03:20.660 Yeah.

02:03:20.840 The collaborators

02:03:21.780 of justice

02:03:22.340 in Italian

02:03:23.020 criminal procedure.

02:03:23.960 So it's basically

02:03:27.460 people that

02:03:27.980 collaborate with

02:03:28.660 the prosecutor.

02:03:30.340 Okay.

02:03:31.480 So it's a

02:03:31.940 colloquially

02:03:32.420 to designate

02:03:34.420 collaborators

02:03:34.880 of Italian

02:03:35.360 justice

02:03:36.620 and Italian

02:03:37.100 criminal procedure

02:03:37.720 terminology

02:03:38.160 who were formerly

02:03:38.660 part of a criminal

02:03:39.260 organization

02:03:40.520 and decided

02:03:41.100 to collaborate

02:03:41.480 with the public

02:03:42.460 prosecutor,

02:03:43.520 the judicial...

02:03:44.220 Okay, gotcha.

02:03:45.300 Interesting.

02:03:45.660 I didn't know

02:03:46.020 they have their own

02:03:46.520 term for snitch.

02:03:47.200 Yeah, so basically

02:03:48.520 they end up

02:03:49.420 becoming part

02:03:50.880 of a witness

02:03:52.040 program.

02:03:53.520 Witness protection.

02:03:54.220 Most of them, yeah.

02:03:54.960 And Sammy, I think,

02:03:55.540 came out because

02:03:56.040 now he's on YouTube

02:03:56.720 using his real name

02:03:57.540 so it clearly

02:03:57.980 came out

02:03:58.340 the witness

02:03:58.580 protection program.

02:03:59.960 A lot of money

02:04:00.620 for himself

02:04:01.600 and his immediate

02:04:03.140 family.

02:04:04.680 In the end,

02:04:05.620 however,

02:04:06.420 he helped bring

02:04:07.440 the Gambino

02:04:08.080 crime family down

02:04:09.360 to a lower level

02:04:10.720 than it had been.

02:04:12.120 From prison,

02:04:13.140 Gotti made it

02:04:13.620 known in the family

02:04:14.440 that he wanted

02:04:15.280 his son,

02:04:15.780 John Jr.,

02:04:16.820 to take over.

02:04:18.400 John Gotti

02:04:19.180 ended up committing

02:04:19.840 the same crimes

02:04:20.860 within the mob

02:04:21.960 that he so much

02:04:23.320 hated his predecessors

02:04:24.620 for.

02:04:25.380 Why did he hate

02:04:26.240 Paul Castellano?

02:04:27.360 Because he hadn't

02:04:28.360 earned his position.

02:04:29.340 He got it, you know,

02:04:30.300 because of who

02:04:30.840 he was related to.

02:04:31.940 Yet, in the end,

02:04:33.220 what did John Gotti do?

02:04:34.940 He made his son

02:04:36.000 a relatively

02:04:37.380 inexperienced gangster,

02:04:38.960 not much more

02:04:39.700 than a kid,

02:04:40.780 the boss of the family,

02:04:42.620 surpassing many

02:04:43.640 in higher rank,

02:04:44.700 hundreds with

02:04:46.500 more experience

02:04:47.320 who felt more

02:04:48.200 deserving.

02:04:49.660 So, you know,

02:04:51.440 he became,

02:04:52.420 in many ways,

02:04:53.880 what he loathed.

02:04:55.540 John Jr.,

02:04:57.160 the apple doesn't

02:04:58.080 fall too far

02:04:58.700 from the tree.

02:04:59.680 Here's a guy

02:05:00.400 who has,

02:05:01.380 at his disposal

02:05:02.060 because of his

02:05:02.800 father's name,

02:05:03.960 access to

02:05:04.800 sophisticated type

02:05:06.420 of crime,

02:05:07.020 computers,

02:05:07.880 high-tech

02:05:08.420 communication system.

02:05:10.660 In fact,

02:05:10.900 there's a lot of

02:05:11.300 mob guys involved

02:05:12.180 in the 900-number scheme

02:05:13.780 where you call it

02:05:14.520 for sex 0.93

02:05:15.000 and whatever,

02:05:16.400 astrology,

02:05:17.100 whatever.

02:05:18.160 And there's a lot

02:05:18.520 of money to be made

02:05:19.180 in that, 1.00

02:05:19.460 but this moron 1.00

02:05:20.140 is going around 1.00

02:05:21.060 with a band 0.54

02:05:21.560 of thugs 0.94

02:05:22.140 who are hooked

02:05:23.220 into weightlifting

02:05:23.860 and steroids,

02:05:25.140 shaking down bars

02:05:26.040 and discos

02:05:26.740 in Westchester,

02:05:27.680 Bronx,

02:05:28.120 and parts of New York City.

02:05:29.660 While a lot of the men

02:05:30.600 didn't hold John Jr.

02:05:31.880 in high regard,

02:05:32.980 they didn't challenge

02:05:34.020 him either.

02:05:35.060 Nobody wanted

02:05:35.780 to become

02:05:36.280 the new Gambino boss.

02:05:38.080 The risks

02:05:38.760 far outweighed

02:05:39.860 the glory.

02:05:40.360 If I'm a mobster 0.96

02:05:41.840 with a brain 0.96

02:05:43.640 in my head,

02:05:44.540 I don't want

02:05:45.620 that job.

02:05:46.740 Because once

02:05:47.320 you take that job,

02:05:49.140 you're an all-out

02:05:49.660 target for law enforcement.

02:05:51.640 I'd rather stay

02:05:52.320 in the background,

02:05:53.400 earn my money,

02:05:54.140 have my girlfriends,

02:05:56.060 enjoy myself.

02:05:58.060 Why do I need

02:05:58.820 that kind of attention?

02:06:00.000 The remaining

02:06:00.660 200 or so Gambino

02:06:02.020 members under

02:06:02.780 John Jr.'s direction

02:06:03.900 still operated

02:06:05.120 many of the street

02:06:06.120 rackets and had

02:06:07.160 clout in the staples

02:06:08.200 of construction

02:06:08.940 and trucking.

02:06:11.320 There to advise

02:06:12.540 John Jr.

02:06:13.480 were some

02:06:13.860 of the family's elders,

02:06:15.360 among them,

02:06:16.480 Carlos' son,

02:06:17.360 Tommy Gambino.

02:06:18.880 Over the years,

02:06:20.140 Tommy had risen

02:06:20.740 to the rank of capo,

02:06:21.840 but no further.

02:06:23.080 He shared

02:06:23.600 a remarkable likeness

02:06:24.620 to his father,

02:06:25.620 from his hooked nose

02:06:26.560 to his gentlemanly

02:06:27.840 polite demeanor.

02:06:29.180 All of his life,

02:06:30.840 Tommy felt trapped

02:06:31.760 by the legacy

02:06:32.460 left to him.

02:06:33.200 a White House

02:06:35.500 listening device

02:06:36.660 planted by the FBI

02:06:38.380 picked Tommy up

02:06:40.080 saying this,

02:06:41.380 me, I never had

02:06:42.780 the chance to say,

02:06:44.500 well, I'm going

02:06:45.220 to do something

02:06:46.020 I want to do.

02:06:47.540 I always did it

02:06:48.580 for my family,

02:06:49.660 for my children,

02:06:50.800 for my father.

02:06:52.620 That's a very

02:06:53.160 touching statement.

02:06:54.740 Poor Tommy Gambino,

02:06:56.140 he always did

02:06:58.140 what he was told,

02:06:59.940 like a good little boy.

02:07:01.220 What he was told

02:07:02.080 was to control

02:07:03.220 the garment district.

02:07:04.780 For decades,

02:07:05.640 Tommy had a stranglehold

02:07:06.960 on trucking there.

02:07:08.600 But in 1992,

02:07:10.820 the Gambino grip

02:07:11.940 was broken.

02:07:13.320 Tommy,

02:07:14.060 along with his younger brother

02:07:15.180 and business partner,

02:07:16.060 Joseph,

02:07:16.760 pleaded guilty

02:07:17.340 to antitrust charges.

02:07:19.200 They were forced

02:07:19.800 to give up much

02:07:20.460 of their trucking operations.

02:07:22.420 More sorrows came

02:07:23.400 for Tommy

02:07:23.820 in the mid-1990s

02:07:25.260 when he was sentenced

02:07:26.160 to five years in prison

02:07:27.440 for running loan sharking

02:07:28.940 and gambling operations.

02:07:32.300 So the Gambino family

02:07:33.760 really,

02:07:34.580 in many ways,

02:07:35.740 has been stripped

02:07:36.580 of the legendary leadership

02:07:38.700 that they had

02:07:39.440 for many years.

02:07:41.480 I mean,

02:07:41.800 you go back again

02:07:42.800 to what I said,

02:07:44.040 Vincent Mangano,

02:07:45.860 Albert Anastasia,

02:07:47.620 Carlo Gambino,

02:07:48.960 and when I say legendary,

02:07:50.220 I would stop there.

02:07:51.000 Paul Castellano,

02:07:52.000 he tried to wreak

02:07:53.440 a lot of the profits

02:07:54.900 that his brother-in-law

02:07:56.360 left him,

02:07:57.180 and John Gotti

02:07:58.080 just brought the family down.

02:08:00.300 The family,

02:08:00.840 so even FBI agents

02:08:01.740 like him acknowledge

02:08:02.500 that Carlo Gambino

02:08:03.360 was probably one

02:08:04.020 of the top bosses.

02:08:04.860 He's been shattered.

02:08:06.880 So you have the rise

02:08:09.160 of this enormous

02:08:11.100 criminal organization,

02:08:12.840 then it reaches its apogee

02:08:14.560 in the reign

02:08:16.480 of Carlo Gambino

02:08:18.120 and the reign

02:08:19.240 of Paul Castellano,

02:08:20.480 and then crashes,

02:08:22.500 is destroyed

02:08:23.460 by the reign

02:08:24.500 of John Gotti.

02:08:25.700 I think a final thought

02:08:27.220 may be a quote

02:08:29.340 from Big Paul Castellano.

02:08:31.800 This life of ours,

02:08:33.920 this is a wonderful life.

02:08:36.400 If you can get through

02:08:37.440 life like this

02:08:38.540 and get away with it,

02:08:40.440 hey, that's great,

02:08:42.320 but it's very unpredictable.

02:08:45.260 there are so many ways

02:08:47.880 you can screw it up.

02:08:49.860 They screwed up in the end.

02:08:55.120 And that they definitely did.

02:08:57.680 So, yeah, guys,

02:08:58.720 hope you guys enjoyed

02:08:59.680 that podcast, man.

02:09:01.600 It is now 721 in the morning,

02:09:03.700 so we're going to get some sleep.

02:09:05.040 Angie, last words from you?

02:09:05.940 So, this is crazy.

02:09:09.460 Okay.

02:09:10.040 And it's going to be deep.

02:09:11.660 I mean, I'm just thinking,

02:09:12.960 like, all the families

02:09:15.320 that we need to cover,

02:09:17.000 all the crimes,

02:09:19.220 everything.

02:09:19.540 Now you see why

02:09:20.220 I put this off for so long, man.

02:09:21.960 Yeah.

02:09:22.560 Yep.

02:09:23.060 But you guys requested it

02:09:24.920 and we're delivering,

02:09:26.020 so, yeah,

02:09:26.760 just got to keep tuned

02:09:28.240 to Thursdays,

02:09:29.660 and, yeah,

02:09:30.080 basically we'll keep, like,

02:09:31.580 regular content

02:09:32.340 for Friday on Sunday.

02:09:33.880 So, gotcha, guys.

02:09:34.860 Yeah.

02:09:35.360 So, do me a favor, guys,

02:09:36.340 like the video,

02:09:36.760 subscribe to the channel

02:09:37.420 if you haven't already.

02:09:38.600 Follow the Instagram.

02:09:39.680 Yes, follow the new Instagram

02:09:40.800 at 1811 message Angie on there

02:09:43.840 and she'll take your case request.

02:09:45.680 Comment below.

02:09:46.440 Angie looks at the comments

02:09:47.240 as well, guys.

02:09:48.060 So, the more we see a name

02:09:49.340 come through, guys,

02:09:50.600 the more we're going to cover

02:09:51.440 that case.

02:09:51.960 So, let us know.

02:09:53.060 You know, I know

02:09:53.560 I don't want to sound

02:09:54.040 like a broken record

02:09:54.880 or whatever

02:09:55.220 and make you guys

02:09:55.820 sound like a broken record,

02:09:56.740 but the more times

02:09:57.760 we see a name

02:09:58.300 or the more frequently

02:09:58.980 is why we cover the cases,

02:10:00.640 which is why we cover the mafia.

02:10:01.840 It's just that

02:10:02.180 with this one,

02:10:03.060 and I knew it was going

02:10:03.740 to take a long time.

02:10:05.220 So, hey, we're in it now.

02:10:07.140 So, next family

02:10:07.820 will probably be

02:10:08.340 the Columbo crime family, guys.

02:10:09.980 But anyway,

02:10:10.780 catch you guys

02:10:11.260 on the next episode.

02:10:12.300 Don't forget to like the video,

02:10:13.400 subscribe to the channel,

02:10:14.580 and we'll catch you guys

02:10:15.560 on the next one.

02:10:17.380 Peace.

02:10:22.240 I was a special agent

02:10:23.280 with Homelands.

02:10:23.680 Peace.

02:10:30.940 Bye.

02:10:31.380 Bye.

02:10:32.320 Bye.

02:10:32.480 Bye.

02:10:36.960 Bye.

02:10:43.100 Bye.

02:10:45.480 Bye.

02:10:46.280 Bye.

02:10:46.760 Bye.

02:10:47.740 Bye.

02:10:48.420 Bye.

The Debrief With MyronGainesX - April 28, 2023

Fed Explains The Gambino Crime Family & John Gotti

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Summary

Transcript