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| Gambino family |
It happened at a meeting of the commission in 1988. Although there was great friction between John Gotti of the Gambino family and Chin Gigante of the Genovese family, and indeed the latter had even attempted to have the former whacked, there was an effort at friendly relations.
In a moment of pride, Gotti said that his son, John Junior, was now a made mafiosi. Undoubtedly Gotti expected a round of congratulations. He did not get any from the Chin. Instead, Gigante’s face dropped, and he looked grayer than usual through a five-day growth of beard (his usual composure), “Jeez,” he said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
It was not sentiment stemming from fear. He was truly sad, his voice tinged with genuine sympathy. No one said anything. Sammy “the Bull” Gravano who was present reflected later, “So here was Chin, who’s supposed to be crazy,” in effect saying that no mob guy should want his son to become a made member of the Mafia. As Gravano noted, “And there was John boasting about it. Who was really crazy?”
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Actually most mafiosi claim they do not want their sons following in their footsteps. Most are not successful at preventing it. Their sons see their stature grow because of the fathers’ activities and men with limited education making big money, and their drive to follow in their footsteps often becomes irresistible.
Mobsters who succeed in setting their sons on a straight path usually swell with pride. Tommy “Three-Finger Brown” Lucchese never stopped boasting about his eldest son who went to West Point to lead a successful military career and life that avoided all connection with his father’s “business.”
Chin Gigante never permitted any of his sons to be made. Neither did Paul Castellano nor Sammy the Bull, the latter vowing he would see to it that his son never followed in his footsteps.
Carlo Gambino, at least according to mob dogma, always said he would have his sons stay legit or he would kill them. The fact remains, however, he set them up in the mob-contaminated trucking business in New York’s garment district. If that was an effort to keep them clean, it was a rather unique approach.
There have been many instances of high Mafia bosses moving up as their father’s successor. That was true of the Trafficante father and son in Tampa, the Patriarcas in New England, the Zerillis in Detroit and so on. It remains difficult to determine if the fathers in these cases really wanted that kind of succession.
There is no doubt that Joe Colombo Sr. was following family tradition. His grandfather was in the mob and strangled for some breach of mob etiquette. Similarly, Colombo’s father Anthony was rubbed out in the same fashion in 1938, and it was well known he had broken mob rules. None of this disillusioned Joe Colombo. Once asked by a reporter if he had ever tried to find his father’s killers, Colombo gave him a withering look and snapped, “Don’t they pay policemen for that?” There was no rescuing the third Colombo from the forces of nepotism.
Today the most prominent Mafia son of course is John Gotti Jr. It was said that Gotti originally wanted both his sons, Junior and Frank, to be successful in legitimate fields. The effort to set them straight was wasted in Junior’s case. Years of training at a military academy did little good, and he gravitated to the fringes of the mob, soon being dubbed the “baby monster” by the press (and by other mafiosi out of hearing range of his father).
The elder Gotti had no choice but to accept his son into the Gambino family. It might have been different in the case of young Frank, who unlike his brother, showed a great aptitude for learning. Gotti sent Frank to an expensive private school and beamed about his son’s academic abilities.
He would corner mob associates (some of whom could barely read) with his report card. “Look at that, four fucking A’s! Did you ever hear of a kid who was so smart in school, huh?” And Gotti was even more impressed by the teachers’ many comments of praise added on the back of the report card.
Gotti intended to send his son to a top Ivy League university and probably would have made sure he became a leader in some honest profession.
Then 12-year-old Frank was killed while riding his bike when a car driven by a neighbor, John Favara, struck him. Favara would die for his no-fault driving. That probably placated John Gotti to some extent and perhaps weakened his resolve to save Junior from the life.
After John Gotti went to prison for life, he had to name his son “acting boss” of the crime family because under prison regulations he could visit his father and through various codes get orders to pass along to the mob. With John Jr.’s subsequent imprisonment for 77 months, during which time the elder Gotti died, the son could entertain the possibility he might get out and perhaps be free of his underworld problems. But by 2003 it was apparent that that probably would not come to pass.
It was said testimony by a highly prized turncoat could be the vehicle for numerous other charges against the younger Gotti. “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo would probably implicate Junior in a number of violent crimes. One would be the stabbing death in 1983 of 24-year-old Danny Silva in a dispute in a Queens bar. Then there would be Mikey Scars’ testimony in the 1992 “Bonnie and Clyde” ordered hit of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva who had robbed a string of mob-tied social clubs. The pair ended up each with three bullets in the head.
Then there was the informer’s expected testimony concerning Junior’s alleged knowledge of the 1992 attempted killing of Guardian Angels founder and talk radio host Curtis Sliwa after he made disparaging onair remarks about the Dapper Don. Sliwa took lead in the back and in his legs as he desperately departed a taxi his assailants had stolen.
It is really only a fine point whether some mafiosi manage to keep their offspring from becoming made men. Among those who follow in their father’s footsteps there is no likelihood they will move up the management ladder. In fact, often the comparison with the father makes it most difficult for them. Joe Bonanno tried to make either of his sons fit for leadership but failed miserably. By the time of his death in 2002, the elder Bonanno had given up that hope, finally realizing neither could, would or perhaps even wanted to cut the mustard.
Both Chin Gigante and Sammy the Bull insisted they would never allow their offspring to take Mafia vows, but they were far less successful keeping them on the straight and narrow. In 2002 the Chin’s son, Andrew Gigante, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion and accepted a two-year prison term. When Sammy the Bull was convicted in his “rehabilitation” days for a major Ecstasy racket, his wife and daughter were caught in the net, as well as his son, no matter the Bull’s vow. Whatever Sammy was, he was hardly a lovable dad.
In the Gigante, Gravano and Gotti cases nepotism apparently was a disaster for the offspring. Most mob guys fail at this, but at least one mob boss apparently did a good job of shielding his son from any criminal activities. Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo was one major godfather who shielded his family, whom he called “the dearest thing in the world,” and insisted their privacy not be tampered with.
Carolla never provided any information about his survivors, a son and daughter, and his orders were still strong enough on his death in 2000 that friends and allies would not provide any information about them.
