June 23rd...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Teflon Don sentenced to life 1992

 

Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the “Teflon Don” after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, hundreds of Gotti’s supporters stormed the building and overturned and smashed cars before being forced back by police reinforcements.

Gotti, born and educated on the mean streets of New York City, became head of the powerful Gambino family after boss Paul Castellano was murdered outside a steakhouse in Manhattan in December 1985. The gang assassination, the first in three decades in New York, was organized by Gotti and his colleague Sammy “the Bull” Gravano. The Gambino family was known for its illegal narcotics operations, gambling activities, and car theft. During the next five years, Gotti rapidly expanded his criminal empire, and his family grew into the nation’s most powerful Mafia family. Despite wide publicity of his criminal activities, Gotti managed to avoid conviction several times, usually through witness intimidation. In 1990, however, he was indicted for conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Paul Castellano, and Gravano agreed to testify against him in a federal district court in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.

On April 2, 1992, John Gotti was found guilty on all counts and on June 23 was sentenced to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole.

While still imprisoned, Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1776 Commodore Parker prepares for a naval strike on Charleston

• Automotive

• 1902 “Mercedes” registered as a brand name

• Civil War

• 1862 Lee confers with his generals before the Seven Days’ Battles

• Cold War

• 1967 Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Aleksei Kosygin

• Crime

• 1934 Even without the corpse, a murderer is uncovered

• Disaster

• 1944 Tornadoes hit West Virginia and Pennsylvania

• General Interest

• 1956 Nasser elected president
• 1959 Klaus Fuchs released
• 2013 Wallenda makes Grand Canyon crossing on high wire

• Hollywood

• 1989 Batman released

• Literary

• 1929 Michael Shaara, author of The Killer Angels, is born

• Music

• 1987 Tiffany visits the mall on her way to stardom

• Old West

• 1878 Frontiersman Martin Sweeny is murdered

• Presidential

• 1927 Newspaper reveals Coolidge will be adopted into Sioux tribe
• 1972 Nixon signs Higher Education Act
• 1973 Haldeman encourages Nixon to ward off FBI

• Sports

• 1972 Title IX enacted

• Vietnam War

• 1964 Johnson announces new ambassador to South Vietnam
• 1969 North Vietnamese encircle Ben Het

• World War I

• 1915 First Battle of the Isonzo

• World War II

• 1940 Hitler takes a tour of Paris