The Gotti Wars
Taking Down America's Most Notorious Mobster
Published on 3. May 2022
368 pages
978-1-9821-8694-4 (ISBN)
Description
"Riveting…an electrifying true crime story of the Mafia-smitten eighties and nineties. Suspenseful and multifaceted, The Gotti Wars can't be missed." ?Esquire, "The Best Nonfiction Books of the Year"
A "meticulous chronicle of good triumphing over evil" (The Washington Post) from the determined young prosecutor who, in two of America's most celebrated racketeering trials, managed to convict famed mob boss John Gotti, leader of the Gambino crime family, and ultimately helped dismantle La Cosa Nostra.
John Gotti was without a doubt the flashiest and most feared mafioso in American history. He seized control of the Gambino family with the brazen, very public murder of Paul Castellano outside Sparks Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan in 1985. Not one to stay under law enforcement's radar, Gotti instead became the first celebrity crime boss?earning the nicknames "The Dapper Don" and "The Teflon Don."
This is the captivating story of Gotti's meteoric rise and equally dramatic downfall. Watching every move was his legal adversary?Assistant US Attorney John Gleeson in Brooklyn?who prosecuted both of the high-profile trials. The first case, a seven-month battle ending in acquittal, saw Gleeson falsely accused under Gotti's intimidation tactics and perjury by a manipulated witness.
Five years later, he led the second racketeering prosecution, using FBI wiretap evidence and turning Gotti's underboss, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, into a federal witness. Gravano's flip?making him the highest-ranking mafia turncoat ever?helped secure Gotti's conviction and dealt a blow to the entire Italian mob structure.
A spellbinding, page-turning courtroom drama, The Gotti Wars "tells us in electrifying detail how the good guys finally won, how justice triumphed over evil, and how Gleeson himself was transformed by his long war" (Nelson DeMille).
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Person
John Gleeson, currently a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, has had distinguished careers as a federal prosecutor, federal judge, and practicing defense attorney. He was lead counsel in the successful racketeering-murder trials of John Gotti and Vic Orena, respectively the bosses of the Gambino and Colombo crime families, for which he received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award. As a United States District Judge in Brooklyn, he presided over more than 200 civil and criminal jury trials. Gleeson currently teaches at New York University School of Law, Harvard Law School, and Yale Law School. He lives in New York City with his family.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Cast of Characters
- Author's Note
- Prologue: Sparks
- Part One: The First Case
- Chapter 1: "This Thing of Ours"
- Chapter 2: The Lure of Crime
- Chapter 3: Cravath
- Chapter 4: Baptism by Fire
- Chapter 5: Willie Boy
- Chapter 6: Wiseguyspeak
- Chapter 7: The Cast
- Chapter 8: Into the Spotlight
- Chapter 9: False Start
- Chapter 10: Take Two
- Chapter 11: The Grind
- Chapter 12: Words in Court
- Chapter 13: Traynor
- Part Two: The Interlude
- Chapter 14: Hanna
- Chapter 15: The Ruggiero Bug Cases
- Chapter 16: Delroy
- Chapter 17: Mike Coiro
- Chapter 18: The Bug of All Bugs
- Part Three: The Second Case
- Chapter 19: The Motherlode
- Chapter 20: The Team
- Chapter 21: Turf War
- Chapter 22: The Arrests
- Chapter 23: Mary Jo
- Chapter 24: Bruce's Crucible
- Chapter 25: Lawyering Up
- Chapter 26: The Overture
- Chapter 27: "You're Still Going to Need a Body"
- Chapter 28: The Flip
- Chapter 29: The Reveal
- Chapter 30: Bosko's Juror
- Chapter 31: Angelo's Lie
- Chapter 32: The Pressure Builds
- Chapter 33: "Christ-Killer"
- Chapter 34: A Different Show of Force
- Chapter 35: "By Gosh, Tommy Bilotti Is Dead"
- Chapter 36: Summations
- Chapter 37: Little Vic
- George Pape
- Chapter 38: The Superstar
- Epilogue
- Photographs
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Index
- Copyright
