'Dapper Don' Gotti dies in prison
John Gotti, the 'Dapper Don' who was America's top mobster has died in prison where he was serving a life sentence.
The former Mafia boss died in Springfield, Missouri.
He had suffered from throat cancer and had been moved to the prison hospital from the maximum-security federal prison in Marion, Illinois.
Once known as "Dapper Don" for his fine double-breasted suits and "Teflon Don" after a series of acquittals - nothing would stick - Gotti was sentenced to life in 1992 for racketeering and six killings.
Gotti reigned for six years as the nation's most high-profile mobster, passing himself off as a plumbing supply salesman while strutting about in designer suits.
In the end, Gotti's leadership of the Gambinos led to the loss of power and money for the crime family, because his high profile attracted so much attention from prosecutors.
His undoing came from Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano, his one-time closest confidante and underboss who eventually turned government witness.
When Gotti moved to take over the Gambinos, they were the biggest and most powerful of the city's five Mafia families, with 300-plus "made" members, 2,000 "associates" and was involved in the garment district, garbage hauling, construction, extortion and loan sharking.
He took charge by murdering Castellano, who had angered Gotti and others with, among other things, his ban on drug trafficking.
Gravano, branded a "rat" by Gotti, continued to testify for the government in one trial after another. He eventually dropped out of the federal witness program and was indicted anew in Arizona for allegedly running an Ecstasy drug operation.
