The feds have whacked John “Junior” Gotti with new charges as they gear up for his third racketeering trial – accusing the former Gambino leader of continuing to commit mob crimes, including witness tampering and an ongoing money-laundering scheme.
The indictment returned by a grand jury yesterday also links Gotti, 42, to mob hits carried out while he was running the Gambino crime family for his father John “Dapper Don” Gotti, although he is not charged with murder.
The feds launched a sweeping probe into the Gambino crime family last month after plea negotiations with Gotti hit a wall. They sent subpoenas to his relatives, defense witnesses and several powerful mobsters.
Gotti rejected a proposed deal from the feds that would have landed him less than four years behind bars and forced him to fork over $500,000 – a far cry from the 30-year sentence and $25 million forfeiture he faces if convicted by a jury.
His retrial on racketeering charges, including the high-profile kidnapping of radio host Curtis Sliwa, is set to begin July 5 at Manhattan federal court.
Two previous trials ended with hung juries.
In bringing the new indictment, the feds are seeking to poke holes in Gotti’s defense that he left the mob in 1999, which would have been before the five-year statute of limitations for bringing racketeering charges.
A call to Gotti’s lawyer Charles Carnesi was not returned.
Under the new charges, Gotti is accused of tampering with an unnamed witness between November 2003 to March 2004 – a scheme that relates to his alleged efforts to intimidate star turncoat Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo, sources said.
DiLeonardo, who was once Gotti’s best friend, has testified that his 15-year-old son Michael Jr. was beckoned to visit Gotti in prison soon after he his decision to cooperate with the feds.
Michael Jr. visited Gotti at the upstate Ray Brook prison in February 2004 and left there with a message – that he should tell his father everything could be the way it once was.
At Gotti’s most recent trial in March, DiLeonardo’s ex-wife, Toni Marie Ricci, took the stand as a defense witness and testified that her son visited Gotti because they had always been close and “seemed to be more relaxed” afterwards.
Gotti also faces a new money-laundering charge for allegedly continuing to reap the rewards of his crimes by collecting rent on properties he bought with illicit proceeds right up until the present day. The feds are using his own brother to prove it.
Testifying for the defense, Peter Gotti said he’s given his jailed brother a hand by collecting rent money on property the feds claim was bought with the illicit proceeds and also accepted money from him for business ventures.
The indictment accused Gotti of using a brokerage company to launder his dirty money.
Even though Gotti is not charged with murder, the new indictment could pave the way for prosecutors to use evidence of Gotti’s involvement in mob hits as part of their proof that he was involved in the Gambino crime family.
“Gotti acted in a leadership ca pacity . . . [and] it was known to him that murders would be and were, in fact, committed on behalf of the family by its members and associates,” the indictment states.
“Gotti further endorsed and rewarded participants in those murders by promoting them within the family,” the indictment continues.
—
Case against ‘Junior’
* WITNESS TAMPERING between November 2003 and March 2004 – an effort to stop a mob turncoat from testifying during a grand-jury probe and related court proceedings
* MONEY LAUNDERING from 1991 to May 2006 – funneled criminal proceeds through holding companies that were used to purchase real estate and collect rents Two additional
* RACKETEERING violations for investing illicit profits in two companies, JAG Brokerage and 216-02 Hempstead Avenue Corp.