Poor “Junior” Gotti — nobody understands the problems of a mobster looking at a life sentence.
John Gotti Jr., charged with racketeering and murder, wrote a bizarre letter to Manhattan federal Judge Kevin Castel yesterday, whining that jurors may have seen newspaper headlines quoting him threatening to rub out a key prosecution witness.
The reports said he had mouthed the words, “I’ll kill you!” to turncoat John Alite during a break in testimony on Oct. 8.
Gotti claims that “just a happenstance glance” at the stories by any juror “warrants a mistrial, because by the time a three-second glance is over, the damage has been done.”
Alite reported the threat, but it could not be confirmed by the US marshals guarding him.
“I am facing a potential sentence of life imprisonment, that is release only upon death,” Gotti wrote.
He sent the letter directly to Castel, who told him to communicate only through his lawyers. They admitted typing the letter but took no credit for its contents.