John "Teflon Don" Gotti

John Joseph Gotti, Jr (October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York.

Gotti quickly rose in prominence in the Gambino ranks, becoming one of the crime family's biggest earners. Gotti became a protege of Gambino family underboss Aniello Dellacroce.

Fearing he would be killed by Gambino crime family Boss Paul Castellano for selling drugs, Gotti organized the murder of Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter. This left Gotti as the boss of the most powerful crime family in America, which made hundreds of millions of dollars a year from construction, hijacking, loan sharking, gambling, extortion and other criminal activities.

Gotti survived numerous legal cases unscathed. Witnesses developed serious cases of what the press called "I forgotti", and with every acquittal it added to his reputation. The American media dubbed Gotti "The Teflon Don" in reference to the failure of any charges to "stick." On December 11, 1990, FBI agents and New York City detectives raided the Ravenite Social Club, arresting Gotti, Gravano and Frank Locascio. Gotti was charged, in this new racketeering case, with five murders (Castellano and Bilotti, Robert DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono,) conspiracy to murder Gaetano "Corky" Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. Sammy Gravano ultimately opted to turn state's evidence, formally agreeing to testify on November 13, 1991.

On April 2, 1992, the jury found Gotti guilty on all charges of the indictment. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and a $250,000 fine. In 1998 Gotti was diagnosed with throat cancer. The condition returned in 2000. Gotti died on June 10, 2002 at the age of 61.