(From July 16 1996) For those who didnt know:

John Gotti suffered the ultimate indignity last month -- a jailhouse beating by a fellow inmate as a crowd of prisoners looked on, the Daily News has learned.

The man who was once the nation's most feared crime boss was beaten bloody in a recreation area at the U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Ill., federal law enforcement sources said.

But the don was a standup guy, telling doctors who treated him in the infirmary that he "fell down," the sources said.

One law enforcement official said the Gambino family boss, doing life without parole on murder charges, was assaulted after a dispute in which he "mouthed off" to a black prisoner.

"It was a racial thing. John mouthed off to a big black guy," said the official. "The next day, the black clocked him. He beat him up pretty bad, his face was all bloody. He needed some kind of medical help."

The sources said that while the inmate pummeled Gotti, fellow prisoners on the cellblock neither intervened to help the once-dapper don nor piled on.

The exact extent of Gotti's injuries could not be learned, but sources said he was taken to the infirmary after the incident.

Gotti lawyer Bruce Cutler said there was no beating, no racial incident and called the report, which was confirmed by four law enforcement officials, "an out-and-out lie."

"John was not hurt, John was not in any fight," Cutler said. "John is no stranger to prison. He's been there many, many times before and he comports himself like John Gotti in prison and out on the street. He's no stranger to prison and the things that go on inside. The story is a lie."

Jim Hyland, spokesman for the Marion prison, declined to comment.

The sources said the assault occurred where inmates take their indoor recreation, an open area in the cellblock outside the cells. Hyland described the area, which encircles the cells, as about 120 feet long and 18 feet wide.

Gotti once boasted: "Me, I like jail better than I like the streets," and Cutler has said his client could do jail time "standing on his head." Gottiís lawyers have often reported that in his cell he does 2,000 to 3,000 pushups and 1,000 to 2,000 stomach crunches daily.

Gotti has lived alone in a 6-by-8 foot cell since his June 23, 1992 sentencing.

Authorities say Gotti still holds the rank of Gambino family boss, but his son, John (Junior) Gotti is running day-to-day operations.

In the early months of his incarceration, prison officials said Gotti was locked in his cell 23 hours a day, and his lawyers as recently as early this year said he was only allowed to leave his cell twice a week for an hour.

Gotti is one of 390 prisoners at Marion. Until recently, it was the federal Bureau of Prison's most secure and only Level Six facility.

Now it has been lowered to a Level 5.5 facility, with the bureau's Supermax facility in Florence, Colo., the only Level Six.

Prison officials at Marion said Gotti is now locked in his solitary cell about 21 to 22 hours a day.

And Gotti, like others in the general prison population, gets up to 14 hours of indoor recreation a week, Hyland said. The cons also get twice-weekly, two-hour sessions outdoors.

Don't know whether its true or not, love him or hate him, he's doing his time 'like a man' as they say. Gotta respect a guy for that.
Usually, federal prison isn't that tough. State prisons are the places that things like you see in HBO series Oz occurs.

Level 6 is no joke though. Usually reserved for high level, dangerous, fed offenders. Most fed offenders, even level 6 are usually no danger to each other. Drug Lords, mafia bosses, maybe the occassional serial rapist/murderer if they are not in state prison and have broken a federal law.

Speaking of which, he was at Marion for a total of 8 years (2 years spent in the Federal Medical Centre in Missouri, in solitary in confinement, and most recently St. John's hospital when his health took a turn for the worst). Marion is the second tightest security prison, the SuperMax in Florence, Colorado, houses such notorious criminals such as Tony "Gaspipe" Casso, and Theodore "The Unabomber" Kaszynski. McVeigh also did a 4 year stint in there. It is a 24 hour a day lockdown with plexiglass cells and a sink with a granite slab with mattress for a bed.
At Marion, inmates were in cells for 23 hours until it was lowered to 5.5, now it's a short 22 hours a day :p Usually it is used as a punitive measure for unruly inmates, but John Gotti holds the record for the longest stay. Apparently, he was kept there because he refused to publicly resign from his position as Boss of Gambino. It seems the Feds are also getting laughs from all the time he thumbed his nose at them. Still, he has taken it like a man and I think he deserves respect for that, even if you hate the man.

How could you hate him? Oh maybe if you were one of his neighbours, er I mean victims or victims families.

'People love me! My men think i'm Jesus Christ'



Thats mental. Well where did all his nice suits go?

In a recent statement, one of his lawyers (Bruce Cutler of Shargel&Cutler ass.) said that he no longer cares about material things like clothing and food and restaurents. He just wants to be with his family and friends, as he is getting sicker and has little time left. His lawyers' request for him to be freed due to his illness (much like capone, or his good friend Angelo Ruggerio in 1989 who had terminal cancer) has been rejected. As has the request for him to be treated further at St. John's instead of the solitary confinement at the Missouri Medical Prison.
As for hating him.. why? He never did anything to anyone (except the guys he wacked years ago) and he has a very nice smile. He's got good sense of humour too, even at his last trial in '92 when he knew he was going down, he said to his lawyer about the defense they were putting on - "Where was our defense? I should have put on a little song and danced". What a guy, that John

So was there any truth about the beating he allegedly took? Or are we never going to know?

No, the beating did happen. In fact, the reason many people say he caught the cancer in the first place was because of the shoddy work done on his broken palate and teeth at the time. He was very badly injured, the other inmate kicked and punched him repeatedly in the face. The lack of attention given to him at Marion meant that the operation wasn't really followed up on and he caught the cancer that way.
You should know that Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel deny all rumours and reports(though this wasnt a rumor, it was reported by four different officials at the prison and on the board of prisons. As you know, Gotti has his pride, even in prison, and would not accept these stories to be admitted by his own lawyers. My prayers are with John and his family

yeah wether you love him or hate him you have to admit that he has been taking this whole thing like a man and is doing his time many other people in his position would have probably talked by now to save their own ass and to have their 15 minutes of fame.

I happen to like John Gotti.