How did John Gotti do as a captain, especially compared to his predecessor Carmine Fatico?

How close was Gotti with the other families in the same area?

InCamelot- this is one Gotti topic that i think is interesting..thank Christ you're not asking about Castellano, Decicco, or Sammy the Bull..basically any questions about Castellanos murder or Gotti as boss should be outlawed, but this topic IMO is a good one... thats just my 2 centw bc those topics have been covered ad nauseum and frankly John Gotti was a terrible boss not worth the attention he gets...

As far as Gotti as a capo, i know Michael Franzese told a story in a doc about going up against John when he was a skipper over his guy selling drugs at a flea market in Long Island that Franzese and the Columbos controlled. There was a sit down and according to Franzese he asked to buy John out to prevent the drug dealing to which Gotti of course said "you don't buy me out I buy you out " and he did ..which was what the Columbos wanted all along

Franzese and Also Henry Hill claimed that when John was a capo he threw his weight around, but that other crews in the Columbos and Lucchese families could tell he was a man on the rise and a natural leader....hope this helps

Thanks mikeybslls211, yeah I saw that Inside the American Mob doc.

I wonder how Gotti treated his captain Charlie Wagons Fatico, who trusted him enough to make him acting capo before he was even made. That must be saying something about Gotti, bad boss, egotistical and everything.

Is there more info out there on Charlie Wagons by the way? I know he was known for hijacking especially one of the first to plunder JFK, moved his homebase from East NY to Queens just to be closer to the airport. Is there anymore about his life, his personality and how he was as a leader?

Yeah but back on original topic, I was curious if there were any significant events while Gotti was captain that gave any indication to his ability as mid-level management. I mean, its possible he wasn't fit for a boss but as a capo he could have excelled. He certainly seemed to love being on the street and what that meant to him.


The 3 Bonanno capos murders, Billy Batts situation with the Vario crew, I'm aware of. Did he come across the Westside at any significant point as a captain?

Gotti's tenure as Capo or as he really was for a time (a term which he hated) "Acting Capo". He cursed Carlo and Paul for creating these "Acting" positions and actually wanted Fatico to go to jail so he could be official. In jail for most of the early to mid 70s up until 77. Gene was acting for Fatico and was made in 76 before John who was made in 77. From 77 to 85 John was just a standard Capo, degenerate gambler but always paid his debts, got most of his income from the drug business though not involved himself. Made key contacts of up and coming soldiers on the rise like Joey Massino and Sonny Black. Was a Queens guy around JFK but was jealous of Jimmy Burke who wasn't made but a huge earner which Gotti never was. Gotti was a born leader though and Dellacroce took a shine to him. Nothing stands out during his reign as Capo, he went to Florida in the late 70s to take out Tony Plate as a favor to Neil Dellacroce which further endeared him to Neil. His stature grew in the early 80s as a successor to Neil.

Exactly Carlito. Many people don't realize that Gotti was only "acting" capo of the bergin crew for quite a while. It was another reason why Gotti hated Paul because he would promote him to full capo. Gotti was never a particularly good earner and whatever money his crew made he pissed away on gambling. That's why Angelo and Gene had to resort to dealing drugs. Basically the Bergin crew was used mostly for doing a "piece of work" or a hit. Like Carlito mentioned Gotti's crew whacked Tony Plate(a psycho even in his 60's) for Neil and the family. In summary I wouldn't call him a successful capo. He was lucky that Neil had high regard for him otherwise he would have never been a capo.

So Gotti didn't have much of a relationship with Fatico it sounds like

No he did. Fatico was definetly a mentor to Gotti. In fact when was having trouble with the law in the eraly 70's he let it be known that he wanted Gotti to serve as acting capo of the bergin crew and he wasn't even made then.

That's whats interesting though. All those made guys in the crew and an associate gets the seat?

Gotti might of/probably did hope he goes to jail but I'm curious about Fatico's decisions as a capo.

Yeah that is what I was gonna write about, him being made a acting capo as an associate.

It had to be a crew of all associates, right?

Surely an associate cant be ordering made soldiers around??

Was always curious about that, but not sure who was in the crew.

Anyone have a list and their status at the time as in made or associate??

This was an interesting time in LCN history. Fatico picked the best guy for the job, Fatico wanted to take a back seat due to his legal troubles and he chose the right guy for the job. Same thing in the Jersey Crew of the Lucchese Family. Joseph Abate succeeded Anthony Ham DeLasco as Captain of that crew but DeLasco picked Tumac Acceturro to run that crew as an associate. half a decade before Tumac was made. The books being closed for so long created this atmosphere. But once they were opened in the mid 70s things sorted themselves out. Accetturo made in 76, Abate went into semi-retirement shortly after and Tumac was Capo. Same thing with Gotti.

Gotti was Fatico's driver ar 17. Knew him whole life. Fatico schooled him, Fatico andhis superior Dellacroce.

Did Gotti get along with capos like Nino Gaggi or Daniel Marino?

Ive seen some fbi surv. Pics of gotti and his crew in providence aroynd 1980 with a bunch of the guys down there. There was a pic of him ray jr and matt g next to a boat i dont know where them pics are they must be copy rited somewhere. His brother gene was there the guy rich gomes who helped kill the guy who ran over the kid. In gotti jr book he said his father in neil would meet ray sr and jr at the military school jr went to with ray jrs kid. Kinda like the conduit to that family. He doesnt say what they plans were.

They were in Paul's white collar faction, so they were never the best of friends. Gaspipe Casso also testified that Daniel Marino was part of the failed plot to kill Gotti..

Knowing Gotti he was probably nice to their face and badmouthed them behind their backs !!

Never had much to do with them. Gaggi was facing legal problems but after gotti was boss he sent for Nino. Nino replied there was a lot of heat on him and had word sent to Gotti to come to Nino at so and so place. Gotti was enraged, said he was the Boss and didn't go to anybody, that his Capos come to him and Nino better get his ass over here right away, he knows the rules. Nino supposedly came, hat in hand. Gotti got along with Marino on the surface, but kept him at arms length. Had him the contact man for the Westies before those Hell's Kitchen hoodlums went down.