THIS IS FOR THE KID HE SAID HE DID NOT LIKE THE ARTICLES I POSTED,IT'S ALMOST PARTY TIME THE DAPPER DONS CLOSE TO MEETING HIS MAKER Gotti in Hospital
After Cancer Bleeding


By GREG B. SMITH
Daily News Staff Writer

Cancer-stricken crime boss John (Dapper Don) Gotti was taken from prison to a Missouri hospital yesterday after suffering another health setback, a family friend said.

Gotti, 61, who is terminally ill with cancer of the head and throat, was in stable condition at the hospital, said Lewis Kasman, a Long Island businessman who is a longtime friend of the imprisoned-for-life mobster.

Kasman said "there's been some bleeding" of the lesions related to Gotti's cancer. He noted that the bleeding has been an issue for months.


John Gotti
"He was taken to the hospital," Kasman said. "His blood count was a little bit low. There was some compassionate doctor on duty who thought maybe he needs a hospital."

In late 1998, Gotti was diagnosed with cancer and has suffered numerous setbacks.

In the past year, he has been taken several times to medical centers near the federal prison hospital in Springfield, Mo., where he is held in isolation.

Gotti's family long has argued that he should be treated in a civilian hospital — not in a prison medical ward.

Kasman said he was happy that Gotti was in a civilian hospital, charging that conditions at the prison hospital have contributed to the gangster's failing health.

"Given his condition and having the type of illness he has, he should be in a facility that treats patients suffering from this type of illness," Kasman said. "He should not be in a prison hospital, and he should not be locked in solitary confinement.

"I'm a realist," he added. "I know he's not going to a hotel. But he certainly deserves the best treatment available."

Kasman downplayed the significance of Gotti's latest trip to the hospital, noting that prison officials told him Gotti was transported "in a nonemergency manner."

He said he would wait until he heard from Gotti's doctors before deciding whether to travel to Missouri.

Prison officials declined comment last night, saying only that Gotti was getting proper medical care.

He was convicted in April 1992 of racketeering and sentenced to life in prison for his role as boss of the Gambino crime family.

A federal jury, which heard the testimony of mob turncoat Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano, found that Gotti orchestrated the assassination of family boss Paul Castellano and ordered several other murders.


Original Publication Date: 2/1/02