Editing John Gotti (section)

=== Captain ===
On October 15, 1976, Carlo Gambino died at his home of [[natural causes]].<ref name="gambino dies">{{cite news|last=Gage|first=Nicholas|title=Carlo Gambino, a Mafia Leader, Dies in His Long Island Home at 74|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/16/archives/carlo-gambino-a-mafia-leader-dies-in-his-long-island-home-at-74.html?sq=%2522Paul%2520Castellano%2522&scp=9&st=cse|access-date=January 7, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 16, 1976|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722213722/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/16/archives/carlo-gambino-a-mafia-leader-dies-in-his-long-island-home-at-74.html?sq=%2522Paul%2520Castellano%2522&scp=9&st=cse|archive-date=July 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Against expectations, he had appointed [[Paul Castellano]] to succeed him over his underboss Dellacroce. Gambino appeared to believe that his crime family would benefit from Castellano's focus on [[white-collar worker|white-collar]] businesses.<ref>O'Brien, Kurins, pp. 104–105</ref> Dellacroce was in prison for [[tax evasion]] at the time and was therefore unable to contest the succession.<ref>Davis, p. 176</ref> Castellano's position as boss was confirmed at a meeting on November 24, with Dellacroce present. Castellano arranged for Dellacroce to remain as underboss while directly running the family's affairs.<ref name="bob 106">O'Brien, Kurins, pp. 106–108</ref> While Dellacroce accepted Castellano's succession, the deal effectively split the Gambino family into two rival factions.<ref name="bob 106"/>

In 1976, the Gambino family's membership books were reportedly reopened.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/21/archives/five-mafia-families-open-rosters-to-new-members-five-mafia-families.html|title=Five Mafia Families Open Rosters to New Members|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 21, 1976|access-date=April 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406205556/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/21/archives/five-mafia-families-open-rosters-to-new-members-five-mafia-families.html|archive-date=April 6, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Gotti was released in July 1977, after two years' imprisonment; he was subsequently initiated into the family, now under the command of Castellano, and immediately promoted to replace Fatico as ''capo'' of the Bergin crew.<ref name="Davis185"/> Gotti's crew reported directly to Dellacroce as part of the concessions given by Castellano to keep Dellacroce as underboss,<ref>Davis, pp. 176–177</ref> and Gotti was regarded as Dellacroce's protégé.<ref name="Davis 188-189">Davis, pp. 188–189</ref> Under Gotti, the crew were Dellacroce's biggest earners.<ref name="Davis185"/> Besides his cut of his subordinates' earnings, Gotti ran his own loansharking operation, and held a [[no-show job]] as a plumbing supply salesman.<ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 62</ref> Unconfirmed allegations by FBI [[informant]]s claimed that Gotti also financed [[drug deal]]s.<ref name="Davis 188-189"/><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 69–70</ref>

In December 1978, Gotti assisted in the [[Lufthansa heist]] at Kennedy Airport, the largest unrecovered cash robbery in history. He had made arrangements for the [[getaway car|getaway van]] to be crushed and baled at a [[scrapyard]] in Brooklyn. However, the driver of the van, Parnell "Stacks" Edwards, failed to follow orders; rather than driving the vehicle to the scrapyard, he parked it near a fire hydrant, and went to sleep at his girlfriend's apartment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Volkman |first1=Ernest |last2=Cummings |first2=John |title=The Heist |date=January 1, 1988 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=9780440200291 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YcDp8MGPJlgC&q=desimone++dipalermo |access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref>

Gotti mostly tried to distance his personal family from his life of crime, with the exception of his son John Jr., who was a mob associate by 1982.<ref name="Jr60"/> However, on March 18, 1980, Gotti's youngest son, 12-year-old Frank, was run over and killed on a family friend's [[minibike]] by a neighbor named [[John Favara]].<ref name="FavaraFox">{{cite news|url= https://www.foxnews.com/story/john-gotti-neighbor-was-dissolved-in-acid-court-papers-reveal|title= John Gotti Neighbor Was Dissolved in Acid, Court Papers Reveal|date= January 9, 2009|publisher= Fox News|agency= Associated Press|access-date= February 25, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110127201647/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478124,00.html|archive-date= January 27, 2011|url-status= live}}</ref> Frank's death was ruled an accident, but Favara subsequently received death threats and was attacked by Gotti's wife with a baseball bat when he visited their home to apologize.<ref name="Davis 190-191">Davis, pp. 190–191</ref><ref name="RnF 66-67">Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 66–67</ref> Four months later, Favara disappeared, and was presumed murdered.<ref name="FavaraFox"/> Accounts have differed on what was done with his body. One account said that Favara was [[Dismemberment|dismembered]] alive with a chainsaw, and that his remains were stuffed into a barrel filled with concrete and dumped in the ocean, or buried somewhere on the lot of a [[chop shop]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Don Is Done - New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E5DB1239F932A05752C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=6 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20081220182150/http://query.nytimes.com:80/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E5DB1239F932A05752C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=6 |archive-date=2008-12-20 |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=query.nytimes.com| date=January 31, 1999 | last1=Goldberg | first1=Jeffrey }}</ref> In January 2009, court papers filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn contained allegations that mob [[Contract killing|hitman]] [[Charles Carneglia]] killed Favara and disposed of his body in acid.<ref name="FavaraFox2">{{cite news |date=January 9, 2009 |title=John Gotti Neighbor Was Dissolved in Acid, Court Papers Reveal |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/john-gotti-neighbor-was-dissolved-in-acid-court-papers-reveal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111143425/https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478124,00.html |archive-date=2009-01-11 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |publisher=Fox News |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Gotti is widely assumed to have ordered Favara's murder despite him and his family leaving on vacation for [[Florida]] three days prior.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/favara-son-dad-accidentally-killed-gotti-boy-no-grave-visit-father-day-article-1.127324|title=Favara son whose dad accidentally killed Gotti boy has no grave to visit this Father's Day|work=New York Daily News|date=June 19, 2011|access-date=February 26, 2021|archive-date=October 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019020108/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/favara-son-dad-accidentally-killed-gotti-boy-no-grave-visit-father-day-article-1.127324|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gotti was indicted on two occasions in his last two years as the Bergin ''capo'', with both cases coming to trial after his ascension to boss of the Gambino family. In September 1984, he had an altercation with a refrigerator mechanic named Romual Piecyk and was subsequently charged with [[assault]] and [[robbery]].<ref>Davis, p. 286</ref><ref name="TimeAssaultOne">{{cite magazine |year=1986 |title=Trial and Terror: A victim's memory is mugged |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |volume=127 |issue=14 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961056,00.html |access-date=February 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124072903/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961056,00.html |archive-date=January 24, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1985, he was indicted alongside Dellacroce and several Bergin crew members in a [[racketeering]] case by [[United States Attorney|Assistant U.S. Attorney]] Diane Giacalone.<ref name="Gotti running"/><ref name="RnF 88-89">Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 88–89</ref> The indictment revealed that Gotti's friend and co-defendant, Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson, had been an FBI informant.<ref name="RnF 88-89"/>