Editing John Gotti (section)

=== Taking over the Gambino family ===
Gotti quickly became dissatisfied with Castellano's leadership of the Gambino family, regarding the new boss as being too isolated and greedy.<ref name="Davis, p 187">Davis, p. 187</ref><ref name="Capeci, Mustain (1996)">Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 61</ref> Like other members of the family, he also personally disliked Castellano. The boss lacked [[street credibility]], and those who had paid their dues running street-level jobs did not respect him. Gotti had an economic interest as well; he had a running dispute with Castellano on the split Gotti took from truck hijackings at Kennedy Airport. 

Gotti was also rumored to be expanding into drug dealing, a lucrative trade Castellano had banned under threat of death.<ref name="Davis, p 187"/><ref name="Capeci, Mustain (1996)"/> In August 1983, Ruggiero and Gotti's brother Gene were arrested for dealing [[heroin]], based primarily on recordings from a [[Covert listening device|bug]] in Ruggiero's house.<ref name="Davis, p 216">Davis, p. 216</ref><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 77</ref> Castellano demanded transcripts of the tapes;<ref name="Davis, p 216"/><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 79–80</ref> when Ruggiero refused, he threatened to demote Gotti.<ref name="Davis, p 238">Davis, p 238</ref>

In 1984, Castellano was arrested and indicted in a [[RICO]] case for the crimes of Gambino hitman [[Roy DeMeo]] and his crew.<ref>Davis, p 204</ref><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 82–83</ref> The following year, he received a [[Mafia Commission Trial|second indictment]] for his role on [[The Commission (mafia)|the Commission]], the Mafia's governing body.<ref name="Davis, p 238"/> Facing [[life imprisonment]] for either case, Castellano arranged for Gotti to serve as acting boss alongside [[Thomas Bilotti]], Castellano's favorite ''capo'', and [[Thomas Gambino]] in his absence.<ref>Davis, pp. 254–255</ref><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 91</ref> Gotti, meanwhile, began conspiring with fellow disgruntled ''capos'' [[Frank DeCicco]] and [[Joseph Armone|Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone]] and [[soldato|soldier]]s [[Sammy Gravano|Sammy "the Bull" Gravano]] and [[Robert DiBernardo|Robert "DiB" DiBernardo]] (collectively dubbed "The Fist") to overthrow Castellano, insisting, despite the boss' inaction, that Castellano would eventually try to kill him.<ref name="RnF 92">Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 92–96</ref> Armone's support was critical; as a respected old-timer who dated back to the family's founder, [[Vincent Mangano]], he would lend needed credibility to the conspirators' cause.<ref name="Raab, p. 375">Raab, p. 375.</ref>

It had long been a rule in the Mafia that a boss could only be killed with the approval of a majority of the Commission. Indeed, Gotti's planned hit would have been the first unsanctioned hit on a boss of the [[Five Families]] since [[Frank Costello]] was nearly killed in 1957, and would have been the first on any boss since [[Angelo Bruno]] in 1980. Gotti knew that it would be too risky to solicit support from the other four bosses, since they had longstanding ties to Castellano. To get around this, he got the support of several important figures of his generation in the [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]], [[Colombo crime family|Colombo]] and [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] families. He did not consider approaching the [[Genovese crime family|Genovese family]]; Castellano's ties with Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante|Vincent "The Chin" Gigante]] were so close that any overture to a Genovese soldier would have been a tipoff.<ref name="Raab, p. 375"/> However, Gotti could also count on the complicity of Gambino ''[[consigliere]]'' [[Joseph N. Gallo]].<ref name="RnF 92"/><ref>Maas, p. 315</ref>

After Dellacroce died of [[cancer]] on December 2, 1985, Castellano revised his succession plan, appointing Bilotti as underboss to Thomas Gambino as the sole acting boss, while making plans to break up Gotti's crew.<ref name="Davis 263">Davis, pp. 263–266</ref><ref name="RnF 97">Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 97</ref> Infuriated by this, and by Castellano's refusal to attend Dellacroce's [[wake (ceremony)|wake]],<ref name="Davis 263"/><ref name="RnF 97"/> Gotti resolved to kill his boss. When DeCicco tipped off Gotti that he would be having a meeting with Castellano and several other Gambino mobsters at [[Sparks Steak House]] on December 16, Gotti chose to take the opportunity.<ref>Maas, pp. 321–322</ref> Both Castellano and Bilotti were ambushed and shot dead by assassins under Gotti's command when they arrived that evening.<ref>Davis, pp. 272–273</ref> Gotti watched the hit from his car alongside Gravano.<ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 102–104</ref>

Several days after the murder, Gotti was named to a three-man committee, along with Gallo and DeCicco, to temporarily run the Gambino family pending the election of a new boss. It was also announced that an internal investigation into Castellano's murder was underway. However, it was an open secret that Gotti was acting boss in all but name, and nearly all of the family's ''capos'' knew he had been the one behind the hit. Gotti was formally named the new boss of the family at a meeting of twenty ''capos'' held on January 15, 1986.<ref>Raab, p. 377–378.</ref> He appointed DeCicco as the new underboss while retaining Gallo as ''consigliere''.<ref>Davis, p. 282</ref><ref>Capeci, Mustain (1996), p. 115</ref>