Original subtitles

Gangs rule their territories through ruthless enterprises, fear, and a strict code.

Deviate from this code, or challenge their power.

Retribution soon follows.

Especially for the violent and powerful Gambino crime family.

From its stranglehold on New York City to its epic showdown with the law.

Here are three stories of the secretive criminal organization

thrust into the public spotlight by John Gotti.

First, a changing of the guard as a ruthless capo kills

the boss of bosses in the middle of Manhattan.

There's a dead body in the street. This was shocking.

Next, the new boss's celebrity status shines

a light on the Gambino family's operations.

He was breaking the rule, right? This is a secret organization.

And finally, the Gambino underboss breaks the mob's most sacred

code and exposes the family's entire criminal history.

He was very loyal to John until he heard them tapes.

These are the stories from the gaudy years of the Gambino crime family.

This is Gangland Chronicles. 1985, New York City.

Five Italian mafia families run the city,

but the Gambino crime family is the largest, wealthiest, and most brutal among them.

The Gambino family was known to be a ruthless family.

The family officially gets their name in 1957,

when underboss Carlo Gambino orders the hit of

the reigning Don, or boss, Albert Anastasia.

Gambino raises the family's profits and power as the head of the commission,

the governing body of the Italian-American mafia in the U.S.

When Gambino dies in 1976, his cousin, Paul Castellano, a capo, rises to the top.

Castellano runs the family with underboss Neil Delacroche

and consigliere Joseph Gallo.

Under them are over 20 capos, upwards of 200 soldiers, and thousands of associates.

By the mid-1980s, the family is making $500 million a year, $1.4 billion today.

The mob controlled unions.

It was involved in illegal gambling.

It was involved in loan sharking.

Plus, they were making millions in legitimate businesses.

All the nightclubs they owned, all the gay bars

they owned, all the porn stores, everything.

But no matter how much the family is raking in,

Castellano wants a bigger and bigger take.

His greed will trigger one of the most infamous mob hits in history. 1985,

Staten Island Paul Castellano is making an estimated

$15 million a year, $43 million today.

He would get rolls of bills brought up to him weekly, but he wanted more.

One capo in Queens has a major problem with the boss's greedy ways.

His name is John Gotti.

John Gotti wanted to be a gangster,

and he was a throwback to the era when the gangsters were

this big public persona because they were the tough guys.

Gaudi is in Castellanos' bad books because members of his crew,

including his brother Gene, have been indicted

for running drugs, which is forbidden.

When Carlo Gambino became the boss, he put out a rule.

Nobody was allowed to sell narcotics anymore because

it brought too much heat to the organization.

Castellano threatens to bust up the crew and demote Gotti.

Outraged, Gotti goes straight to his mentor, underboss Neil Delacroce.

Neil Delacroce, you know, advised if you go after the boss,

you could potentially be starting a war.

But Gotti begins to plot behind Delacroce's back with

an ambitious soldier named Sammy the Bull Gravano.

And the two see their opening 14 days after Delacroce dies of cancer.

December 16th, 1985.

Midtown Manhattan.

Gotti and Gravano have arranged for four hitmen to take out the boss.

And they go to Sparks Steakhouse,

where they are tipped that Castellano is going to be having an early dinner.

As John Gotti and Sammy Gravano keep watch from across the street,

Castellanos' car pulls up outside the restaurant.

What happens next changes the Gambino crime family forever.

December 16th, 1985.

Midtown Manhattan.

John Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano have hired four hitmen

to take out greedy Gambino boss Paul Castellano.

The two men watch from a distance as Castellano and his underboss, Tommy Bellotti,

pull up to Sparks Steakhouse.

Castellano was killed as soon as he got out of his car.

Bellotti tried to evade but was killed by another gunman.

There's pandemonium on the street.

I mean, this is the holiday season. This is midtown Manhattan. This was shocking.

Gotti has just done the unthinkable.

He's taken out the boss of the most powerful mob family in New York City

without getting the blessing from the commission.

One month later, the Gambinos come together to choose a new boss.

To no one's surprise, John Gotti is the only nominee.

Some people were not happy,

but they were not going to say anything because at that point,

the Gambino family knew that if they went against John, they were going to go.

They all voted yes, and John officially became the boss.

But the Gambinos are not prepared for John Gotti to

shine a public spotlight on the family's business.

And that will set the stage for the ultimate face-off with the law.

1986, New York City.

John Gotti takes stock and re-evaluates the percentage

of the take he expects from his capos.

And unlike the former boss Castellano, he spreads the wealth around.

He saw himself as the new champion of his family.

Gotti is making the most of his new role as boss, dressing in flashy suits,

eating at fancy restaurants, going to nightclubs,

and landing on the covers of the papers and on TV,

earning him the nickname the Dapper Don.

And at first, his fame benefits the entire Gambino family.

People wanted to do business with us,

and everybody started making more money because we had more power.

More doors were opened.

But behind closed doors, Gotti runs the family the old school way.

And those members who don't show the boss the respect he demands are taken care of.

Gotti lifts the ban on drug dealing and insists on operating out in the open.

He had everybody showing up to meet him publicly at

the Ravenite Social Club, his new headquarters.

But not everybody liked it.

This was a secret organization, but they had no choice.

But operating out in the open brings extra heat to the organization.

Between 1986 and 1990, the authorities indict Cottey

and other Gambino members on multiple charges.

But the family skates by, especially the boss, John Gotti.

He has his reputation for Teflon Don, because no charges would stick.

The feds make it their mission to take down John Gotti

and the Gambino family once and for all.

You know, there's a lot of pressure to make the case.

We can't afford any mistakes.

It's got to be rock solid.

The FBI doubles down on surveillance and wiretaps at the Ravenite Club,

but they're coming up empty until they notice something unusual on the tapes.

John Gotti had a very distinctive voice.

So you knew when he was at the table talking,

and then all of a sudden his voice would disappear for a half hour to an hour.

So we couldn't see inside the building. We could only see outside.

We knew he wasn't leaving the premises.

Did we get made?

So far, Gotti is getting the best of the FBI.

But the Gambinos are about to make a costly misstep.

1989, the Ravenite Club, New York City.

While conducting wiretaps on the Gambino family headquarters,

the FBI discovers that John Gotti is pulling a disappearing act.

He's not leaving the premises, and he's not in the hallway,

and he's not in the club.

Ultimately, they found out that Gotti was going to an apartment

upstairs where he would have his secret meetings.

The second floor apartment is home to an elderly widow of a Gambino soldier.

It's in this apartment that Gotti really rules the Gambino family.

One night, he's furious with a soldier named Louis

de Bono for not coming to a meeting when called.

He was very much about running the family La Cosa Nostra way, right? With the rules.

He wanted to be the most respected and the most feared.

After Gotti's rant, Luis de Bono is found dead in a parking garage.

But the feds have no way of tapping into these conversations.

So under cover of night, the FBI plants a bug in the apartment.

And then they wait.

Night one doesn't go upstairs.

Night two doesn't go upstairs.

He's not going up in this stinking apartment anymore. Did they know their bug?

Finally, on the ninth night of surveillance, the feds catch a break.

John Gotti, his underboss Sammy Gravano,

and his consigliere Frank Lacascio are in the apartment.

I get a phone call.

I can't talk, but he's upstairs, audibility's good,

everything's great, and they hang up on me.

And then just putting the headset on and listening

to that tape and the conversation they had,

John Gotti, Sammy Gravano,

and Frank LoCascio go on this conversation about why they killed Paul Castellano.

I mean, this is four years after they killed Paul Castellano.

And it's the first conversation I get on that boat.

We got him.

December 11th, 1990.

The FBI enters John Gotti's headquarters, the Ravenite Club, with warrants.

And there's John Gotti sitting down next to Frankie, Locascio, and Sammy Gravano.

And John just looks at me, he goes, ah, we were expecting you.

Do you mind if we finish our coffees?

Gotti, his consigliere Locascio,

and underboss Gravano are charged with racketeering and murder.

The Teflon Don has gotten the best of the law before.

But when a high-ranking mobster breaks the Mafia's

code of silence, the Gambino family...

...is torn apart.

December 21st, 1990.

Federal District Court, Brooklyn.

Gotti, Locascio, and Gravano are brought before the court for a bail hearing.

Despite being indicted a fourth time on multiple murder charges and racketeering,

the Teflon Don is confident his celebrity status will save him.

He said, the public loves me, and the worst I'll ever get is a hung jury,

and he truly believed that.

But when the FBI wiretap recordings are played, John Gotti is blindsided.

On the tape, he's having a conversation with Frank Locascio,

bad-mouthing Sammy Gravano.

Gotti was complaining about Gravano.

Implying that Gravano wasn't giving him his share.

Not only is Gotti suggesting Gravano is a cheater,

but that he's taking advantage of being the underboss to make more money.

He's blaming murders on Sammy, saying everybody Sammy kills,

he takes over their companies. I mean, some of

them tapes, you know, were not good for Sammy.

You know, not good for Sammy.

Gravano was furious.

His blood was boiling.

Gravano is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

And if he blows, no one in the Gambino family will be safe, especially Gotti.

December 21st, 1990. Brooklyn Federal Court, New York.

At a bail hearing, Sammy the Bull Gravato, underboss of the Gambino crime family,

hears an FBI recording for the first time, where the Don, John Gotti,

badmouths him behind his back.

But that's not the worst of it.

Gotti also discusses murders Gravano has carried out for the family.

I mean, John Gotti just convicted and sentenced Sammy Gravano

to multiple mandatory life sentences on that one conversation.

Adding insult to injury, while they're in jail awaiting trial,

Gotti expects Gravano to take the rap for him.

Gotti says, Gravano, you are my best friend.

You're going to have to take the fall for me

because the boss has to stay on the street.

Definitely he felt disrespected. I mean, he was the guy's underboss.

He was loyal to him, and I think he felt he was getting thrown under the bus.

Sammy the Bull has a decision to make.

Does he take the rap for Gotti,

or does he violate the most sacred oath in the Italian mafia?

Myrtha is the code of silence, that we don't betray our brothers.

That's the hardest decision any one of us in that life could make.

After 11 months in jail while waiting for trial, Gravano finally makes his choice.

March 2nd, 1992, Brooklyn.

Sammy the Bull Gravano takes the stand during John Gotti's trial.

For nine days, Sammy the Bull Gravano was able to give the inner workings

of the Gambino crime family and how John Gotti rose to power.

He also detailed the plotting and the execution

of Paul Castellano and Tommy Bellotti.

That was kind of a nail in the coffin for John Gotti.

On April 2nd, 1992, John Gotti is found guilty

of all charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Sammy Gravano's deal with the prosecution puts him away for five years.

And when he's released, he enters the Witness Protection Program.

So the first impact of all of that is people are angry at Sammy,

but they're angry at John Gotti.

Because in essence, John Gotti brought this upon himself,

but now upon the whole Gambino family.

Now all of a sudden, the mob doesn't appreciate this famous,

notorious gangster that everybody was in awe of.

After 10 years in prison, John Gotti dies of throat cancer in 2002.

In New York City, the Gambino family is back to operating in the shadows,

and it's half the size it was in its heyday.

It definitely went more underground.

It's a different mafia than the family John Gotti ran, for sure.

Gradually over time, the Gambino family has become more

and more under the orbit of the Sicilian gangsters.

And you had people now who controlled the family by committee.

It's kind of like nobody wants to be a boss anymore, because if you're a boss,

you're going to get all the heat.

And it's a no-win game.

The gaudy years of the Gambino family serve as a warning for all gangs that follow.

John Gotti and ultimately Sammy Gravano believed that all their efforts

were to keep the Gambino family alive and strong and viable,

but all their efforts and actions had the reverse effect and just destroyed that.