Breaking News: John Gotti Arrested. Again.

This just came across the wire :



Source: Gotti arrested on murder conspiracy charge


NEW YORK (AP) — A law enforcement official says John A. “Junior” Gotti has been arrested on a murder conspiracy charge.


The official says the charge stemmed from a federal investigation originating in Tampa, Fla. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the charge had not been officially announced.


Gotti has had three criminal trials end in mistrial. He is expected to make an appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday for a removal hearing.


A call to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned.


While “going after Gotti” has the makings of a terrific reality show for one of the lesser cable networks, this has got to stop.   First, John Gotti isn’t called “Junior” by anyone except the media.  Is it impossible for them to not attribute some sort of nickname to anyone who is connected, whether in reality, fiction or by birth, to the mob?

Second, if some government official is going to make an announcement of yet another law enforcement “coup”, can they at least have the guts to give their name?  And if not, then why are they talking to the media at all?

Third, the arrest came down sometime in the wee hours of the morning, as arrests such as this always do.  Did they think that John Gotti’s lawyer sleeps in his office just in case somebody from the AP calls?  Did they think the feds called the lawyer up in advance to give him the heads up that Gotti would be arrested?  Chances are, the lawyer had no idea that his client was arrested, and certainly no clue what he would have been arrested for.  What possible comment could he offer?  “Duh, beats me.”

And finally, there has to come some point in time when the son of John Gotti gets left alone.  I know, they can’t stand the fact that they have been incapable of convicting the guy, and there will always be some prosecutor somewhere who wants to become a legend by putting a Gotti in prison.  But it smells like persecution already. 

When does it end?

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12 thoughts on “Breaking News: John Gotti Arrested. Again.”

  1. Windypundit

    “Did they think that John Gotti’s lawyer sleeps in his office just in case somebody from the AP calls?”

    It’s reporter due diligence. When they intend to publish an accusation against someone, they have an ethical requirment to give the accused a chance to respond. Of course, if they actually waited for a response, they couldn’t run with the story and would get scooped. So they make the call, and if they don’t hear back by the time they finish writing their copy, they add the “not immediately returned” line.

    Later, when the lawyer finally calls them, they’ll amend the story.

  2. SHG

    I know why they do it.  It’s still stupid and misleading.  And this was a nicely worded piece, since they didn’t say “Gotti’s lawyer refused to respond to media questions” or something equally crappy, which happens with some regularity.

  3. EJB

    First of all, field offices for most federal law enforcement agencies have a PIO who makes “official statements” for that specific office and in this case, certainly the FBI and USAO would have PIOs. Therefore, the individual that leaked the arrest would jam himself/herself up with the agency if their name came out as being the source of the arrest information.

    Second, in many jurisdictions, the USAO will decide which agency makes the press release or whether there will be a joint press conference etc. In other cases, a press release may be dictated by the agency’s National Headquarters. An individual’s Freedom of Speech is not necessarily a reality within federal government and leaking such information is frowned upon. In this case, the indictment came out of Tampa (Middle District of Florida) and I’m sure that the agencies there are the ones that will announce the official charges and make the official statements concerning the arrest. They are also the ones with all the details so they are best equipped to handle the media.

    Third, in my 25 plus years of experience, unless an individual is cooperating with a federal agency, the individual’s attorney is not afforded the luxury of being notified that the individual is going to be arrested or when and where that arrest will take place. I have had cooperating defendants actually meet me at the federal building with their attorneys so they could be “arrested” and go before the Federal Magistrate who signed off on the arrest warrant. I doubt Gotti or his attorneys are afforded any courtesies. I do not know the circumstances of Gotti’s arrest but I am sure that there was someone with him or in the same house/location where the arrest took place and therefore his attorney was notified almost immediately after the cuffs were placed on his wrists.

  5. Windypundit

    In my morning fog I didn’t think of this, but you’ve probably been on the receiving end of a few of these, haven’t you?

    If “not immediately returned” isn’t clear enough, maybe they should use something more explicit like “we decided not to wait for an answer and just ran with what we had.”

  6. SHG

    Exactly the point.  The article is picked up everywhere, and takes on a life beyond the moment it’s written.  I hate it when they make it appear as if the lawyer had something to hide or couldn’t be bothered responding.  It’s one thing if the lawyer makes an active choice not to answer the AP call, but another when it was a call to an office well before anyone would conceivably be there.

    And yes, the reason I am sensitive to this is that I have been on the receiving end of a few of these phones calls, and the misleading implication pisses me off.

  11. Joel Rosenberg

    I doubt it; I think I’d look even less graceful than usual (and the usual ain’t exactly Barishnikov; on a good day, think “dancing bear”) falling over and smacking my skull into furniture.

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