Mafia scion John Gotti has ties to Latin Kings
John “Junior” Gotti, namesake son of the late Gambino family
boss, once pondered life as a gangbanger instead of a godfather while locked in
a federal prison
And now the 56-year-old Gotti, retired from the Mafia for
better than two decades, is under investigation for his meetings with accused
Massachusetts-based Latin Kings bigwig Michael Cecchetelli, aka King Merlin,
according to GanglandNews.com.
The get-togethers involved Gotti, Cecchetelli and the latter
man’s uncle David “Fat Chicky” Cecchetelli, according to law enforcement
sources. Of particular interest, the sources say, was the use of a longtime
Genovese family social club in Springfield, Mass., for two Latin Kings meetings
captured on videotape.
The Mount Carmel Social Club is perhaps best known as the
location for a mob hit on capo Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, gunned down in the
parking lot while leaving a 2003 card game. Fat Chicky is an associate of the
Genovese crime family, according to sources.
King Merlin, identified in court papers as the east coast
commander for Latin King chapters from Massachusetts to Florida, was busted
this past December after a four-year federal probe, with prosecutors alleging
he at one point advocated an re-enactment of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre
to take out an enemy.
Boston FBI head Joseph Bonolovonta noted Cecchetelli’s
“blood ties” to the New York-based Genovese family.
Asked whether Gotti was on the federal radar, Boston FBI
spokeswoman Kristin Setera said investigators would not comment “because of the
ongoing investigation and prosecution of the case.”
Gotti’s links to the Latin Kings date to his federal prison
time in upstate Ray Brook, N.Y., while he was serving six years in a 1999
racketeering plea deal. Sources indicate Gotti reconnected with the Kings
though Fat Chicky, an MMA fighting fan. Gotti’s son, John III, is 5-0 in his
young career as an MMA fighter.
Various Instagram accounts posted online show photos of
Gotti with King Merlin, Fat Chicky and a former MMA fighter named Damien “The
Omen” Trites. And Junior had once appeared to show an affinity for the Kings, a
group whose membership is not based on ethnicity — unlike the Mafia.
In a recording played at Gotti’s third of four unsuccessful
racketeering prosecutions in Manhattan Federal Court, the mob scion complained
that he was “pushed” into the mob life against his better judgement.
“I’d rather be a Latin King than what I am,” he declared. “I
mean it on my father’s grave. I’m so ashamed. I’m so ashamed.”
Attorney Ron Kuby, who spent time with the younger Gotti
during the 1990s racketeering case and testified at a separate 2009
racketeering trial, said the second-generation Mafioso was looking for a
different kind of lifestyle when they first met.
“He was pretty much sick of all criminal life, so it’s hard
to imagine he was pining for a lateral transfer,” said Kuby.
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