NEW ARTICLES:

Play It Again, Sam.

Play It Again, Sam.
by Dr. Christina J. Johns
Law, Power and Justice Syndicate

July 16, 2001

My husband is not a criminologist by profession, but over the years he has come to tolerate, if not always enjoy, daily conversations about subjects ranging from cadaver farms, domestic violence, sexual predator statutes, and high-speed chases by the police to DNA evidence, blood spatter analysis, botched executions and body cavity searches. He has gamely put up with countless hours of television programs and documentaries about crime, gore, depravity and mayhem.

But, his personal favorite, has always been John Gotti, the one-time head of the Gambino crime family. My husband read every word of the FBI transcripts of taped conversations from Gotti’s supposed secret hideaway above the Ravenite Social Club, where Gotti threatened and planned countless crimes and even murders. I think he’s read every book in print about Gotti, and every newspaper article. It’s no wonder then, that "Sammy the Bull" Gravano has lately become a hot topic of conversation in our household.

You remember Sammy the Bull, of course. Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano was Mr. Tough-Guy, Jr., who wiped John Gotti’s nose and did his dirty work (to the tune of 19 murders) over the years. Gravano was more like Gotti’s son than Gotti’s own rather volatile and probably not so smart offspring. Then, in a move that startled everyone, Gravano turned state’s evidence in 1992 and testified against Gotti before a federal jury which finally put Gotti away for life.

Gravano was willing to do a deal with the prosecutors and become a Mafia rat because prosecutors played tapes for him of Gotti on the telephone talking about plans to kill Gravano. The prosecutors were willing to do a deal with Gravano to get Gotti whom they had prosecuted unsuccessfully several times before. In fact, it was Gotti’s almost uncanny ability to beat federal prosecution that got him the name "The Teflon Don."

But, once the Don hit prison, the teflon seemed to wear thin. He wasn’t in prison more than a few years before he got beaten up. When a Mafia don gets pummeled in prison, you know his fortunes are on the decline. Then, he got cancer. In mid-June, he was said to be so ill that his family was already planning the funeral. On one Organized Crime webpage, there’s a question about whether readers think Gotti should be allowed to receive his family as visitors during his "final days." There are probably bets out on when he’ll kick the bucket.

In the meantime, Gotti is said to have cussed out his son for letting the Gambino family business go to pot since Gotti Senior’s incarceration. And, in 1999, "Junior" Gotti messed up so badly he was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for racketeering and other crimes.

But, back to "The Bull." Sammy, becomes one of a handful of mafia turncoats who testifies against his former cohorts - not a predictor variable for longevity. But, Sammy survives five years in prison. That’s about three months per murder, and those are the 19 murders we know about. Afterward, for obvious reasons, he goes into the Federal Witness Protection Program where endangered witnesses drop out of sight, are given a new identity and set up in an entirely new location.

But, after years of successfully negotiating the thuggery and ruthlessness of U.S. organized crime, the Witness Protection Program is just too tough for Gravano. He drops out.

He then co-authors a book called Underboss, which seems more than a bit like rubbing it in. When a lawyer tries to prevent Gravano from profiting from the sale of the book, Gravano puts out a hit on him (according to prosecutors).

Then, within the past few months, Gravano pleads guilty to a 10-count felony indictment that includes charges of drug conspiracy, money laundering, operation of an illegal enterprise, and weapons violations. He admits to running and funding an Ecstasy ring in Arizona said to have distributed up to 30,000 pills a week. The Arizona Attorney General called it "Arizona’s largest-ever ecstasy drug case."

But, Gravano seems to lead a charmed life. He could serve as much as 23 years for all these charges, but is expected to serve no more than 15, concurrent with a 15-year sentence from another conviction in New York on related federal drug charges.

Ironically, Sammy "The Bull", the mafia rat was ratted out himself on the Ectasy ring - further demonstration that what goes around comes around. When the Bull was initially arrested, along with his entire family (a wife and two grown children, the son is referred to in the press as the "Baby Bull") the evidence against him was scant. But, then, one Philipo Pascucci also got arrested and agreed to testify against Gravano.

I don’t know, but I think if I had survived years in the mafia, lived to tell the tale of ratting out countless lethal friends and associates, killed at least 19 people and gotten away with a sentence of three months per murder, I’d give it a rest. But then again, nobody calls me "Christina The Bull," thank God.