The brother of late mob boss John Gotti plotted to blow up notorious mob turncoat Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano as payback for squealing on the “Dapper Don,” the feds charged yesterday.
Peter Gotti, 64, allegedly sent a team of hit men armed with a bomb to hunt down the turncoat in Arizona in a scheme that ran from approximately October 1999 until about May 2000 – after Gravano dared the Gambino family to come and get him.
The new indictment against Gotti filed in Manhattan federal court, comes as the Gambino boss awaits sentencing for a recent racketeering conviction across the river in Brooklyn.
Wiseguys Thomas “Huck” Carbonaro and Gravano’s brother-in-law, Edward “Cousin Eddie” Garafola, were previously charged in the murder plot.
But law-enforcement sources said mob henchman-turned-canary Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo has provided new information about Peter Gotti meeting with him to plot the Gravano hit.
Armed with a bomb and sophisticated surveillance equipment, a squad of alleged hired guns donned disguises and tracked Gravano’s every move in Phoenix, where he was living under an the assumed name Jimmy Moran.
But Gravano made no secret of his past life in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“They send a hit team down, I’ll kill them,” Gravano said. “They better not miss, because even if they get me, there will be a lot of body bags going back to New York.”
The wiseguys were forced to abandon the $75,000 plot when Gravano, who’d served just five years in prison for 19 murders under a sweetheart deal with the feds, was arrested for running an “ecstasy” ring.
Gravano is serving 20 years behind bars on the drug charges, and also faces a murder rap in New Jersey, where prosecutors in Bergen County have accused him of hiring an assassin to murder NYPD Detective Peter Calabro of Upper Saddle River, N.J., in 1980.
Peter Gotti, a former sanitation worker who was acting boss at the time of the scheme, was elevated to official boss of the Gambino family last year when his infamous gangster brother died of cancer while doing time in a federal lock-up.
John Gotti was convicted largely on the testimony of Gravano.
Murder conspiracy and other racketeering charges could land Peter Gotti behind bars for up to 70 years – in addition to the maximum sentence of 20 years he already faces after his March conviction in Brooklyn federal court.
U.S. Attorney James Comey said, “The allegations demonstrate the lengths to which Gotti and his confederates would go to preserve the power and profitability of their ruthless criminal enterprise. Today, these charges demonstrate the lengths to which law enforcement will go to stop them.”
Gotti is also accused of running a 12-year scheme to extort money from construction contractors in order to ensure labor peace.
Defense attorney Gerald Shargel could not be reached for comment.
Three other alleged mobsters named in the seven-count superceding indictment – including reputed capo Louis “Big Louie” Vallario, and soldiers Frank “Frankie Fap” Fappiano and John Matera – are charged with crimes dating back to the 1970s that range from murder, loan-sharking and extortion, to gambling and witness tampering.
Fappiano is charged with trying to murder Anthony Capo, a member of New Jersey’s DeCavalcante crime family who is now cooperating with the feds, in 1994.
Two of the men included in the Gravano-hit indictment are also charged with the April 1998 murder of suspected mob rat Frank Hydell, and the September 1989 shooting death of Staten Island developer and reputed Gambino associate Frederick Weiss.
Arraignments on the new indictment are set for tomorrow.
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GANG’S ALL HERE
LOUIS “Big Louie” VALLARIO – Reputed capo of the Gambino organized crime family, this 61-year-old is accused of murdering Staten Island businessman Frederick Weiss in 1989 as a favor to John Gotti, who believed Weiss was cooperating with authorities. Also allegedly made illegal payments to members of Local 32B/J of the Building Services Workers Union, and ran a gambling ring.
FRANK “Frankie Fap” FAPPIANO – Reputed Gambino soldier, accused of ordering an assault on union official Frank Parasole in 1997, who died after being shot in the buttocks. Also accused of attempting to kill Anthony Capo, member of the DeCavalcante mob family in 1994, and of helping kill Frederick Weiss.
EDWARD “Cousin Eddie” GARAFOLA – This 66-year-old reputed Gambino soldier allegedly plotted to kill Gravano, who is his brother-in-law. The plot was thwarted by Gravano’s drug arrest. Garafola also is accused of murdering Frederick Weiss.
THOMAS “Huck” CARBONARO – A 55-year-old reputed Gambino soldier who is accused of killing Frank Hydell in 1998 outside a Staten Island topless bar to prevent him from testifying about the murder of Frank Parasole at the behest of Frank Fappiano. Carbonaro also is accused of being part of the team sent to kill Gravano.
JOHN MATERA – 32-year-old reputed Gambino associate who allegedly Frank Hydell to a strip club the night of his murder.