Gotti was born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: John Gotti, Peter Gotti, Richard V. Gotti, and Vincent Gotti. All the brothers grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and became involved with organized crime. Gotti was said by John Cummings and Ernest Volkman in Goombata, "He was noted for his inability to comprehend even the simplest statement addressed to him, and people dealing with him learned to speak slowly and repeatedly." He attended Franklin K. Lane High School with the other Gotti brothers. Gotti has a wife, Rosalie, and three children and 8 grandchildren; his family home is in Valley Stream, New York. Around 1966, Gotti became an associate with the Gambino family. In 1969, Gotti was convicted of theft from an interstate shipment and was sent to federal prison for three months. In 1973, Gotti was convicted in state court of illegal possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 18 months in state prison.
Family rise
Gene became a made man in 1976, working with his brother, John, in his South Ozone Park crew. Gotti carried out truck hijackings at Idlewild Airport together with his brother John and friend Angelo Ruggiero. In August 1983, Ruggiero and Gotti were arrested for dealing heroin, based primarily on recordings from a bug in Ruggiero's house. Boss Paul Castellano, who had banned made men from his family from dealing drugs under threat of death, demanded transcripts of the tapes, and, when Ruggiero refused, threatened to demote his brother John. On March 13, 1987, Gene Gotti and brother John, were acquitted on federal racketeering charges involving illegal gambling, murder and other charges.
Prison and release
On May 24, 1989, after two mistrials, Gene was convicted of running a multimillion-dollar heroin smuggling ring. The first mistrial was for jury tampering, and the second mistrial was a hung jury. Two jurors were dismissed from the third trial, including an alternate who said he received a threatening visit from two men. On July 8, 1989, Gene was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. After his sentencing, the Gambino family demoted Gene from capo to soldier because he was in prison. Gene Gotti was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Pollock, in Pollock, Louisiana, from 1989 to 2018. Gene was released on September 14, 2018, when he was 71 years old, after serving 29 years of his sentence.
