I recently read an article from a few years ago by Jerry Capece, and he said Gotti was once punched in the face by Michael Paradiso, and there was no retribution, I don't know if Gotti was made at the time. Paradiso was also the guy who put the hit out on Casso that turned him into a nut job, Capece said Paradiso was nearly as nuts as Casso. If you look back at in time, it is amazing Gotti got to the position he did, eventhough he did by force, he still needed the support of high ranking capo's and support from other families, it is said he got support from all the families accpet the Genovese.
Without Dellacroce Gotti probably wouldn't have been made. I mean look at Roy demeo. Demeo was a guy who had no problem killing but was also a tremendous earner. despite that it took a long time for Castellano to have him made. Gotti was a good earner but he also gamble a lot which hurt the crew profits. Gotti was lucky that Dellacroce and Fatico took a liking to him
Yes, Gotti got close to the right people at the right time. He seemed more like a thug then a mafia guy. He didn't have the brains to get involved in rackets like labor unions, construction, financial scams, etc. His inner circle seemed to be mostly heroin dealers and hijackers. He wasn't qualifed to run a fast food joint, let alone a higly organized criminal enterprise.
Getting back to Gotti hits, I watched the mafia program narrated by Ray Liotta last week, and Henry Hill was interviewed and he said he was in a bar one time when Gotti came and bashed a guy sitting at table playing cards. Hill said Gotti gave the guy a real good bashing and blood was all over the place, but he didn't know the extent of the injuries, if he lived or not. The story sounded like total bull crap to me, just Hill trying to latch on to a bigger fish. They also interviewed Nino Gaggi's nephew Dominick Montiglio who came off as an egotistica BS'er too.
