John Gotti Junior was 25% Irish yet was allowed to become a made member and even the acting boss of the Gambinos. My question is why did they allow it? Did JOhn Gotti senior lie about his wife and sons ethnicity? Did anyone have a problem with it but were too afraid to speak up?

Thank you for your time.

Jr gotti was 75 % italian and 25 % russian not irish. No one had a problem with this because the rule in the states now is you only have to be half italian but it has to be from your fathers side. I don't know when exactly the rule changed but they did this to make it easier to find more prospective soldiers.

Both of you couldn't be wronger. Gotti Jr. was 100% African American. The only reason he got made is because he was an exceptional cook.

junior gotti had this real heavy hitting uncle called one eyed pete gotti, thats the only reason he was in the gambinos. all pete had to was wink his good eye and he was in like flynn

Good answers, all. But to give the guy the correct answer, the rules were relaxed for a time back then.

If you were Italian on your father's side, that was considered enough. And Junior Gotti wasn't the only one they relaxed this rule for. This was especially prevalant with the sons of made guys who were married to non-Italian women. Craig DePalma's mother, Teri, is Jewish. Yet his father, Greg, saw to it that he was made before he turned 25 years old, despite the fact that he was never an earner. The kid lived in his father's house in Scarsdale until the day he went to prison (and eventually hung himself).

Supposedly the rules were tightened up again a few years ago, and you now have to be 100% Italian to get made, but I wouldn't bet on it. If you're bringing in enough money, and you have an Italian last name, I can see them looking the other way.

During the last Gotti trial Alite said Charles Carneglia said he wanted to kill that half Jew Gotti Jr, so he must be part Jewish. I was surprised by that, because Carneglia was part of Gotti Jr crew, Alite said Carneglia went as far as to give him a machine gun to use in the hit.

I'm not saying your wrong but who is your source on that? Was this a rule for all the NY families or just the Gambino's?

kind of a common thing...most people who are knowledgeable know that...its also easy to get in when your dad's a made guy!

Most people know that Gotti jr wasn't a full blooded Italian or most people know that they made a rule that you only had to be 50% Italian to become made? Perhaps most knowledgeable people know about Gotti not being full blooded Italian but I don't think many knew about the 50% Italian is good enough to be made rule.

In other families guys who are not full italian have been made also. The gambino's can not just make aand break rules they don't like. Another example that comes to mind is in new england. Cadillca frank saleme was half italian and half irish and he was made. He was actually boss for a short time . I think the rule change came into play because the old guys felt it wud b better to let in the son or nephew of a made guy who grew up around the life and understands it even if he is not full blooded italian than it wud be to let in some jerkoff who will probably flip as soon as he gets pinched just because he is 100 % italian

i was refering to both....they did it to find more members its really hard nowadays to find someone that is a 100% anything...

They need to be. Otherwise there won't be much to recruit from.

That makes sense to me. So is the rule still in place?

As pizzaboy said, the rules were supposedly changed back to being 100% Italian at the early part of the decade. During the time Massino was the top boss on the streets. That may still be the case but, if a guy is a big enough earner and/or is well enough connected, he could probably still get made even though he's only Italian on his father's side.

Incidentally, there have been a couple guys down through the years that were made despite only being Italian on their mother's side. Chucky Porter from Pittsburgh being one, and John Veasey from Philadelphia being another. Obviously they are very much the exception to the rule.

Ivy, where did you hear that the rule was passed that a guy only had to be Italian on his dads side? Did an informer say this?

Hey dude,

The 'relaxed' rule is pretty much common knowledge and is referenced in a variety of sources. Personally, I would give Selwyn Raab's Five Families a read if your interested in the subject.

I'm not sure exactly when that rule was changed. It seems to have been in the 1980's. Around the time Junior Gotti was made. By the early 1990's, when Gravano flipped, he told the FBI you only had to have an Italian father.