Just out of curiosity.
I mean as soon as Sammy Gravano took the witness stand, he had to know that, combined with the tapes and his usual counsel being kicked out of the court, that it was over. That he was going away forever, no fixed jury here.

It's really surprising--considering say the Massino thing, and John's ego--that he didn't flip. I mean he thought of himself as LCN personified, I'm surprised his attitude was "LCN dies with me."

Anyway, would the FBI have even taken him up on a deal at that point, in 1991?

I think his ego is why he DIDN'T flip. Among other things. Besides, the feds had a hard on for this guy. Gotti was their target.

His Ego was the size of earth.

As much as everyone hates on Gotti, and I do agree he was a bad boss as far as LCN goes but he was definitley a man's man. "100 years from now when im in jail, it's gonna be Cosa Nostra." He was a man of his word, and like my dad always told me, you can be a dirt poor bum, but as long as you're a man of your word you have something to be proud of, only in Gotti's case he was a murderer, crime kingpin. Still a man of his word nonetheless gotta respect that.

In every case where the .gov flips a felon, it's always because they want a bigger fish or they are trading one 10 pound fish for 20 one pound fishes. At that time, there was no bigger fish than Gotti. Gotti had embarrassed the .gov so much that they wanted to nail him to the cross at all costs including letting the 2nd biggest fish walk after minimal time for 19 murders. One could argue that Sammy was more of a criminal than JG but the .gov still wanted JG more because of the public's perception of him.

It was his dream to be talked about for generations to come.

I heard something once where he said "If a church got robbed and I got pulled over with the steeple sticking out of my ass I would say I have no idea what you're talking about"

He was LCN till you die...

To tie in the other topic here about Scarfo or Gotti? Great point about Gotti he was a true gangster like Scarfo even if deals would have come forth both of them would tell the F.B.I. to go fuck themselves. Whatever there faults they lived and died LCN. But we all know the F.B.I. wanted him to rot forever in prison.

There was nothing left to flip on. They had Gotti, they were closing in on the Corrozzo faction, they had good intel on the Florida crews. Gotti couldn't have known about the cramming "internet billing scam" that was on the horizon. What info (besides obviously rolling on other families) could Gotti have provided at the time on the Gambino's? He wasn't gonna roll on One Eyed Pete or Junior, so who was there at the time that essentially would have been worth it to the Federal Government more so than Gotti finally behind bars after mocking the system for years?

Gotti was a blabber mouth. So even though he didnt flip in the technical sense he did do a lot more damage than most informants do

Yeah Ggotti shouldn't of talked so much didn't he know the Gov.'s got parabolic mics that hear a snake fart in Egypt?

lmao

I don't know what you mean by he had nothing to offer. As boss he knew about almost every racket, could back up Gravano's testimony, and could give info on the other families and their bosses. The Corozzo faction wasn't busted until December 1996, which was 6 years after Gotti was arrested. Gotti was in the same situation as Massino after Vitale flipped. Of course the feds would have welcomed him with open arms. Imagine the coup, forcing the Al Capone of their era to become a rat. That would be more embarrassing to the mafia than sending Gotti to prison.

Gotti didn't flip because he was a true gangster, just like Scarfo, the Commission Case guys, and Chicago guys who were given life.

Despite all of Gotti's flaws, which were numerous,
Despite the fact that Gigante hated him, He had two undeniable qualities the Outfit guys respected (even though they had to side with the Genovese's in the background):

1) He had balls bigger than the Empire State Building
(reminded them of Giancana)
2) He was a real man who never betrayed himself.

Ego.

I wouldnt say he had balls the size of the empire state building. he did fear certain guys. its pretty common knowledge that he feared Roy demeo. In fact Paul tried to give gotti the contract to kill demeo and gotti weaseled out of it. Also like others have said theer was nobody for gotti to flip on. he was the main target

Getting enough support to kill a Boss in New York takes Big Fucking Balls.

Well to be fair he never got Gigate's ok and Gigante was arguably the most powerful don at the time. Also Paul was at his weakest during that time. Im not disputing gotti wasnta tough guy but he wasnt the most feared or toughest guy out there tahts for sure

Even shows more Balls that he killed a New York Boss without the approval of Gigante! I think Gotti had big balls but I don't wish to Debate how big they were. LOL

The plot to kill Castellano was well thought out and heavily supported within the Gambino family, which i think Chicago meant. In all honesty though it seems it inflated Gottis ego too much, because it went perfectly more or less. Gotti got too into his role as boss, and way too into his media persona that heavily hit the Gambinos even after his life sentence. If it was true that Carlo wanted Tommy to be boss after Paul, i imagine it would have worked out alot better. But hindsight is a blessing, and for all we know Tommy could have been worse or just as bad as Gotti, or Paul may have even named Tommy Bilotti as boss.

Thank You. Agreed 100%.

From what I understand,Gotti believed that he would win on appeal,or even get a pardon. He really felt that the public loved him so much that he could cause a groundswell of protest that would result in pressure on the Government. Even Sammy thought he was nuts when he started talking seriously about getting together enough cash to bribe the President and get a pardon.

Bottom line,his delusions about his own press led him to believe that his conviction would be overturned. When the day came,(if it ever did) that he accepted the fact that he would die in prison,his final f*** you to the Feds was silence.

The Feds might not have even needed anything from him that they hadn't already gotten from the Bull and other snitches.
I think that in Gotti's case they took it personal,since he made them look like goofballs for so long.The thought of making his time easier by turning him was probably not even a thought.

I don't know if the part i bolded is true, but if it is Gotti deserves his rep as the dumbest mob boss. I've heard people defend Gottis intelligence as a boss before, but if this is true he was completely backward by believing that more press (showing how he's a good guy) would result in an acquittal.

You guys are deluding yourselves if you think the feds wouldn't have welcomed Gotti into their camp with open arms. He would have been the first major mafia boss to flip and it would have been a much bigger victory than sending him to prison for life.

They took Massino after Vitale flipped. That's all that needs to be said.

The Feds not only would have welcomed it, they would have had orgasms if Gotti would have flipped!

Gotti had a big ego, Gotti raised his hand against a Boss, Gotti was a gambler, Gotti didn't understand the huge Gambino Family Business etc. BUT HE HAD BALLS and HE DID HIS TIME AND ACCEPTED IT LIKE A MAN. That I will always give him despite all the other major Flaws.

Gotti was more than a decade before Massino though, and alot more important. Especially because of his celebrity persona, the FBI wanted to get him more than the other bosses.

This is mostly speculation though neither of us can say that Gotti was offered a deal or not, and we'll never know.

I think why he didn't flip just like Scarfo and why people like Gravano and Casso did is just what were they about LCN or themselves. Sure Scarfo was greedy and Gotti was a self serving egomaniac, they were gangsters to the core, they lived about cosa nostra. Gravano and Casso were gangsters as well but they more cared about themselves. They could of cared less about being seen as gangsters more so than just them doing what they wanted. Gravano was loyal but only because he was making a killing in construction and perfered the shadows, same with Casso. They didn't care about their images they only did what served them. Only a theory im proposing but it might come down to something as little as do they care about their image, or just care about themselves.

Knowing Gotti as we do, I think he would have cut his throat before giving the Feds the satisfaction of turning him. He would rather go down in history as a stand up Boss. Also,being that he wanted Junior to be acting Boss,he might have figured that control of the Gambinos could stay in his family if he wasn't tarnished by a snitch jacket.Or maybe he thought he could pull a Persico and stay Boss while behind bars.

Wrong.

Gotta whacked Paul out of fear.
With Angelo's trial coming up and the drug dealing tapes coming to air, it was kill or be killed.

That's not balls. That's a coward.

+1 Skinny. Ego is why he didn't flip.

And yes the FBI would've taken him. Look at Massino.

Very Good Points

Sonny, Nobody's wrong. It's just an opinion. We're not talking about 2 plus 2 equals 4.

I don't care what Gotti's reasons were, wacking a New York Boss takes Balls. If you don't think so, why don't you try it sometime. LOL.

I think sometimes you like to be contrary on purpose. You're not fooling me. LOL.