Peter Gotti is trying to persuade a judge to trim his prison term, saying his health has declined since he has been behind bars.
The older brother of the late mob boss John Gotti is suffering from a list of ailments ranging from gout to glaucoma, his lawyer told a judge Thursday. Attorney Joseph A. Bondy asked that his client's 9 1/2-year sentence in a Brooklyn racketeering case be reduced to the five years he has already served.
"He's been through enough," Bondy said.
Judge Frederic Block did not immediately rule on the request.
Peter Gotti, 68, became the acting boss of the Gambino organized crime family in 1997, after his elder brother went to prison and his nephew, John "Junior" Gotti, was beset by legal woes, authorities have said.
He was convicted in April 2004 of racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering linked to the Gambinos' domination of the Brooklyn waterfront. A federal appeals court upheld the conviction in 2006 but said he might be entitled to a lesser sentence.
Should he get one, Gotti still would face a 25-year sentence for ordering a failed hit on mob informant Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the key prosecution witness in the racketeering case that sent John Gotti to prison for life
