In Gotti's case,once again, his ego overrode his judgement.As far as the Bergen or the Ravenite were concerned,he knew that the Feds probably had devices in place,so he went for "walk-talks" to discuss serious mob business.

After a while,Gotti didn't feel like going outside in the snow and rain,so he came up with the idea of using the upstairs apartment belonging to the widow of one of his soldiers (Mickey Cerilli,I believe).

Gotti wrongly believed that since the old lady wasn't a criminal associate of the Gambinos,the cops could never cite probable cause to bug the place. Also,the woman hardly ever went out ,so Gotti also figured that there would be no opportunity for a bug to be placed.

He honestly believed that he was smarter than the Feds,and as a result,the tapes recorded in that apartment came back to haunt him.

What surprises me is that Big Paulie let himself be recorded in his house. I can't speak for some of the other old school guys who got caught on tape,but this was a guy who was groomed by Carlo Gambino,who basically wrote the book on avoiding wiretaps or bugs.

Why Big Paulie couldn't just step outside and talk to his guys is beyond me.

As long as you have Mob guys who are too lazy,egotistical,or stupid to take basic precautions,you will continue to see cases made by bugs.