The whole system of criminal trial law is tilted toward the prosecution. You know the story: They don't want trials. If you agree to take a plea bargain, your sentence is reduced. If you assert your right to a trial, they throw the book at you. In the city where I live, a defendant, after indictment but before a trial, is called before the judge who will actually hear the case and hand down the sentence. The judge will explain to the defendant what kind of sentence he'd be looking at if he took a plea vs. what that judge "might" hand down if he went to trial and were convicted. Pretty intimidating, don't you think?

Not that I have any sympathy for Gotti--he got an acquittal in one of his big felony trials by bribing a juror.