Gotti Acquitted: Setback in Mafia Trial

NEW YORK--The acquittal of reputed Mafia leader John Gotti not only broke a string of successes in the government's fight against organized crime but also discredited the federal witness protection program, his lawyer says.

The prosecution, portraying Gotti as boss of the nation's most powerful Mafia family, the Gambino organization, based its racketeering case on the testimony of mob turn-coats.

The witnesses were given immunity and in some cases new identities and promises of relocation in return for their testimony implicating Gotti. They all admitted to lying in the past for criminal purposes.

The jurors, kept anonymous for their safety and sequestered during their seven days of deliberations, asked hours before their verdict Friday to re-examine a defense chart showing the crimes the witnesses testified they had committed, including murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

"I think they're tired of paid government witnesses who lie," Gotti's attorney, Bruce Cutler, said after the verdict. "I think it's a swing in the right direction."

The jury acquitted Gotti and six co-defendants of carrying out at least two murders, two armored car robberies that netted $1 million, truck hijackings, loansharking and gambling over an 18-year period.

Gotti, who was dubbed "The Dapper Don" for his well-tailored clothing and had been in jail since three months before the start of the seven-month trial, returned home to an enthusiastic welcome from neighbors in the Howard Beach section of Queens. Passing drivers honked horns and shouted congratulations, and yellow ribbons were tied symbolically around trees, and around the waist of a Gotti supporter.

Cutler said he believes the government will continue its investigation of the 46-year old Gotti, who has been under police surveillance for year.

"They'll be ready to frame me again in two weeks," Gotti told a reporter as he left the U.S. Marshals' office in Brooklyn. "In three weeks, they'll be starting again, just watch."

The New York Times reported Friday that federal investigators said Gotti might face indictment on new charges as head of the Gambino crime family.

"I can't comment but I won't deny it," Thomas L. Sheer, the FBI chief in New York, told the newspaper when asked if agents were trying to build another case against Gotti.

The verdict was the first major setback for federal prosecutors in New York after several victories in recent organized-crime cases. In the last six months, the heads of the city's four other Mafia families, the Genovese, Lucchese, Bonnano and Colombo organizations, have been convicted.

Andrew J. Maloney, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said he is disappointed but will continue to bring organized crime cases when he has evidence. As for the jurors in the Gotti case, Maloney said, "Obviously they perceived there was something wrong with the evidence."