Sammy "The Bull" Gravano's Deal of a Lifetime

Sammy "The Bull" Gravano was in a monumental mess. He was locked up in a holding cell at the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building(MCC) awaiting his trial on murder and racketeering charges. He had been arrested along with his boss, John Gotti, in December of 1990, when FBI agents stormed the Ravenite Social Club in New York's Little Italy, a favored hangout and base of operations for Gotti and Gravano, boss and underboss of the Gambino Crime Family, the most powerful and influential of New York's fabled Italian organized crime families. Gravano, a shrewd, cunning, and reserved gangster, he had made a career out of avoiding and evading law enforcement scrutiny and detection. Unlike his boss, the flamboyant and attention seeking John Gotti, Gravano believed in the old school mafia code that silence and stealth are the keys by which a successful mobster operates. And, up until that fateful December night, Gravano had been a successful mobster; he had never been convicted of any serious crime, he had never spent any lengthy time in prison, and he was rich beyond his wildest dreams! But that night when the FBI barged into the Ravenite and shackled Gotti and Gravano, Gravano's good luck streak came to an abrupt end.

And Gravano was angry. He was angry at being locked up, and he was angry about the carelessness that had resulted in his capture, a carelessness that was not his own. It was his boss, John Gotti, who had opened up the law enforcement floodgates with his careless talk that had been captured by the FBI. Alerted by informants close to Gotti about his habit of holding secret, high-level meetings in an upstairs apartment on the floor above the Ravenite Social Club, the FBI had managed to gain entry to the apartment in a cloak and dagger type mission and had managed to install several concealed electronic recording devices or bugs that would enable the FBI to listen in and record everything that was said in the apartment. Unfortunately for Gravano, and to the delight of the listening FBI agents, Gotti did not disappoint. Over the course of a few weeks time, Gotti managed to unearth and elaborate on a whole plethora of highly illegal and highly incriminating matters: loan sharking, extortion practices, corruption involving union leaders, and multiple murders!

The listening agents were mesmerized by Gotti's candor; Gotti's big mouth and his confidence in the safety of using the upstairs apartment compelled Gotti to hold forth on so many illegal crimes that his fate, and that of Gravano, was all but sealed. And the most infuriating thing about the whole situation from Gravano's perspective was that it was Gotti's mouth that was heard on those tapes, not Gravano's! Gravano was never heard on any of those apartment tapes uttering more than an occasional "yeah" or "maybe" or a few laughs or chuckles. But Gotti, by way of his uncontrollable urge to boast and brag, had filled in all of the blanks in relation to Gravano and his involvement in multiple crimes - including murder and extortion - all of which carried life in prison sentences if convicted. Gravano was angry. And he started to think!

He was in prison awaiting trial on charges that could put him away for the rest of his natural life. That was not an appealing circumstance. Gravano, at the age of forty-six, was a relatively young man with a wife and kids; he would miss his children as they grew into adulthood and his wife would be left without a husband. Gravano, in the world of organized crime, was a ruthless and efficient mobster; he did many evil and vicious things over his years, but he was always careful. He chose his lifestyle, and he accepted all of the attendant risks involved. But now, here he was, facing life in prison because his boss was careless with his words and had dragged Sammy down with the rest of the ship. Further infuriating Gravano were the excerpts of some of those apartment tapes that were played during preliminary court hearings. On more than one occasion, Gotti was heard lambasting and criticizing Gravano, his loyal underboss, as being too greedy and too manipulative.

Gotti was heard referring to Gravano as having "green eyes" and that every time he(Gotti) turned around Gravano had a new company popping up. Gotti even went so far as to suggest that many of the murders that Gotti and Gravano were charged with, were done at the behest of Gravano, and not Gotti! As Gravano listened, he began to rethink his loyalty and adherence to a boss and an organization that had done so much to mire him in a legal quagmire. Would Gotti, as an attempt to excuse himself, attempt to paint Gravano as the ringleader and mastermind of the many crimes that were ultimately caught on tape? Gotti, as the popular, persecuted Queens denizen be viewed as a loyal friend who tried his best to reign in his incorrigible and ruthless associate in Gravano? The more Gravano thought, the more he felt betrayed by John Gotti. Gravano, as a loyal underboss, would carry out order per Gotti's request; he was often the bite to Gotti's bark. And now things had the potential to get misconstrued. There had to be a way out.

Ironically, that way out presented itself in the form of an entity that Gravano had detested since young adulthood - the federal government! Seeking to make their case against Gotti as rock-solid as possible, and after Gravano had sent word to the authorities through his wife that he might be interested in talking, federal prosecutors and detectives met with Sammy in a secret meeting to discuss possible options that Gravano might have if he elected to cooperate and inform on his and Gotti's crimes, in addition to other mafiosi who Gravano might help to indict. Gravano had a lot of knowledge about the inner workings and doings of not only his crime family - the Gambino's - but about the other four crime families in New York City. Gravano would be able to sink a lot of ships if he agreed to talk. Gravano had a lot to sell, and he wanted to make sure he was duly reimbursed for his services. Gravano, always looking for the big score, hoped to win the lightest, most lenient prison sentence if he were to cooperate. At first, Gravano insisted that he be set free if he cooperated. After balking, prosecutors and government officials agreed to recommend a maximum sentence of twenty years imprisonment, with the possibility of a reduced sentence if his information proved fruitful and based on the discretion of the sentencing judge. Compared with life imprisonment, twenty years didn't seem so bad. Sammy Gravano accepted the terms of agreement, and at that moment became the highest ranking mobster to ever turn state's evidence. As per his agreement with the government, Gravano had to admit his life of crime, which included nineteen murders, and he had to accurately describe with great detail the inner workings of the Gambino Crime Family and the major players in that organization. Gravano would leave no stone unturned!

Sammy Gravano's testimony implicated and helped to convict scores of mobsters in all five of New York's organized crime families. Gravano's boss, John Gotti, did not escape Gravano's cross hairs. Gravano laid Gotti's criminal empire bare; he described murders, he described how Gotti devised and executed the strategy that had led to Gotti's lightning takeover of the Gambino Crime Family - the murder of Paul Castellano - and he gave the government and other assembled courtroom spectators a rare glimpse into the heart and workings of an organized crime family. It was not a pretty sight. It was all murder and mayhem, and Gravano had been a happy player in that game for many years. While acknowledging that Gravano was a deplorable and sick, twisted individual, prosecutors stressed that nobody else knew the specifics and the details of organized crime like Gravano, and that it would be impossible to use a made member of an organized crime family with impeccable credentials and morals. But Gravano delivered. He illustrated and explained extortion methods, shake-down techniques, and corruption involving various union officials and law enforcement personnel. Combined with the apartment tapes that the government had of Gotti boasting and talking about a plethora of crimes, Gravano's testimony was the final nail in the coffin that was John Gotti and Company!

On June 23, 1992, John Gotti was convicted on multiple counts of murder and extortion and was sentenced to five consecutive life terms in prison. He was immediately remanded to custody and transferred to a holding cell in the MCC to await his transfer to Marion Federal Penitentiary, a maximum security prison designed to house the most incorrigible of offenders, where he would spend, on average, twenty-two hours a day alone in his eight-by-ten prison cell. As for Sammy Gravano, as per his cooperation agreement with the federal government, he was facing a maximum twenty year sentence. Citing Gravano's unprecedented and extraordinary service and value to the government as a cooperator, federal prosecutors and FBI officials wrote letters to the sentencing judge praising Gravano and the damning effects of his testimony throughout the underworld of organized crime. Because of Gravano's cooperation and testimony, the world of organized crime had been dealt a crippling blow; even years after Gravano's testimony and cooperation, scores of other mobsters were indicted and convicted, in part, by the effects of Gravano's cooperation and testimony. As Gravano stood before Judge Eugene Nickerson in the same courtroom that John Gotti had been given his life sentence, Nickerson praised Gravano for his aid and service to the government. In a criminal career that included much mayhem and treachery over the years - including an admitted role in 19 murders - Gravano received his sentence: 5 years!