JOHN GOTTI JR. AND 27 OTHERS WITH TIES TO THE GAMBINO ORGANIZED CRIME FMILY INDICTED IN MAJOR FEDERAL RACKETTERING CASE RESULTING FROM GAMBLING INVESTIGATION BY BRONX DISTICT ATTORNEY

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson said federal racketeering charges and other offenses filed last week against John Gotti Jr. and 37 other defendants who allegedly have ties to the Gambino organized crime family, were the result of pursuing information obtained during an investigation of a gambling location in the Bronx.

"We grabbed hold of a thread of information about criminal activity unrelated to our gambling investigation and followed that thread until the initial probe mushroomed into a massive multi-agency undertaking," Mr. Johnson said.

During the course of the District Attorney’s investigation into an "illegal numbers" operation in the Bronx, strong working partnerships were forged first with New York State Attorney General Dennis Vacco and the Organized Crime Task Force and later with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mary Jo White.

Mr. Johnson said the investigation began in March 1994 when Detective Investigators from the Bronx DA’s Office and prosecutors assigned to the Bronx DA’s Investigations Division started looking into a policy operation allegedly headed by Leonard Minuto Jr. Within a shot time the Major Case Unit of the New York City Police Department’s Vice Squad was enlisted to help build the case. By the conclusion of the investigation one additional local and three additional federal agencies had become involved, the Office of the Inspector General of the New York City School Construction Authority, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Secret Service.

The multi-agency investigation probed criminal activity ranging from murder and conspiracy to labor racketeering, extortion, loansharking, gambling and fraud in the telecommunications industry. The effort resulted in a federal grand jury returning four indictments charging John Gotti Jr. and 37 others with a total of 60 counts.

Mr. Johnson said that "given the scope of these interlocking criminal enterprises as well as several highly technical legal issues, including sentencing options, it was determined that justice would best be served by prosecuting these defendants on the federal level." Mr. Johnson praised the hard work and commitment of everyone involved in the lengthy and exhaustive investigation particularly U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White and State Attorney General Dennis Vacco. Mr. Johnson noted that the one common denominator from the inception of the probe was Bronx Assistant District Attorney Vincent Heinz.

ADA Heinz, early on, was cross designated as an Assistant New York State Attorney General and later was also cross designated as an Assistant United States Attorney.

"The concerted effort to build this case demonstrates that no criminal enterprise is too small to go after," Mr. Johnson said. "We will push through even the smallest crack in organized crime’s armor in order to prosecute those who are making enormous profits from a variety of illegal activities."