John Gotti, Grandson Of 'Teflon Don,' Arrested On State Narcotics Charges
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- John Gotti, grandson of the deceased mob boss John Gotti nicknamed "Teflon Don," has been arrested and charged with six others in connection with a drug distribution ring, police said.
Sources told 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa that a search was underway Thursday morning at the Howard Beach home where the 23-year-old Gotti lived and where his grandfather used to reside.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce referred to the take-down as "Operation Beach Party" at a NYPD news presser Thursday.
The defendants have been charged with illegal distribution of Oxycontin and other prescription pills in Howard Beach and Ozone Park.
"We went into that location, the former home of John Gotti Sr., and we recovered $40,000 in cash and 500 Oxycontin pills," Boyce said. "This is what he was selling on five separate occasions – selling oxycodone in that area."
Boyce said Gotti had sold the pills on numerous occasions throughout the area. He said that property was also recovered from a tattoo parlor.
Attorney Gerard Marrone says Gotti denies the allegations. He says police "broke in doors'' and "wrecked the house'' because of Gotti's "last name."
Gotti had a prior arrest in June after he and his friend were initially pulled over for excessively dark tinted car windows. Police said they discovered he was driving with a suspended license and reportedly found a Gucci bag containing Oxycontin pills, a bottle of steroids and Xanax pills, and $56,000 in cash.
Found guilty of racketeering and murder in 1992, notorious Gambino crime family boss "Teflon Don" John Gotti was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He died in a prison hospital at the age of 61 in 2002.
In a separate case Thursday, the FBI and the NYPD made dozens of arrests in a broad-based mob bust. New York federal prosecutors unveiled an indictment charging nearly four dozen suspects with organized crime-related charges, saying they operated a massive East Coast syndicate.
Those arrested in that case are alleged members of the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno and Philadelphia crime families, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported. They allegedly formed an unusual alliance and joined forces or conducted overlapping business, Papa reported.