John "Junior" Gotti's daughter appears in court on assault charges from high school basketball game
NEW YORK -- John "Junior" Gotti's daughter was back in court Wednesday on assault charges stemming from a high school basketball game on Long Island.
Police said Gianna Gotti, 23, and Kimberly Gotti, 55, got into a brawl with another woman last month during a game at Locust Valley High School in Lattingtown.
The alleged victim told police the fight broke out after she asked someone to stop cursing at the students.
"At that point, I felt my hair being pulled and felt my wig come off, which was held on by three clips and velcro," the woman said in her statement to police. "I felt as if my scalp was going to be ripped off and I observed the lady in the gray jacket pulling my hair."
However, the Gotti family's attorney said their son was playing in the game and was being abused by the woman.
"She chose a fight, she chose a fight with the wrong woman. She got into a bad decision, and then she decided to press charges," John "Junior" Gotti said outside the courtroom.
"Gianna Gotti is a young lady who is going to go to law school. So I don't want to have any type of criminal record or any blemish on her record, and the mom didn't do anything wrong," added their attorney Gerard Marrone.
Kimberly Gotti was also charged in the case but was not in court Wednesday. Both women are due back in court on April 9.
"Junior" ran the crime family while his father, known as "Teflon Don," served a life sentence and eventually died of cancer in 2002.