When New York Criminal Boss Paul Castellano Was Corrupted After Refusing Drug Trafficking

Paul Castellano (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Today December 16, 35 years ago or in 1985, the boss of the Gambino crime family, Paul Castellano and his subordinate, Thomas Billoti, were killed outside a Manhattan steakhouse. This mafia boss died at the hands of an assassin led by John Gotti or Teflon Don, who also came from a mafia family. How to sit the case?

Just before 5:30 p.m. Paul Castellano got out of the limousine at the front of the Sparks Steakhouse. Around the same time, four people wearing Russian fur coats and hats were seen coming to him. Dor. Castellano died in their hands.

Meanwhile John Gotti, the man who orchestrated the murder, sat in the car near the incident. After confirming 'Big Paul' was killed, he then left.

Launching Britannica, Wednesday 16 December, Castellano is considered the 'boss of the bosses' or 'Godfather' for leading the largest and most powerful criminal family in New York City. He runs the organization from his home on Staten Island.

His organization infiltrates trade unions and businesses such as building construction and food supplies, corporate extortion, which also operates traditional rackets such as gambling, pornography and loan sharks. However, there is one business that Castellano rejects: drug trafficking. The reason is, he is worried that if this business is run by the federal government, it will certainly not remain silent.

However, not all dons in the region agree with the initiative. One of them is Gotti.

Gotti ignored Castellano's orders and kept getting his men to sell heroin. Castellano's remarks are evident. The federal government began watching Gotti. He received the news that there was a wiretap of the phone which showed Gotti and his partner were still trafficking drugs.

"They thought their days were being watched," said author of Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob, Howard Blum. "So instead of waiting for Castellano to warn them, they planned a very bold attack on the mafia boss."

Ascend the throne

After killing Castellano, Gotti replaced him as Gambino's leader. He later became one of the most famous mafia bosses in history. The federal government took Gotti to court three times in the late '80s, but the courts always failed to reward Gotti with a sentence. His immunity earned him the nickname 'Teflon Don.'

It wasn't until 1992 that the government finally convicted Gotti on a variety of charges, including the Castellano murder. One of the key witnesses in the 1992 sentence was Salvatore Gravano, a former member of the Gambino family. He testified that he sat in the car with Gotti during the Castellano murder and they used the walkie-talkie to alert gunmen when Castellano's vehicle was approaching the restaurant.

During the trial, Gotti kept smiling as he looked at his former friend and trusted aide. That testimony earned Gotti a life sentence in prison. And in 2002 Gotti finally died.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the federal government and the media paid less attention to these criminals. Until 2019, the Gambino group was back in the spotlight, when Frank Cali, another famous Gambino boss, was executed in a rain of gunfire outside his home on Staten Island. The murder marked the first murder of a New York City mob boss since Castellano's murder.

"We thought those days were over," said New York mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference after Cali's murder. "Very surprising, but I think old habits are hard to break."