By Philip Newman
In passing sentence against Richard V. Gotti, a 61-year-old Howard Beach resident and brother of the so-called “Teflon Don,” Judge Frederic Block of federal court in Brooklyn said he was actually “a very minor player” in the crime organization's operation.The judge said the prosecution had offered “barely enough evidence” for Richard V. Gotti's conviction on the racketeering charge.Gotti's son, Richard Gotti Jr, 36, was sentenced to 33 months in prison, still less than the 51-month prison term federal prosecutors had requested. That Gotti was charged in what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to carry out systematic deliveries of cash to Peter Gotti, another brother of John who inherited the mantle as head of the Gambino family and now is in jail.The FBI said agents caught Richard Jr. with wads of currency in his pockets one occasion in 2001.Father and son are free on bail until October when they must turn themselves in to federal authorities to serve their sentences.Richard V. Gotti had been charged with delivering $3,500 to his brother Peter, then the acting head of the crime family.The judge said he found “not anywhere near the same level of criminal involvement of his brother and perhaps some other members of the Gotti family. Some are law-abiding and some are not.”Richard V. Gotti was acquitted of a charge of delivering cash to Peter Gotti in 2001.The sentences resulted from a trial nearly a year ago during which Peter Gotti was also convicted of racketeering. Block sentenced him to 9 1/2 years in prison. The prosecution had asked for the maximum of 20 years.The 63-year-old Peter Gotti was convicted of charges that he helped orchestrate illegal activities on the Brooklyn and Staten Island waterfronts and fostered corruption of labor unions.
