By Philip Newman
After 11 days of deliberations, a federal court jury in Manhattan declared itself hopelessly deadlocked today and a judge declared yet another mistrial for John Gotti Jr.
Gotti, 45, could have been sentenced to life imprisonment had he been convicted of charges including racketeering and murder.
He thus surpassed the record of his late father, John Gotti Sr., who had become known as the Teflon Don for avoiding conviction three times through hung juries. The elder Gotti, however, was convicted in a fourth trial and died in prison.
It was the fourth trial since 2005 for Gotti, whose defense was centered on the premise that he turned his back on organized crime by 1999. The prosecution in the office of the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York had presented numerous former Gambino crime family associates, most of them serving prison sentences, to testify against Gotti.
The trial began Sept.14.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
