Gotti Has Charges Thrown Out

Friends of ours: John "Junior" Gotti

A judge on Monday tossed out the latest racketeering and money laundering charges against John "Junior" Gotti, but the son of the late mob boss still faces trial on charges alleging he ordered the beating of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin was a blow to the government just weeks before Gotti's third trial on racketeering charges. Juries deadlocked at two previous trials in the last year.

In May, the government brought new charges of racketeering, witness tampering and money laundering to counter Gotti's contention in 1999 that he left the mob in the late 1990s.

In throwing out the new racketeering and money laundering charges, the judge noted that Gotti pleaded guilty to racketeering in 1999 and that charges identical to some of the new ones were dismissed by the government after Gotti satisfied the terms of his plea agreement. "The plea agreement cannot be both a sword and shield," she wrote.

Lauren McDonough, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, said there was no comment. A call seeking comment from Gotti's lawyer, Charles Carnesi, was not returned.

The judge said the government had also argued that Gotti used money from his racketeering activities to operate two corporations he formed in the early 1990s. "The problem with this second theory is that it is based on nothing but surmise, speculation and conjecture," Scheindlin said.

The government alleges that Gotti ordered a baseball bat beating of Sliwa and a kidnapping several weeks later that ended with Sliwa being shot three times before he dived out of a moving taxi. Sliwa recovered.

If convicted at trial, scheduled to start August 21, Gotti could face up to 30 years in prison.

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Hoffa Helps Open Caesars Palace

Caesars Palace creator Jay Sarno was giving UPI reporter Myram Borders a pre-opening tour in August 1966.

"I recall Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa being introduced to the opening night audience as a man who was instrumental in securing major financing for the hotel development," Borders said in an e-mail. Hoffa even went on stage, took the mic and said a few congratulatory words, she added. The mobbed-up Teamster pension fund money helped finance the hotel development.

Borders, who ran the UPI office here for decades, was in the massive press room on opening night when she spotted some names on a Rolodex. They were private numbers of "the boys," she said, referring to organized crime bosses. As she was leaving the room, a PR honcho from New York saw the list of names she had taken down and "we had a major tug of war over my precious piece of paper."

Thanks to Norm!

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Sinatra Family and Biographer to End Feud Over Mafia Claims?

Frank Sinatra's leading biographer, Anthony Summers, is hoping to end the feud between himself and the crooner's family by meeting with Ol' Blue Eyes' daughter Tina. The Sinatra estate has dismissed claims the singer battled alcoholism and worked as a 'money mule' for the Mafia, which are detailed in SINATRA: THE LIFE, the book written by Oxford University-educated Summers and his wife Robbyn Swan.

The Sinatras vilified the writers as "clowns" for attempting to write about the crooner's life. Sinatra's daughter Nancy went so far to call them "garbage pickers" on her website - before the book was first published in May 2005. The biographers, who are standing by their research - which took four years to gather - insist the family was very keen to keep Sinatra's popular image intact. Swan explains, "We approached Sinatra's children and Barbara Marx-Sinatra, his last wife, Mrs. Nancy Sinatra, his first wife, and Mia Farrow, his third wife, about possible interviews and they all declined; some more politely than others.

"Nancy Sinatra, Frank's daughter, had numerous letters from us and was tracked down on her tour by our researcher, but several weeks before the book came out, she went on her website and disparaged fans from reading our book and vilified us as clowns and garbage pickers and said that she knew our book was garbage because we'd never bothered to approach the family. "You're dealing with people who not only want to have their own personal memories of their father, but they also want to own the public memories of Sinatra; they want to own what is published about him and whitewash his life." But Summers, whose book Honeytrap was used as the basis for hit British film Scandal, is now planning to meet with Sinatra's daughter TINA later this year, in an effort to end the war of words between the family and the biographers.

He adds, "Several people, who were close to Sinatra, have told us we should be proud of the book, and we got it right. "I suspect that Tina Sinatra is more open minded. I'm going to be in Los Angeles again shortly and I think I may touch base with her and see what she has to say."

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Gambino Captain Gets Jail

Friends of ours: Gambino Crime Family, Alphonse Sisca, Arnold Squitieri

A mafia captain who pleaded guilty to helping oversee a racket that engaged in illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion has been sentenced to more than more six years in prison.

Alphonse Sisca, 63, was sentenced Wednesday to six years and three months. The sentence is the latest blow for Sisca. After he was imprisoned last year, his son died of tongue cancer, Sisca's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, his daughter-in-law got thyroid cancer and his mother-in-law passed away.

At his sentencing last week, one-time Gambino chieftain Arnold Squitieri begged US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to have mercy on Sisca. Hellerstein said Wednesday that Sisca's sentence was tempered by the "unbroken grief'' his family has had to endure.

Thanks to 1010WINS

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