Kenny Guido
Well-known member
Sliwa accuses Gotti Jr. of threatening him, again
BY JOHN RILEY | [email protected] 9:33 PM EDT, June 17, 2009
John Gotti Jr. enters court to face charges of plotting the 1992 attack on Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. (AP File Photo / March 8, 2006)
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa accused John Gotti Jr. of threatening him after the Gambino family scion pointed and shouted something in Sliwa's direction at the end of a federal court hearing Wednesday morning.
Sliwa, sitting in the back of the courtroom watching the proceedings against the man who has been accused of ordering a hit on him, reacted immediately, gesturing in response as Gotti pointed and shouted words that were inaudible to reporters.
Gotti yelled, "You're going down," Sliwa claimed afterward.
"There was no smile, there was no sarcasm," Sliwa said. "A stare and a glare - 'I can take you down.' "
If it was a threat, however, it was made in earshot of several court officers, prosecutors and an FBI agent, who said he couldn't understand what Gotti was saying. And Gotti's lawyers, Charles Carnesi and John Meringolo, said it was all a big misunderstanding.
They said that Gotti was pointing to an associate of Meringolo's who was sitting in the same general vicinity as Sliwa, telling the associate that Meringolo was going to meet with him in the courthouse's basement holding area by saying, "He's going down."
"It's much about nothing," Carnesi said afterward.
Juries deadlocked three times in 2005 and 2006 in trials charging Gotti with ordering the hit on Sliwa as part of a racketeering conspiracy. Gotti now faces racketeering charges again in a case expected to be tried later this year.
In Wednesday's hearing, before the Gotti-Sliwa dispute, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel approved a request for an anonymous jury when the case goes to trial. Gotti claims he has withdrawn from the mob.
Also at the hearing, prosecutors revealed that Gotti, who is being held at the federal lockup in Manhattan, had arranged to do an interview with "60 Minutes" later this year on the eve of his trial. The planned interview was vetoed by jail officials, Carnesi said.
BY JOHN RILEY | [email protected] 9:33 PM EDT, June 17, 2009
John Gotti Jr. enters court to face charges of plotting the 1992 attack on Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. (AP File Photo / March 8, 2006)
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa accused John Gotti Jr. of threatening him after the Gambino family scion pointed and shouted something in Sliwa's direction at the end of a federal court hearing Wednesday morning.
Sliwa, sitting in the back of the courtroom watching the proceedings against the man who has been accused of ordering a hit on him, reacted immediately, gesturing in response as Gotti pointed and shouted words that were inaudible to reporters.
Gotti yelled, "You're going down," Sliwa claimed afterward.
"There was no smile, there was no sarcasm," Sliwa said. "A stare and a glare - 'I can take you down.' "
If it was a threat, however, it was made in earshot of several court officers, prosecutors and an FBI agent, who said he couldn't understand what Gotti was saying. And Gotti's lawyers, Charles Carnesi and John Meringolo, said it was all a big misunderstanding.
They said that Gotti was pointing to an associate of Meringolo's who was sitting in the same general vicinity as Sliwa, telling the associate that Meringolo was going to meet with him in the courthouse's basement holding area by saying, "He's going down."
"It's much about nothing," Carnesi said afterward.
Juries deadlocked three times in 2005 and 2006 in trials charging Gotti with ordering the hit on Sliwa as part of a racketeering conspiracy. Gotti now faces racketeering charges again in a case expected to be tried later this year.
In Wednesday's hearing, before the Gotti-Sliwa dispute, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel approved a request for an anonymous jury when the case goes to trial. Gotti claims he has withdrawn from the mob.
Also at the hearing, prosecutors revealed that Gotti, who is being held at the federal lockup in Manhattan, had arranged to do an interview with "60 Minutes" later this year on the eve of his trial. The planned interview was vetoed by jail officials, Carnesi said.