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American mobster

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family. As the underboss, Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a government witness against him and other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders. Originally an associate for the Colombo crime family, and later for the Brooklyn faction of the Gambino family, Gravano was part of the group that conspired to murder Gambino boss Paul Castellano in 1985. Gravano played a key role in planning and executing Castellano's murder, along with John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, Frank DeCicco, and Joseph Armone. Soon after Castellano's murder, Gotti elevated Gravano to become an official captain after Salvatore "Toddo" Aurelio stepped down, a position Gravano held until 1987 when he became consigliere. In 1988 he became underboss, a position he held at the time he became a government witness. In 1991, Gravano agreed to turn state's evidence and testify for the prosecution against Gotti after hearing the boss making several disparaging and untrue remarks about Gravano on a wiretap that implicated them both in several murders. At the time, Gravano was the highest ranking member of the Five Families to break his blood oath and cooperate with the government. As a result of his testimonies, Gotti and Frank LoCascio were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1992. In 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison; however, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year. He was released early and entered the U. S. federal Witness Protection Program in Colorado, but left the program in 1995 after 8 months and went to Arizona with family. In 1997, Gravano was consulted several times for the biographical book about his life, Underboss by author Peter Maas. In February 2000, Gravano and nearly 40 other ring members—including his ex wife Debra, daughter Karen and son Gerard—were arrested on federal and state drug charges. In 2001, Gravano and his son, Gerard, were indicted on mirror charges with the federal government. In 2002 Gravano was sentenced in New York to twenty years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to nineteen years in prison to run concurrently. Additionally, Gravano was sentenced to lifetime supervised release and a $100,000 fine. He was released in September 2017.

Salvatore Gravano was born on March 12, 1945, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to Giorlando "Gerry" and Caterina "Kay" Gravano. At age 13, Gravano joined the Rampers, a prominent street gang in Bensonhurst. He had found that some older children had stolen his bicycle and went to fight the thieves. Made men who were watching from a café saw him take on a few of the older boys at once and they gave Gravano back his bike. As he was leaving, one of the made men remarked on how little Sammy fought "like a bull", hence his nickname "The Bull". Gravano had dyslexia, was bullied, and did poorly in school. In 1964, Gravano was drafted into the United States Army and served in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While an enlisted man, Gravano mainly worked as a mess hall cook. He rose to the rank of corporal and was granted an honorable discharge after two years. In 1971, Gravano married Debra Scibetta; they had two children. His daughter Karen Gravano appeared on the VH1 reality series Mob Wives beginning in 2011, Gravano is also the brother in law of Gambino soldier Eddie Garafola. He quickly moved into racketeering, loansharking, and running a lucrative poker game in the back room of an after hours club, of which he was part owner. he and the Colombo hierarchy decided that to avoid conflict, it was best for Gravano to be transferred to the Gambino crime family.

In 1978, boss Paul Castellano allegedly ordered the murder of Gambino associate Nicholas Scibetta. A cocaine and alcohol user, Scibetta participated in several public fights and insulted the daughter of George DeCicco. Since Scibetta was Gravano's brother in law, Castellano asked Frank DeCicco to first notify Gravano of the impending hit. When advised of Scibetta's fate, Gravano was furious. However, Gravano was eventually calmed by DeCicco and accepted Scibetta's death as the punishment earned by his behavior. Gravano later said, "I chose against Nicky. I took an oath that Cosa Nostra came before everything." Patrons often had to wait an hour to get in and the club featured high profile live acts such as singer Chubby Checker. Gravano eventually became embroiled in a dispute with business partner Louie DiBono, a member of another Gambino crew. Gravano, and his brother in law Eddie, had a meeting with DiBono, (along with an attorney and an accountant DiBono brought) at which DiBono said only $50,000 was due. Gravano excused the attorney and accountant and, once alone with DiBono, banged him around the room because of the scam. Putting hands on another made man is a death penalty in Cosa Nostra. DiBono told his captain, Patsy Conti, Conti then told Castellano and a sit down was called. Toddo spoke on Gravano and Gambino underboss Neil Dellacroce intervened on Gravano's behalf and Castellano told DiBono to pay Gravano $200,000 and the two men end their business partnership. When Castellano was indicted for both his connection to Roy DeMeo's stolen car ring and as part of the Mafia Commission Trial, he learned his own house had been bugged on the basis of evidence from the Ruggiero tapes and he became livid. Gotti and Ruggiero then sought and obtained the approval of key figures from the Colombos and Bonannos, while DeCicco secured the backing of top mobsters aligned with the Luccheses. Castellano's driver, Thomas Bilotti, pulled the car up directly in front of the entrance. As Castellano and Bilotti exited the Lincoln, they were ambushed and killed in a barrage of bullets. Gotti, in turn, selected DeCicco as his underboss and elevated Gravano to capo after Toddo Aurello announced his desire to step down. Bombs had long been banned by the Mafia out of concern that it would put innocent people in harm's way, leading the Gambinos to initially suspect that "zips" — Sicilian mafiosi working in the U. S. — were behind it; zips were well known for using bombs.

The first person on Gravano's hit list after Castellano's murder was Nicholas "Nicky Cowboy" Mormando, a former member of his crew. Mormando had become addicted to crack cocaine and was suspected by Gravano of getting friend and fellow crew member Michael DeBatt addicted to the drug. Gravano decided because of Nicky's reckless behavior, including getting DeBatt addicted to crack, he would get permission from Gotti to kill Mormando. with Gotti standing trial alongside Gene "Willie Boy" Johnson (who, despite being exposed as an informant, refused to turn state's evidence), Leonard DiMaria, Tony Rampino, Nicholas Corozzo and John Carneglia. At this point, the Gambinos were able to compromise the case when George Pape hid his friendship with Boško Radonjić and was empaneled as juror No. 11. Through Radonjić, Pape contacted Gravano and agreed to sell his vote on the jury for $60,000. On March 13, 1987, they acquitted Gotti and his codefendants of all charges. With DeCicco dead, the Gambinos were left without an underboss. Gotti chose to fill the vacancy with Joseph Armone. In 1987, Joseph N. Gallo was replaced with Gravano as consigliere, and by 1990, Gravano was promoted to underboss to replace the acting underboss Frank LoCascio. By this time, Gravano was regarded as a "rising force" in the construction industry and often mingled with executives from major construction firms and union officials at his popular Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's. required his capos to meet with him at the Ravenite Social Club once a week.

Gotti, Gravano and LoCascio were often recorded by the bugs placed throughout the Ravenite (concealed in the main room, the first floor hallway and the upstairs apartment of the building) discussing incriminating events. On December 11, 1990, FBI agents and NYPD detectives raided the Ravenite, arresting Gravano, Gotti and LoCascio. Gravano pleaded guilty to a superseding racketeering charge, and Gotti was charged with five murders (Castellano, Bilotti, DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono), conspiracy to murder Gaetano Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. Based on tapes from FBI bugs played at pretrial hearings, the Gambino administration was denied bail. At the same time, attorneys Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel were disqualified from defending Gotti and Gravano after prosecutors successfully contended they were "part of the evidence" and thus liable to be called as witnesses. Prosecutors argued that Cutler and Shargel not only knew about potential criminal activity, but had worked as "in house counsel" for the Gambino family. Gotti subsequently hired Albert Krieger, a Miami attorney who had worked with Joseph Bonanno, to replace Cutler. The tapes also created a rift between Gotti and Gravano, as they contained recordings of the Gambino boss describing his newly appointed underboss as too greedy and included discussions of Gotti's intent to frame Gravano as the main force behind the murders of DiBernardo, Milito and Dibono. Gotti's attempt at reconciliation with Gravano failed, leaving Gravano disillusioned with the mob and doubtful on his chances of winning his case without Shargel, his former attorney. Gravano ultimately opted to turn state's evidence, formally agreeing to testify on November 13, 1991. He was the first member of the hierarchy of a New York crime family to turn informer, and the second confessed underboss in the history of the American Mafia to do so after the Philadelphia crime family's Phil Leonetti. Gotti and LoCascio were tried in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York before District Judge I. Leo Glasser. Jury selection began in January 1992 with an anonymous jury and, for the first time in a Brooklyn federal case, fully sequestered during the trial due to Gotti's reputation for jury tampering. The trial commenced with the prosecution's opening statements on February 12; prosecutors Andrew Maloney and John Gleeson began their case by playing tapes showing Gotti discussing Gambino family business, including murders he approved, and confirming the animosity between Gotti and Castellano to establish the former's motive to kill his boss. After calling an eyewitness of the Sparks hit who identified Carneglia as one of the men who shot Bilotti, they then brought Gravano to testify on March 2. On the stand, Gravano confirmed Gotti's place in the structure of the Gambino family and described in detail the conspiracy to assassinate Castellano, giving a full description of the hit and its aftermath. Gravano confessed to 19 murders, implicating Gotti in four of them. Krieger, and LoCascio's attorney, Anthony Cardinale, proved unable to shake Gravano during cross examination. After additional testimony and tapes, the government rested its case on March 24. Among other outbursts, Gotti called Gravano a junkie while his attorneys sought to discuss his past steroid use. On June 23, 1992, Glasser sentenced Gotti and LoCascio to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and a $250,000 fine. Gotti surrendered to federal authorities to serve his prison time on December 14, 1992. On September 26, 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison. However, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year.

Later in 1994, Gravano was released early and entered the U. S. federal Witness Protection Program. The government moved him to various locations until Gravano left the program in 1995 after only 8 months and moved to Phoenix, AZ, where he assumed the name Jimmy Moran and started a swimming pool installation company. In 1991, his wife Debra divorced him. In 1997, Gravano was consulted several times for the 1997 biographical book about his life, Underboss, by author Peter Maas. In it, Gravano said he became a government witness after Gotti attempted to defame him at their trial. Gravano finally realized that the Cosa Nostra code of honor was a sham. At this time, Gravano also hired a publicist, despite the fact Gravano complained often about the publicity seeking Gotti. After the publication of Underboss, several families of Gravano's victims filed a $25 million lawsuit against him, however the families lost that case. In 1997, New York State indicted Gravano on an old RICO case and seized Gravano's profits from the book. During an interview Gravano had with the newspaper The Arizona Republic, he said federal agents he had met after becoming a government witness had become his personal friends and even visited him in Arizona while on vacation. Gravano later said that he did not want The Republic to publish the story, but relented after the paper allegedly threatened to reveal that his family was living with him in Phoenix. The story so incensed his former mob compatriots that they forced the Gambinos to put a murder contract on him. The FBI alleged that Peter Gotti ordered two Gambino soldiers, Thomas "Huck" Carbonaro and Eddie Garafola, to murder Gravano in Arizona in 1999.

By the late 1990s, Gravano had re engaged in criminal activity. His son, Gerard, became friends with 23 year old Michael Papa, a Devil Dogs gang leader. Gravano started a major ecstasy trafficking organization, selling over 30,000 tablets and reportedly grossing $500,000 a week. In February 2000, Gravano and nearly 40 other ring members — including his ex wife Debra, daughter Karen, and Gerard — were arrested on federal and state drug charges. Gravano was implicated by informants in his own drug ring, as well as by recorded conversations in which he discussed drug profits with Debra and Karen. On June 29, 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty in Phoenix to the state charges. In 2002, Gravano was diagnosed with Graves' disease, a thyroid disorder that can cause fatigue, weight loss with increased appetite, and hair loss. On September 7, 2002, after numerous delays, Gravano was sentenced in New York to 20 years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to 19 years in prison, to run concurrently, but was also granted lifetime supervised release and a $100,000 fine. Gravano served his sentence at ADX Florence, part of it being in solitary confinement. Gerard Gravano received nine years in prison in October 2002. Debra and Karen Gravano also pleaded guilty and received several years on probation. In November 2003, Sammy and Karen were ordered to pay $805,713.41 as reimbursement for court costs and investigative expenses relating to an earlier drug ring judgment. Gravano denied any involvement in Calabro's death and rejected a plea deal, under which he would have received no additional jail time if he confessed to the crime and implicated all his accomplices. The charges against Gravano were dropped after Kuklinski's death in 2006. In August 2015, Gravano's request to leave prison early was denied for reasons citing his "long standing reputation for extreme violence". Gravano was listed as being in the Arizona state prison system, at a CO Special Services unit. He was initially scheduled for release in March 2019; however, he was released in September 18, 2017.

In 2013, National Geographic Channel dramatized Gravano's ecstasy ring in a scene in the Banged Up Abroad episode "Raving Arizona", televised worldwide. The episode told the story of ecstasy dealer "English" Shaun Attwood, who was Gravano's main competitor in the Arizona ecstasy market. In December 2020, Gravano started a YouTube channel and a podcast titled Our Thing.