Gotti Indicted in 1985 Murder of Crime Boss : Mafia: Prosecutors say evidence against the reputed mob czar includes secretly taped conversations.

New Yorkers are calling it “The Godfather: Part IV”--a real-life drama now unfolding here that calls to mind the three-part Hollywood saga of the fictional Corleone family.

In yet another attempt by authorities to nail reputed East Coast mob czar John Gotti, federal prosecutors Wednesday charged the 50-year-old “Dapper Don” with the 1985 murder of the man he allegedly succeeded as head of America’s most powerful organized crime family.

Gotti, a silver-haired, barrel-chested man with a penchant for expensive, tailor-made suits and a flair for favorable publicity, has avoided conviction so many times before that he has earned the nickname of “The Teflon Don” and gained a reputation as something of a local folk hero.

But prosecutors seeking his conviction in this latest legal effort said that their hopes are buoyed by the strength of the evidence they have amassed, including key witnesses and secretly taped conversations between Gotti and his henchmen.

“We feel it’s a very strong case,” U.S. Atty. Andrew J. Maloney of the Eastern District of New York said at a news conference in the Brooklyn federal courthouse to announce the indictment.

Once the trial begins, Maloney confidently predicted, the public will see Gotti for what he really is. “He’s a murderer, not a folk hero,” Maloney said. “His real job is boss of the most powerful crime family in this country.”

The 23-page, double-spaced indictment charges Gotti with four murders, chief among them the bloody slaying of Gambino family boss Paul Castellano in front of a Manhattan steakhouse almost exactly four years ago.

Castellano’s murder catapulted Gotti to power as head of the Gambino family, the largest of New York’s five organized crime families, and made him “boss of all the bosses” for organized crime, law enforcement officials said.

The sweeping indictment, brought under federal anti-racketeering laws, also charges Gotti with gambling, loan-sharking, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and conspiracy to murder a fifth person.

Three other Gambino family members are named in the indictment. They were identified as “consigliere” or counselor Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano, 45, and “underboss” Frank (Frankie Loc) Locascio, 58, both of whom serve as No. 2 men to Gotti, and “capo” or captain Thomas Gambino, 61, son of former boss Carlo Gambino.

All three are charged with gambling and loan-sharking. In addition, Gravano is charged with two murders, conspiracy to murder, solicitation to murder and obstruction of justice, while Locascio is charged with conspiracy to murder, obstruction of justice and aiding Gotti’s alleged tax evasion.

“This is the first time we have taken down the entire hierarchy of an organized crime family--the boss, the underboss, the consigliere,” said James Fox, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York.

Bruce Cutler, Gotti’s attorney, claimed that his client is the innocent victim of a vendetta by law enforcement officials. Gotti has been tried and acquitted three times before on either federal or state charges of racketeering and assault.

“It’s the same kind of crap that we dealt with in 1986 and 1987,” Cutler said. “The same kind of Mafia-madness nonsense that starts with a two-week blitz in the newspapers. I know it’s a vendetta. It’s happened three times before.”

During his last trial, Gotti captured media attention and the public fancy by handing out $50 bills to the homeless outside the courthouse. They responded by carrying large placards reading: “Free Gotti Now!”

The latest indictment is the culmination of a five-year investigation involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Gotti, Gravano and Locascio were arrested by FBI agents and New York City police detectives about 7 p.m. Tuesday at Gotti’s Manhattan hangout, the Ravenite social club in Little Italy, authorities said.

Gambino was taken into custody at about the same time as he left the Garment District office of his trucking company.

Gotti, who maintains that he is a salesman for a plumbing company and for a firm that sells zippers and hangers to the garment industry, was carrying $6,000 in cash at the time of his arrest, officials said.

Gotti pleaded innocent at his arraignment Wednesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser. Glasser ordered Gotti held without bail until Monday, when Maloney is to present further evidence to support his claim that Gotti is a danger to the community.

Gravano and Locascio also were ordered held without bail, but Gambino was released on a $500,000 bond.