Gotti Accused in Attack on Radio Host

Less than two months from freedom, the imprisoned son of the late mob boss John Gotti was charged Thursday with the attempted murder of an outspoken talk-show host -- allegedly to silence his radio rants against the “Dapper Don.”

John A. “Junior” Gotti, 40, was scheduled to leave prison Sept. 7 on a 1999 racketeering conviction, but he now faces charges that could put the former head of the Gambino crime family away for life. Three other alleged mobsters were named in the indictment.

Court papers allege that Gotti, Joseph “Little Joey” D’Angelo and Michael “Mikey Y” Yannotti plotted in 1992 to first kidnap and then kill Curtis Sliwa, reportedly as payback for comments he had made about the elder Gotti on a radio show.

On June 19, 1992, Sliwa was ambushed after he hailed a cab in Manhattan. D’Angelo and Yannotti, who investigators said were inside the cab, allegedly fired several shots before fleeing.

The cab “was intended to be a hearse,” U.S. Atty. David Kelley said at a news conference.

Kelley called the indictment “another powerful blow to the Gambino organized crime family’s grip on the city.” He denied that the charges were influenced by Gotti’s scheduled release.

Sliwa, co-founder of the Guardian Angels, underwent surgery for internal injuries and leg wounds after the attack, which occurred four days before the elder Gotti was sentenced to life behind bars in his racketeering case. In April 1992, Sliwa had been attacked by three young men, leaving him with a broken hand and an injured scalp.

Gotti’s attorney, Richard Rehbock, said he had spoken with his client about the allegations.