From the New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Honor and The Last Gangster—“one of the most respected crime reporters in the country” (60 Minutes)—comes the sure to be headline-making inside story of the Gotti and Gambino families, told from the unique viewpoint of notorious mob hit-man John Alite, a close associate of Junior Gotti who later testified against him.
In Gotti’s Rules, George Anastasia, a prize-winning reporter who spent over thirty years covering crime, offers a shocking and very rare glimpse into the Gotti family, witnessed up-close from former family insider John Alite, John Gotti Jr.’s longtime friend and protector. Until now, no one has given up the kind of personal details about the Gottis—including the legendary “Gotti Rules” of leadership—that Anastasia exposes here. Drawing on extensive FBI files and other documentation, his own knowledge, and exclusive interviews with insiders and experts, including mob-enforcer-turned-government-witness Alite, Anastasia pokes holes in the Gotti legend, demystifying this notorious family and its lucrative and often deadly machinations.
Anastasia offers never-before-heard information about the murders, drug dealing, and extortion that propelled John J. Gotti to the top of the Gambino crime family and the treachery and deceit that allowed John A. “Junior” Gotti to follow in his father’s footsteps. Told from street level and through the eyes of a wiseguy who saw it all firsthand, the result is a riveting look at a family whose hubris, violence, passion, and greed fueled a bloody rise and devastating fall that is still reverberating through the American underworld today.
Anastasia also presents a never-before-seen FBI document containing irrefutable proof that Gotti Jr. attempted to cooperate with the government and offered information about crimes he and others committed. Other revelations include:
• The street level rules and protocols the Gottis instituted with examples of how the father and son leadership team allegedly broke every one of them, including the "prohibition" on dealing drugs.
• The plots within the Gambino crime family to kill Gotti Jr.
• Trial testimony and evidence that refutes Gotti Jr.'s claim – and principal defense at numerous trials – that he "quit" the mob in 1998.
• The never-before-told story of John Alite, the Albanian enforcer and Gotti Jr.'s "babysitter" who was Junior's muscle on the street.
Filled with eye-opening revelations and insider detail, GOTTI’S RULES is a shocking and fascinating account of the violent rise and fall of the modern American mob.
Gotti’s Rules includes 8 pages of black-and-white photographs.