Gambino crime family
New York mafia organization, one of the Five Families, prosecuted under RICO
The Gambino crime family is an Italian-American mafia organization based in New York and one of the so-called 'Five Families' that have historically dominated organized crime in the United States. The organization is not part of the American legal system; on the contrary, it has for decades been a primary target of federal authorities and has repeatedly been investigated, indicted and convicted of serious crime. The family's activities have included racketeering, murder, extortion, drug trafficking, weapons offences, money laundering and illegal gambling.
Authorities have in particular used RICO legislation — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — to prosecute the family as a single criminal enterprise rather than charging individuals separately. This has made it possible to map out and charge the organization's entire hierarchy at once.
In a true crime context, the Gambino crime family is inseparably linked to John Gotti, who as boss in the 1980s and early 1990s became one of America's most high-profile mafia figures. Gotti was known for his flamboyant appearance and his nickname 'The Teflon Don', because prosecutions repeatedly failed, until he was sentenced in 1992 to life without the possibility of parole.
A decisive turning point in the case against Gotti was Sammy 'the Bull' Gravano, the family's former underboss, who chose to cooperate with the authorities and testified against Gotti. Gravano's testimony, in which he admitted among other things to taking part in numerous murders, is one of the most discussed examples of cooperating-witness arrangements in American mafia history and illustrates how the authorities systematically broke down the family's leadership from within.
The Gambino crime family appears as a central reference in a number of true crime productions, including documentary series about John Gotti's downfall, Richard 'The Iceman' Kuklinski and the broader story of New York's five mafia families. In this context the family's name functions as a designation for a concrete, historically documented mafia organization and its role in the organized crime landscape of post-war America.
