John Gotti - Early Life

Early Life

John Gotti was born in an Italian-American enclave in the Bronx on October 27, 1940. He was the fifth of the thirteen children of John Joseph Gotti, Sr. and his wife Philomena (referred to as Fannie). John was one of five brothers who would become made men in the Gambino Family; Eugene Gotti was initiated before John due to the latter's incarceration. Peter Gotti was initiated under John's leadership in 1988, and Richard V. Gotti was identified as a Capo by 2002. The fifth, Vincent, was not initiated until 2002. Gotti grew up in poverty. His father worked irregularly as a day laborer and indulged in gambling, and as an adult Gotti came to resent him for being unable to provide for his family. In school Gotti had a history of truancy and bullying other students and ultimately dropped out, while attending Franklin K. Lane High School, at the age of 16.

Gotti was involved in street gangs associated with New York mafiosi from the age of 12. When he was 14, he was attempting to steal a cement mixer from a construction site when it fell, crushing his toes; this injury left him with a permanent limp. After leaving school he devoted himself to working with the mafia-associated Fulton-Rockaway Boys gang, where he met and befriended fellow future Gambino mobsters Angelo Ruggiero and Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson.

Gotti met his future wife, Victoria DiGiorgio, in 1958. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Angel, in 1961, and were married on March 6, 1962. They would have four more children, another daughter (Victoria) and three sons (John, Frank and Peter). Gotti attempted to work legitimately in 1962 as a presser in a coat factory and as an assistant truck driver. However, he could not stay crime free and by 1966 had been jailed twice.