Angelo Ruggiero - Falling Out With John Gotti and Death

Falling Out With John Gotti and Death

After the first heroin trafficking case against Ruggiero, Gene Gotti and John Carneglia ended in a mistrial, because of jury tampering, Ruggiero remained in federal detention, his bail still revoked, for the second trial. This also resulted in a mistrial, again for suspected jury tampering. For the third trial, in 1989, Ruggiero was finally released on bail and served as a defendant in the case. He had terminal lung cancer. Later, his drug trafficking partners Gene Gotti and John Carneglia were both convicted and sentenced to 50 years. Sammy Gravano then heard that John wanted to have Angelo murdered for allowing himself to be recorded by the FBI. Sammy convinced Gotti that because Angelo was dying of cancer that it was not even worth it to carry out the execution. Instead, John stripped Angelo of his rank as caporegime of the Bergin crew and severed him from all criminal activities.

After turning state's evidence to avoid prosecution, former underboss Sammy Gravano reported that during the last months of Angelo's life both he and Gene Gotti urged John to visit his near death childhood friend. Gotti refused to see his once loyal soldier and friend because he was still angry over Ruggiero's criminal activities being recorded on wire taps.

In 1989, Angelo Ruggiero died of cancer in Howard Beach, Queens, at 48-years-old. Gravano also claimed that he nearly had to drag Gotti to attend his wake.

His son and namesake, Angelo Ruggiero, Jr., and Ruggiero, Sr.'s, paternal nephew, Salvatore Ruggiero, Jr., would later follow their fathers into an organized crime "career." Angelo, Jr., was convicted of grand larceny, in May 1998, and sent to prison for one-to-three years.