Angelo Ruggiero - Ruggiero and The Gottis

Ruggiero and The Gottis

Given John Gotti's new position of Gambino crime family boss in 1985, Gotti no longer handled the actual specifics of contract killings, and assigned the job to Ruggiero. But Ruggiero, who often let his emotions and mouth run away with him, would occasionally demonstrate a less than firm grasp of the arcane art of contract murder. On a recorded conversation he once threatened to throw two former drug traffickers looking for payment in the pool of his Cedarhurst home where he told them he kept "man eating" sharks.

Angelo frequently insulted Gotti behind his back, which were recorded on FBI wiretaps. He considered John a "sick motherfucker" whose "fucking mouth goes a mile a minute." He also complained that Gotti was always "abusing" and "talking about people" and was "wrong on a lot of things." Even so, he spoke of a love for him that he equaled to a "brother". Angelo was considered John Gotti's biggest ego booster among his close associates, despite the behind the back barbs. He later became a father figure of John Gotti Jr. who considered him an "uncle" although they were not related by marriage or blood.

Angelo maintained a close relationship with John Gotti's son, John A. Gotti. Over the years he was referred to affectionately as "uncle." Angelo counseled Gotti Jr. about his alleged involvement in the 1983 slaying of Daniel Silva, a twenty-four-year-old man stabbed to death during a barroom brawl at which Gotti publicly acknowledged being present, but denied any responsibility. Although the Ruggiero and Gotti families have close long lasting ties, when Peter Gotti and Gotti Jr. were promoted to boss of the Gambino crime family, Angelo's son Angelo Ruggiero Jr. and his nephew Salvatore Ruggiero Jr. were not promoted to the ranks of being a made man, as Angelo's uncle Dellacroce had done for Junior's father, John Gotti. This might be due to the fact of the legal troubles Angelo Ruggiero Sr. brought upon John Gotti and the Gambino crime family after having his house tapped by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice.