John Gotti has throat cancer
PUSSSYKATT
NY POST...By AL GUART
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John Gotti has life-threatening throat cancer but doctors feel he can beat it,
the Dapper Don's lawyer said last night.
It's serious. It's life-threatening, lawyer Bruce Cutler said.
But they feel it's treatable and they're optimistic, he said of doctors caring
for the 57-year-old Gotti.
Gotti, serving a life term in federal prison, was transferred from his cell in
Marion, Ill., on Sept. 1 to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in
Springfield, Mo.
Doctors found a tumor near his tonsils and lymph nodes at the back of Gotti's
throat, Cutler said.
Biopsies determined the tumor was cancerous, he said.
His family is aware of it. Everyone's prayers are with John, Cutler said.
Cutler said John A. Junior Gotti is beside himself with this.
The elder Gotti's daughter, Victoria, was flying today to Springfield to be
with her father.
She said her father's condition was serious, but declined to discuss details.
It came as shock. I'm very concerned. I'll feel much better when I see him, she
said.
She said she last spoke to her father Saturday and he said he had throat
problems but was healthy enough to do 1,000 pushups.
Surgeons were expected to operate on the elder Gotti shortly.
Cutler said Gotti was otherwise in good physical condition and doctors believed
this would improve his chances of beating the cancer.
Everyone feels he's going to lick this, he said.
How the condition developed was unknown.
There's no cancer in his family, Cutler said.
He said Gotti had not smoked a cigarette since 1967 but had occasionally smoked
a cigar.
The lawyer lashed out at prison facilities for failing to act more quickly.
This throat situation went untreated for eight to 12 weeks, Cutler charged.
He said Gotti had made clear to prison officials he was suffering throat pain.
He doesn't complain, but he can certainly express himself, Cutler said.
Cutler alleged prison officials had previously ignored a serious gum infection
for four years - and it eventually required 54 stitches.
About a month ago, Gotti was rumored to have suffered a stroke but, he
reportedly told brother Peter Gotti: I'm too strong to have a stroke. It's only
a sore throat.
The Springfield center where he is being treated is a high-security prison
hospital.
The Dapper Don had lived alone in a 6-by-8-foot cell since his June 23, 1992,
sentencing to five life terms for murder and racketeering.
How his battle with cancer will affect the Gambino crime family was unclear.
Authorities say Gotti still holds the rank of family boss, but Junior Gotti
runs the day-to-day operations.
In the early months of his incarceration, Gotti was locked into his cell 23
hours a day.
But later he was allowed out another two to three hours.
In July 1996, Gotti reportedly was beaten bloody at the prison by a fellow
inmate as a crowd of prisoners looked on.
But the don was a standup guy, reportedly telling doctors who treated him in
the infirmary that he had fallen down.
Gotti's lawyers denounced the report as a hoax.
They said he spent weeks in the prison infirmary undergoing major surgery on
his teeth and badly infected jaw.
Gotti was born in the East New York section of Brooklyn on Oct. 27, 1940.
He is barrel-chested and thick-necked, stands 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 190
pounds and has deep-set eyes.
After finishing elementary school in Sheepshead Bay, he dropped out of high
school on Dec. 18, 1956. He was just 16.
As a boy, he hung around pool halls. He'd bet and book the games and pocket the
vigorish, the bookie's fee. He learned the point spread by spotting ball. He
lent money to bettors and mastered strong-arm work when the money wasn't
replayed quickly.
His mentor in the Mafia was the late Aniello Mr. Neil Dellacroce, a longtime
underboss in the Gambino family. Dellacroce helped keep Gotti's temper in
check.
His home was a pleasant two-story white frame house at 160-11 85th St. in
Howard Beach.