Mafia: Trials of a Dapper Don

• Share

Before he was locked up in New York City's Metropolitan Correctional Center last May to await trial on racketeering charges, reputed Mafia Boss John $ Gotti, 45, was known for his expensive Italian suits and impeccable grooming.

But prison can be hard on a man, and when Gotti finally appeared last week in Brooklyn Federal Court, the "Dapper Don" of the tabloids showed signs of fashion fatigue. No tie. No tan. His graying hair no longer meticulously styled. Only a starched white pocket handkerchief, practically a Gotti trademark, hinted of better days as the alleged head of the Gambino crime family. While attorneys painstakingly questioned prospective jurors, whose names were kept secret for their protection, Gotti suffered another setback: U.S. District Judge Eugene Nickerson ruled that during the trial, the boss could not eat lunch in the courtroom with his attorneys but would have to return to the basement jail for tuna or ham sandwiches. "Judge," said the obviously annoyed Gotti, "why don't we just not eat?"