The New York Daily News
April 3, 1991

Gang Land Column
By Jerry Capeci

Clam Up, Gotti Warns Lawyer

Fearing that one of his lawyers was leaking information to Gang Land, John Gotti ordered him to shut up or suffer the consequences - such as a trip down an elevator shaft, according to secret FBI tapes obtained by Gang Land.

The tapes caught the front-page-loving Gambino boss in a decidedly surly mood toward his lawyers and the press, and they were recorded about the time that Gotti's chief attorney called Gang Land with a midnight "message."

"John read your column today and he was upset about it," lawyer Bruce Cutler said in that call. "He told me to give you a message. This is not a threat now, just like a joke. He'd like to kick you in the ass...."

Tapes recorded in '89

The Gotti tapes were recorded in late November 1989 by a bug the FBI placed at the don's Little Italy headquarters, the Ravenite Social Club. They are among scores - still under seal - in which Gotti and his confederates were allegedly caught planning murders and other nasty things.

The tapes are expected to be key evidence at Gotti's upcoming racketeering trial. Numerous news organizations, including the Daily News, have asked for them to be unsealed. The conversations described here are the first to surface from the secret trove.

The lawyer who was the immediate target of Gotti's wrath was Gerald Shargel, who worked with Cutler to win Gotti's acquittal on assault charges last year, and whom Gotti suspected of leaking to Gang Land.

Holding court in the Ravenite on Nov. 28,1989, an infuriated Gotti complained that many of Shargel's clients were treated well by Gang Land while "everybody else is bad."

Speaking of Shargel, he said: "One day, I'm gonna show him a better way than the elevator out of his office -- this (expletive deleted)."

You know why he's doing this?" asked Gotti In an apparent reference to a story about how the federal government was having a tough time convicting Joseph (Joe Butch) Corrao, a reputed Gotti capo and Shargel client. The article described Shargel as a "top criminal lawyer."

"He's not doing this because he likes Joe Butch, he's doing this to have his name in the paper, 'Jerry Shargel, top criminal lawyer."' said Gotti.

Two days later, Gotti's former lawyer, Michael Coiro, came to the Ravenite after his own conviction on obstruction of justice charges. Gotti told Coiro he'd instructed Shargel virtues of omerta -- particularly when it comes to dealing with this columnist.

'Gave him a blast'

"Jerry came down, I gave him a little blast last night," said Gotti. "Yeah, he admits he told him things in the past, this Capeci, but he said he was being helpful. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Jerry said, 'Listen, John. You know I got one love -- you.' Good. That's all well and good. 'But let me tell, you something,' I told him, 'I ain't got one love.' I told him, 'You know how I feel, Jerry. I wanna know the truth about everybody. It'll help everybody.' "

That night, Cutler called Gang Land at home around midnight to complain that Gotti thought that day's column had devoted too much space to a judge's ruling that prosecutors could use a 1985 set of tapes at Gotti's then-pending assault trial.

Along with the kick-you-in-the-ass message, Cutler said that Gotti "thinks you're not giving him a fair shake, prejudicing the jury against him even before the trial starts."

"Come on," Gang Land retorted. "It was a pretrial decision, it was buried in the middle of my column, and the Post had it too."

"Yeah, but you're like E.F. Hutton," said Cutler. "When you talk, people listen."

Yesterday, Shargel declined all comment, and Cutler said: "The only reason I ever call you is to complain about the untruths that are contained in your slanted pieces."

Cutler also said that, in reporting on this latest batch of Gotti tapes, Gang Land, once again, had taken Gotti remarks "totally and completely out of context and put a government spin on them."

He declined, however, to correct the context or explain the remarks in any way.

Still being held

While he awaits the start of his racketeering trial, Gotti is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have described Cutler and Shargel as "high priced errand boys" for the mob. They argue that the two lawyers should be disqualified from representing Gotti and his co-defendants at trial because the tapes indicate they are "house counsel" to the crime family.

Denying impropriety, Cutler and Shargel are fighting to stay on board.