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John Alite

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John Edward Alite (born September 30, 1962) is an American former mobster and Gambino crime family associate who turned government witness and in 2008 testified against the crime family and John A. "Junior" Gotti. That year, Alite pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, including two murders and a variety of other crimes, and in 2011, was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison. Due to his cooperation with prosecutors, he was released on a five-year supervised release in 2012. Alite has estimated that he shot between 30 and 40 people, beat about 100 people with a baseball bat, and murdered seven people.[1] Later in life, Alite publicly denounced the life of organized crime and became a motivational speaker, podcaster and author.

John Alite
Alite in 2023
Born
John Edward Alite

(1962-09-30) September 30, 1962 (age 62)
New York City, U.S.
Other names
  • "The Calculator"
  • "The Sheriff"
  • John Alletto
Occupations
AllegianceGambino crime family
Conviction(s)Racketeering (including murder, conspiracy, and armed robbery; 2008)
Criminal penalty10 years' imprisonment (2011)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

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Alite was born on September 30, 1962, in the Queens borough of New York City and grew up in Woodhaven, Queens.[2] His grandparents were Albanian immigrants from Gjirokastër.[3][4] Alite grew up in the same neighborhood as John Gotti's son, John A. Gotti, with whom he was boyhood friends.[2] He was Gotti's best man at his wedding in 1990.[5] Alite received a baseball scholarship to the University of Tampa, but dropped out after three years.[2] Alite's first wife was Carol, and his second wife was Claudia DiPippa; he has four children.[6][2]

Criminal career

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Alite was affiliated with the Gambino crime family but was ineligible to become a "made man" in the organization due to his non-Italian heritage.[7] In the 1980s and 1990s, he was an enforcer and hitman for a Queens-based drug gang headed by John Angelo "Junior" Gotti which allegedly distributed eight kilograms of cocaine per month.[7] Alite was also a business partner of Gotti and was nicknamed "The Calculator" due to his financial acumen. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Ted Otto described Alite as "a hybrid gangster… an exception to the rule".[8]

On December 20, 1988, Alite lured cocaine dealer George Grosso to the White Horse Tavern in Queens, persuaded him to get into a car under the pretence of driving to another bar, and then shot him three times in the head. Grosso's corpse was dumped off Grand Central Parkway in Flushing Meadows Park.[9] "Junior" Gotti allegedly ordered Grosso's murder because he had told people he was selling drugs on behalf of Gotti and his father, Gambino boss John Joseph Gotti.[10]

Alite was charged with assault along with John A. Gotti and Steven Kaplan following an alleged brawl at a nightclub in Island Park, Long Island on June 11, 1989.[11] A grand jury declined to indict the trio, however.[12]

Shortly after he was promoted to caporegime in 1990, John A. Gotti assigned Alite to a hit team who were ordered to kill Gambino soldier Louie DiBono, who was marked for death after refusing an order from John J. Gotti. Alite was dispatched to Atlantic City to search for DiBono but failed to locate the mobster, who was ultimately killed by Charles Carneglia in an underground parking lot at the World Trade Center later that year.[13]

Alite was also involved in the murder of Bruce John Gotterup, who was shot to death on a Rockaway boardwalk by John Burke on November 20, 1991, as retribution for stealing drug and gambling proceeds from Gambino family associates and for being involved in an altercation with the nephew of a Gambino soldier.[14][15][16]

In the mid-1990s, Alite relocated to the Philadelphia area, where he owned homes in the suburbs of Cherry Hill and Voorhees Township. He began associating with "made" members and associates of the Philadelphia crime family, as well as the independent 10th & Oregon Crew. Infighting in the Philadelphia Mafia between rival factions led by John Stanfa and Joey Merlino left the organization in disarray and allowed Alite to take control of the lucrative valet parking business on Delaware Avenue, as well as in South Jersey and Atlantic City, within a year of moving to the area.[17]

Aside from being a source of legitimate income, Alite used his valet parking businesses as a means of laundering money he was making from drug dealing, gambling and loansharking. One member of Alite's crew, Keith Pellegrino, was a drug supplier to the 10th & Oregon Crew. In 1994, 10th & Oregon gang leader Louie Turra reportedly attempted to solicit Alite as a hitman to kill Joey Merlino in a dispute over a "street tax", an offer which Alite turned down as he felt the Turra gang were "cowboys". He was also questioned by police over the November 1, 1994 homicide of Carol Neulander in Cherry Hill. The murdered woman's husband, Fred Neulander, was ultimately convicted in the killing.[17]

Alite later led a crew in Tampa, Florida that extorted rival valet businesses, and reported to Gambino capo Ronald "Ronnie One-Arm" Trucchio.[2][18] He also arranged for the purchase of Mirage, a Tampa nightclub.[19]

In 1995, Charles Carneglia and Alite were involved in a major conspiracy to murder John A. Gotti.[20] Later that year, Alite was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm in violation of a parole agreement and spent three years in prison. After his release, Alite earned an additional three months back in prison for acting as a go-between for corrupt prison guard Troy Kemmerer who was smuggling sperm donation kits in and out of Allenwood Federal Prison for inmate Antonino Parlavecchio, who was trying to impregnate his wife Maria.[2]

As federal racketeering indictments were handed down for his group's activities in the Tampa area, Alite fled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in January 2004, and lived and worked in the Copacabana neighborhood, according to the Brazilian Federal Police. He lived there for 10 months before authorities arrested him in November 2004. He served two years in prison in Brazil and was eventually extradited to federal authorities in Tampa, for trial in 2006.[21][1]

Government witness and racketeering convictions

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In January 2008, Alite pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that included two murders, four murder conspiracies, at least eight shootings, and two attempted shootings as well as armed home invasions and armed robberies in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, stemming from his alleged involvement in a Gambino crew in Tampa, Florida.[22] Alite agreed to testify in the trial of Gambino family enforcer Charles Carneglia, who was found guilty of four murders and is now serving a life sentence.[23]

Alite was also a government witness in the unsuccessful racketeering trial against John Gotti Jr.[24] Prosecutors indicted Gotti for racketeering and murder conspiracy charges, stemming from an alleged drug trafficking ring in Florida, and the murders of George Grosso in 1988, Louis DiBono in 1990 and Bruce John Gotterup in 1991.[25] Alite testified that Gotti was responsible for at least eight murders, among other crimes.[26]

Alite's testimony was largely undermined during cross examination.[27] On December 1, 2009, the 12 jurors announced that they had failed to reach a unanimous verdict on all the charges against Gotti and the judge declared a mistrial and released Gotti.[28][29] Interviewed after the trial, the jurors said that they did not find Alite to be credible.[26][28] Federal prosecutors from Brooklyn and Tampa described Alite's cooperation as "extraordinary" and "substantial" when submitting statements to the judge responsible for sentencing Alite for two murders and other crimes.[5]

On April 26, 2011, Alite was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison.[5] In January 2012, he was released on a five-year supervised release; in October 2015, a letter was written to the U.S. Probation Office claiming that Alite broke the terms of his supervised release in a New Jersey gun case which prompted an investigation that sent Alite back to prison for three months.[30]

Later life

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Alite later became a youth motivational speaker on avoiding crime.[31] He co-wrote four books, Gotti's Rules (2015),[32] Darkest Hour (2018),[33] Prison Rules (2019),[34] and Mafia International (2021).[35] In July 2020, he appeared in the Fear City: New York vs The Mafia Netflix docuseries.[36] On March 25, 2020, he started his own podcast, Mafia Truths with John Alite. In September 2021, Alite was the subject of an episode of National Geographic's Locked Up Abroad. Later he featured in a Gamology react video on Hitman 3 where he provided commentary on the game and how it compared to his exploits as a former hitman. A popular online meme emerged from his quote, "Yeah, that's what I woulda' did" during this video.[37]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hannaford, Alex (20 June 2019). "A dirty, rotten, double crossing (true) story of what happened to the Italian American mob". GQ. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Weimar, Carrie (27 November 2015). "From the archives: From a Brazilian prison, John Alite talks Gotti and fights extradition". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. ^ "John Alite në Kosovë: Do formoja ushtrinë time, sikur ta dija që shqiptarët janë kaq trima" (in Albanian). Top Channel. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018. "John Alite, shqiptari me origjinë nga Gjirokastra, i lindur dhe i rritur në Queens të NYC, nga i biri i një taksisti"
  4. ^ "Rrëfehet mafiozi shqiptar me origjinë nga Gjirokastra: Si e rrëzova perandorinë e krimit të 'Cosa Nostra-s'" (in Albanian). 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  5. ^ a b c Marzulli, John (27 April 2011). "John A. (Junior) Gotti's 'rat' buddy John Alite gets 10-year prison sentence". Daily News. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. ^ Golding, Bruce (October 6, 2009). "Mob turncoat 'cheated on wife every day'". NY Post. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b Canary: Gotti took me to slay spot Kati Cornell Smith, New York Daily News (October 1, 2009) Archived June 2, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ The Hitman And The G-Man: An Extraordinary Case Of Brotherhood, Trust, Rescue From The Gambino Mob— And Potential Business Together Richard Behar, Forbes (December 31, 2020) Archived December 31, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ The end of mob rule Paul Harris, The Guardian (January 17, 2009) Archived November 2, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Gotti’s greatest hits New York Post (October 1, 2009) Archived September 9, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Gotti's son held in brawl Jerry Capeci, New York Daily News (June 14, 1989) Archived July 11, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Six men charged in Tampa as part of Gambino group Vickie Chachere, Sarasota Herald-Tribune (December 1, 2004) Archived July 11, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ John (Junior) Gotti fingered in shooting by former Gambino associate John Alite John Marzulli, New York Daily News (February 23, 2009) Archived October 18, 2024, at archive.today
  14. ^ Mob suspect pleads guilty Kevin Graham, Tampa Bay Times (December 11, 2008) Archived March 13, 2023, at archive.today
  15. ^ Gambino Organized Crime Family Associate John Burke Convicted of Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Two Murders justice.gov (June 8, 2012) Archived March 13, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Tragic mob-linked past doesn’t help fraudster avoid long sentence Andrew Keshner, New York Daily News (March 8, 2017) Archived March 13, 2023, at archive.today
  17. ^ a b Secrets of a mob hit man revealed in George Anastasia's new book My City Paper (January 29, 2015) Archived March 7, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Weimar, Carrie (November 7, 2006). "Witness says valet firm's rivals were scared off". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2008-09-22. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  19. ^ Silvestrini, Elaine (October 10, 2008). "Former Club Mirage Manager Seeks Release On Bail". Tampa Bay Online. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  20. ^ "Mafia 'rat' planned to kill John Gotti". Telegraph. 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  21. ^ "Brazil hands over mob case fugitive". St. Petersburg Times. December 23, 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  22. ^ Graham, Kevin. "Gotti friend with Tampa ties admits role in killings, feds say". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Witness causes headaches for Gotti offspring". NBC News. March 3, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  24. ^ Alison Gendar, AND Corky Siemaszko (October 1, 2009), Mob turncoat John Alite testifies he got nails done with John Gotti Jr. after drug dealer's murder, New York: NY Daily News, archived from the original on October 4, 2009, retrieved November 2, 2009
  25. ^ Eligon, John (August 5, 2008). "Gotti Arrested in Murder Conspiracy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  26. ^ a b Mcshane, Larry; Porpora, Kenny (December 2, 2009), "Prosecution's case against Junior Gotti wasn't credible, juror says", New York Daily News, archived from the original on December 5, 2009, retrieved December 10, 2009
  27. ^ Gendar, Alison; Siemaszko, Corky (October 1, 2009). "Gotti lawyers whack away at Alite's testimony". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  28. ^ a b "For Fourth Time, Mistrial in Prosecution of Gotti". The New York Times. December 1, 2009. Archived from the original on 2019-03-14.
  29. ^ "Government Ends Case Against Gotti". The New York Times. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14.
  30. ^ "Letter to Judge prompts investigation by the U.S. Probation Office into allegations that former Gambino associate John Alite violated the terms of his Supervised Release". huffpost.com. October 23, 2015.
  31. ^ Ryan, Patty. "Ex-mobster who talked to feds now wants to talk for a living". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  32. ^ "Gotti's Rules". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  33. ^ "Darkest Hour". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  34. ^ "Prison Rules : John Alite : 9781692583262". www.bookdepository.com. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  35. ^ "Mafia International". John Alite. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  36. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (July 21, 2020). "'Fear City: New York vs. the Mafia': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  37. ^ Ex-Hitman REACTS to Hitman 3, 10 October 2022, retrieved 2022-10-13

Further reading

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  • Anastasia, George (2015). Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia. NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 9780062370419.
  • Pike, S.C. (2018). Darkest Hour: John Alite: Former Mafia Enforcer for John Gotti & The Gambino Crime Family. NY: J.C. Cliff, LLC. ISBN 9780997159189.
  • Christophers, Nick; Alite, John (2019). Prison Rules. CA: Over the Edge Books. ISBN 9781944082437.
  • Alite, John (2021). Mafia International. USA. ISBN 9781955794084.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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