FBI agents are warning mobsters to keep their hands off the federal prosecutor and the judge who presided over the trial of convicted Gambino crime boss John Gotti, a published report said Saturday.
But Gotti friends and associates who have been visited by the FBI in recent days are denouncing the effort as harassment, the Daily News reported.The FBI has been sending out the message this week in the wake of the April 2 verdict against Gotti, who was convicted of racketeering and murder in a long trial marked by threats against U.S. Attorney Andrew Maloney and Judge I. Leo Glasser, the newspaper said.
The federal courthouse in Brooklyn was emptied several times because of anonymous bomb threats during the trial.
The FBI wants to make sure "all the hotheads realize that they should stay cool or else we will take this personally," one FBI source told the newspaper.
But Gotti pal Carlo Vaccarezza, owner of the posh Da Noi restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side, did not appreciate the message.
"Who in their right mind wants to hurt Judge Glasser or Maloney?" asked Vaccarezza, who told the News he had been approached recently by two FBI agents outside his restaurant.
"These are crank rumors," he said of the threats. "They are using them to further poison the waters against John when he legally appeals an unfair verdict."
Law enforcement sources told the News that among those they have visited was Joseph Arcuri, whom Gotti allegedly picked to replace Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano as underboss and may have now taken over the reins of the crime family.