Friends of Ours

Gambino Mobster John Burke Gets Life Term

John Burke was sentenced yesterday to life in prison for the 1991 murder of Bruce John Gotterup and the 1996 murder of John Gebert but the drug dealing Gambino mobster was unphased by the heavy term because he has the joy, joy, joy, joy down in his heart as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News:

"I'm happy with myself…My sentence won't shake me," Burke added. "My foundation's built on a rock and that rock is Jesus."

Burke now certainly will have plenty of time for reading scripture and prayful reflection about his life on the streets.

Federal prosecutor Evan Norris "said there was no way to sugarcoat Burke's life on New York's streets in the 1980s and 1990s," and wasn't buying his born again claim as reported by Mitchel Maddux for the New York Post:  "John Burke devoted his entire adult life to the Mafia . . . He is unremorseful and unrepentant."

Former Junior Gotti pal John Alite who copped to his role in the Gotterup slaying and became a government witness was prepared to speak on behalf of the victim's widow but she "had changed her mind about him reading a statement because she felt it would become a distraction to the proceeding, sources said."

John Alite To Rip John Burke A New One At Sentencing Hearing

The feds benched John Alite as a witness in the racketeering trial against Gambino associate John Burke but Alite will appear at Burke's sentencing hearing tomorrow on behalf of the family of Bruce Gotterup whom the pair murdered in 1991 as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News:

"They have always had a sense of forgiveness and I will be sticking up for them," he said about the Gotterup family in an exclusive interview with The Daily News.  * * * "He (Burke) was a coward then and he's still a coward for not owning up to his crime and apologizing to the family."  Alite said he will out Burke, who faces life in prison, as a fraud for portraying himself on an Internet blog as a Bible-quoting Christian who claims to have found religion in prison.  "If he really believes the Bible, then he should tell the truth," Alite, 50, said.

Alite, a former pal of John "Junior" Gotti, served ten years in prison after becoming a federal informant and copping to the Gotterup murder, and says his priority now is "disrupting the mob's recruiting pipeline of young men lured by false dreams of money and honor -- like he was while growing up in Woodhaven, Queens."

Burke was convicted last June for racketeering conspiracy spanning nearly three decades involving, in addition to the Gotterup murder, the 1996 murder of John Gebert and drug dealing.

Jury Convicts Gambino Mobster John Burke

Following a four-week trial a federal jury in Brooklyn, NY yesterday convicted Gambino associate John Burke for racketeering conspiracy spanning nearly three decades involving, among other things, two murders and drug dealing according to a DOJ press release.

The jury found that Burke was guilty for the 1991 murder of Bruce John Gotterup and the 1996 murder of John Gebert, and in the press release the government stated:

The evidence at trial established that Burke shot Gotterup in the back of the head on the boardwalk in the Rockaways in retaliation for, among other things, stealing money from Gambino family associates and for showing disrespect to a relative of a powerful Gambino family member. Gebert’s murder was part of an effort by Burke and others to take control of the drug trafficking trade on Jamaica Avenue in Queens and to protect the members of a crew of Gambino family associates from possible reprisals by Gebert relating to past disputes with members and associates of the Gambino family.

At trial Burke claimed that he left the mob in 2003 upon finding God, and that the statute of limitations on the racketeering charge brought in 2008 had expired.  The jury apparently didn't swallow the defense.

In announcing the verdict federal prosecutor Loretta E. Lynch said that Burke "spent over half his life pursuing a career of murder and violence," and "he will now be held to account for the destruction and pain he inflicted on his victims and their families, and will have the rest of his life to contemplate the choices he made."

Burke likely will receive a life term in prison when sentenced on October 25.

Feds: John Burke Racketeering Trial Prompts Safety Concern For Witnesses And Jurors

The feds are set to launch a multiple murder trial in Brooklyn federal court against reputed Gambino associate John Burke, and "the safety of witnesses and jurors will become an unusually high priority" as reported by Mitchel Maddux for the New York Post.  According to federal prosecutors thirty years ago a relative of Burke approached a witness to the 1982 murder of Daniel Zahn for which the reputed mobster was then on trial in state court, and "the relative 'came to her house . . . and stated that she should say that she was drunk the night of the Zahn murder and that she did not remember anything."  The state jury acquitted Burke for that crime although the feds now are charging it in the current case against him as murder in aid of racketeering.

Jury tampering and witness intimidation are a Gambino specialty, and the cheap tricks against the legal system have saved the sorry ass of now-deceased boss John Gotti on more than one occasion.

Burke also is charged for his alleged roles in the 1991 murder of Bruce John Gotterup and the 1996 murder of John Gebert in connection with the Gambino drug racket.

Among those slated to testify against Burke is two-time murderer and former pot dealer Peter "Bud" Zuccaro who has provided what one federal judge characterized as "extraordinary" cooperation as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News:  "he's testified at the trials of Gambino capo Dominick Pizzonia for the so-called 'Bonnie and Clyde' killings, Gambino hit man Charles Carneglia and John A. (Junior) Gotti."

The Junior Gotti Racketeering Trial

Yesterday Junior Gotti's former pal John Alite testifed that the mob scion approved the 1991 murder of Bruce Gotterup "who was making trouble at the Jaegermeister a Gotti-protected bar in Queens," and he further "testified about corrupt behavior from a Suffolk County cop, police chief and judge" as reported by John Riley for Newsday.

Further Reporting:

Alison Gendar for the Daily News:  A kiss-off from mob turncoat John Alite to Junior Gotti

Bruce Golding for the New York Post:  Junior ridiculed as Ralph Kramden of the mob