CONS SAY THEY MADE TEFLON DON CRAWL
BY TORI RICHARDS in Santa Ana, Calif.,
and BRIAN KATES in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Mob don John Gotti struck a deal with the murderous Aryan Brotherhood to protect him behind bars, but when he reneged, they forced him to "crawl back," a gang snitch told the feds.
Gotti ultimately wound up paying "large sums of money" to the Brotherhood to ensure his safety in the federal prison at Marion, Ill., according to one of several key prosecution documents in a case against the group that was obtained by the Daily News.
"Wiseguys on the street like the Teflon Don and all that stuff - it doesn't equate in prison," Aryan Brotherhood turncoat Kevin Roach told investigators in 2001. "They have to rely on people like the Aryan Brotherhood and the [Mexican Mafia] to protect them ... in prison."
Roach, the star witness in the massive federal case against the white supremacist prison gang, testified last week that reputed Brotherhood chief Barry (the Baron) Mills provided Gotti with a bodyguard.
In exchange, the Gambino crime boss agreed to arrange for a high-powered attorney to represent Mills in his appeal on a murder conviction in Atlanta, Roach said.
In 1994, after Gotti apparently failed to provide the attorney, Mills sent out a "kite" - or secret interprison message - saying he "wanted all of the AB to know that they were retracting their protection of Gotti," according to an FBI report.
"Mills wanted Gotti to learn a lesson. Sooner or later, Gotti would be assaulted and would have to crawl back to the AB," the report said.
In 1996, inmate Walter Johnson, a convicted bank robber, attacked Gotti in the exercise yard, punching him repeatedly in the head. Gotti "didn't throw any punches in return and only appeared to be defending himself," according to a prison report.
Roach told investigators that "Mills laughed and said he knew Gotti was going to end up having to crawl back to us," a Bureau of Prisons report reveals.
Gotti started paying "large sums of money to the AB on a yearly basis," according to federal documents.
Gotti later offered the Brotherhood a contract to kill Johnson, Roach said.
Johnson managed to avoid getting whacked and was released from prison in 2001.
Gotti's attorneys couldn't be reached for comment.
"This information is coming from government snitches and it's total fabrication," said Mark Fleming, one of Mills' attorneys. "No money from Gotti ever showed up on any of the defendants' accounts."
Gotti, sentenced to life in prison in 1992, died of cancer at a federal prison hospital in Springfield, Mo., in 2002.
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Too bad Craig doesn't have much money like John Gotti
