Organized crime boss. Using a combination of undercover operatives, surveillance equipment and spending close to $75 million, Gotti was finally convicted of murder and racketeering in 1992. As a repeat offender, Gotti was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole and sent to federal prison in Marion, Illinois where he died in 2002. ALS signed “Johnny,” four pages, 8.5 x 11, no date. Letter to his friend Tom, describing his cancer diagnosis and subsequent surgery. In part, “I hope this finds you and Barbara well and happy in your new surroundings. I received your letter tonight and was completely taken aback by its contents. I have never found the need to confirm my friendship or feelings before, as anyone that I have ever used the term friend to knows that to me the word friend is priceless and very few things can make me break a friendship. However, your letter seems to require an answer. To begin with under the best of conditions I couldn’t refuse or accept a gift or package of any kind at Marion or here for that matter - as Marion doesn’t allow any packages, no matter what’s in it, or who sent it. It reaches the front gate and is sent back without the inmate ever being told anything ever! As for your card being returned - so were many thousand others…Now I’ll tell you the fun I was having when you thought I was refusing your card and gifts. I dislike this part because I never complained in my life and can handle this and anything else that may come along. In May while at Marion I had a nagging sore throat that wouldn’t go away - actually it was a severe pain on the right side of my neck - anyway I told the P. A. he took a culture looking for strep - it came back negative. Anyway it kept getting worse and I kept asking to see a doctor for 4 months, to no avail. Finally on September 1st they flew me to Springfield, I was put in the ‘hole’ 24 hour lockup - a couple of days later I was examined by an outside specialist. I was in chains all the while, he didn’t like what he saw and wanted to do a biopsy the next day. He did the biopsy and told me an hour later that I had advanced head and neck cancer - not throat cancer, next time you see Barbara’s doctor he’ll explain the difference. I told him better than some 5 year old child. The doctor said I had no options if I didn’t have major surgery and radiation, I would only have months to live, and if the surgery and radiation were successful I had a 50-50 chance of beating it. I said lets go. Anyway, they wouldn’t tell me where or when. And so a few days later they came in the middle of the night and told me it was showtime. Once again I was put in chains and taken with an armed force that could’ve taken on the entire Russian army to an unknown hospital. I was told no one, not even my family, could know where I was til I was back at Springfield…now the real fun, 7:30 in the morning I was taken to the OR and put out. I was on the table 9 hours, 6 1/2 for the cancer surgery and 2 1/2 for the plastic surgeon. I woke up 12 hours later with only the guards in the room - my family was called and told that I had undergone surgery and was in stable condition but they couldn’t contact me or see me til I was returned to the prison. For six weeks I had a breathing tube in my chest - so i couldn’t talk - a feed tube down my nose and a bevy of tubes everywhere else. I also had drain tubes in my chest as the plastic surgeon had to take the right side of my chest to cover the ten inch hole in my neck. Just before Thanksgiving I was returned to Springfield still with the feed tube in and the piggy back IV’s in my arm. Again 24 hour lock down two weeks later they removed all the tubes and IV’s and told me in the morning I would begin 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments to the head and the neck. 2 weeks ago I finished the treatments - 26 of them - I won’t go into how much fun that was….Now a couple of weeks ago the people in here gave me a very large cardboard box filled with cards and letters from my family, there were hundreds, they told me both Marion and Springfield sent back thousands of non family mail from well wishers. By the way on top of everything else I had only limited use of my right arm as the plastic surgeon severed some nerves while removing the flap from my chest, I still don’t have full use as you can see…I assure you I didn’t and don’t spend anytime thinking about myself or the cancer - I again assure you that most of my time is spent thinking about family and friends that have problems and illnesses…not to mention my daughter just had open heart surgery and that my son is fighting a trumped up case…In any event, not only didn’t I refuse your gift, but I also didn’t throw your letter in the trash…I can handle this and anything else that comes my way - there’s always room on my plate.” In fine condition. R&R COA.
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