Grandson of John Gotti Pleads Guilty to Selling Prescription Drugs: Queens DA

Like his grandfather, John J. Gotti Jr. was brought down by covert listening devices

Facing 25 years-to-life in prison, the namesake grandson of notorious New York City mobster John Gotti took a plea deal Wednesday in connection to a large-scale prescription drug operation, officials from the Queens District Attorney's Office said.

John J. Gotti, 23, plead guilty to second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit an A felony and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance stemming from two 2016 arrests.

Gotti, whose father is Peter Gotti, agreed to forfeit $259,996 in drug proceeds that authorities seized during an arrest on Aug. 4, 2016, and another $7,000 in drug proceeds seized during a Jun. 30, 2016 arrest, officials said.

Like his grandfather, Gotti was brought down by covert listening devices. Investigators intercepted telephone conversations and installed a bug in an Infiniti G35 sedan he used, capturing detailed conversations regarding his Oxycodone trafficking business, authorities said. His grandfather was brought down after the FBI planted listening devices at Gotti hangouts around NYC.

In recorded conversations, Gotti said he sold more than 4,200 pills every month, netting about $100,000 a month in drug sales, and once calculated that his trafficking business generated roughly $1.6 million annually. Authorities said he stated that he stored his drug trafficking records and $200,000 of profits at an associate's house in case cops decided to seize them and take action against him.

According to the charges, Gotti was the main seller of the organization and primarily sold Oxycodone pills for $21 to $30 each, said Queens DA Richard Brown.

Throughout the course of the investigation dubbed "Operation Howard Beach," undercover cops bought about $46,000 worth of pills from Gotti during 11 sales between April and July 2016. Authorities said 10 of the 11 buys were recorded on video and audio.

NYPD Narcotics Borough Queens South members found approximately $52,000 and 480 Oxycodone pills in Gotti's bedroom at the family's Howard Beach home when they picked him up last August, officials said. Police also seized $200,000 and the ledger that contained his drug records from a safe in an associate's apartment.

A month earlier, Gotti was stopped by officers in Howard Beach last June for excessively tinted windows, officials said. When he handed over his license, officers found that he was driving with a suspended license. Officers recovered a Gucci bag with over 200 Oxycodone pills, a bottle of steroids and an assortment of marijuana, Xanax and methadone pills from the car during the stop.

Authorities said police also recovered $5,600 in cash from the vehicle and $2,271 in cash from his pants pocket. More than $7,000 of the money seized had been given to Gotti by an officer during undercover drug buys.

Gotti is expected to be sentenced to eight years in prison and five years probation on his August arrest, as well as a concurrent term of four years in prison and two years in jail on his June arrest, officials said. He's being held in jail on $2 million bail.

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