Where Is The Gotti Family Today?

Throughout much of the 1980s, organized crime leader John Gotti (a.k.a. the "Dapper Don" and the "Teflon Don") was known for his bombastic personality and his role as head of the infamous Gambino crime family. With numerous high profile trials and an aptitude for evading the police, Gotti captured the public's attention and became one of the most infamous crime figures of the twentieth century. And people are still interested in his story: a 2018 movie starring John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston — the aptly-titled Gotti — follows Gotti's storied rise and fall. (And while John Gotti was convicted of a lot of nasty crimes, the film Gotti is arguably more loathed than the Teflon Don himself, earning a remarkable 0 percent rating and a "Fuhgeddaboudit" critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes). 

Although Gotti died in jail in 2002, the years since his passing have witnessed his offspring and their kids gaining quite a bit of fame of their own, with some of them becoming unlikely celebrities and pop cultural figures. Here's a look at what the members of the Gotti family have been up to recently.

Unfortunately for John J. Gotti (John Gotti Jr.'s nephew — stay with us), the life of crime caught up with him fairly early into his 20s. Gotti Sr.'s grandson was sentenced to eight years behind bars in March 2017, after pleading guilty to charges of "conspiracy" and "two counts of possession and intent to sell narcotics." The charges stemmed from two 2016 arrests, in which the younger Gotti was found to be in possession of hundreds of prescription pills. 

According to John J. Gotti's father, Peter Gotti, his son plans to go to college once he's released from jail, telling the New York Post, "I know what a difference he is going to make when he's given the opportunity ... He will, he will make a difference." According to NBC New York, John J. Gotti was then separately charged with "two counts of conspiracy to commit arson and two counts of conspiracy to commit bank robbery" for an unrelated incident in 2012; he pled guilty in June 2017. The following March, a judge sentenced this particular John Gotti to five years in prison on a car arson charge from 2017, incurred when a business associate persuaded him to douse and torch an automobile.

Prior to the arrests, per his Twitter page, John J. Gotti was working at a tattoo parlor in Ozone Park, N.Y. Page Six also reported in 2016 that he was trying to "fix the family image."

With stints on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Mob Wives, and of, course, perennial guilty pleasure Growing Up Gotti, Gotti Sr.'s daughter Victoria has been perhaps the most visible member of the family in recent years. Like her brother, Victoria put some of the family stories down in print — 2009's New York Times-bestseller This Family of Mine: What It Was Like Growing Up Gotti was billed as a "brutally honest family portrait that reads like a confidential file, filled with deeply personal reflections, bombshell revelations, and stunning insider secrets." The Real Housewives alum also published a cookbook, Hot Italian Dish, in 2006. 

Victoria made noise in September 2015 with reports that she'd gotten into a "screaming match" with her ex-husband, Carmine Agnello, at her son John's wedding, yelling, "I divorced you a decade ago — get used to it!" She later threw her hat into the political ring with some choice words for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in October 2016. Following the infamous Access Hollywood tape debacle, she told a "pen pal" at The Daily Beast that, among other criticisms, "I was married to #1 gangster and would have cut his throat if he ever said such a foul thing to me."

In 2019, Victoria Gotti narrated her very own made-for-Lifetime biopic, Victoria Gotti: My Father's Daughter. For more Victoria, you can follow her active Twitter and Instagram pages.

Victoria Gotti's oldest son, Carmine Gotti Agnello Jr. (named after his father, "reputed mobster" Carmine Agnello), decided to try his hand at singing after Growing Up Gotti wrapped, putting in a memorable 2015 appearance on VH1's reality show But Can They Sing (sorry, Carmine, but the answer is decidedly "no").

Since then, Carmine has mostly eschewed the spotlight, and, according to In Touch Weekly, works with his brothers at the auto parts store. Unlike Frank, however, he did put in an appearance for his show's ten-year reunion special, reflecting on his squabbles with his brothers: "I guess when we fought we took it a little too extreme ... We don't fight now — we're all close, like best friends." Sweet.

He apparently got a little too involved with the auto parts store, however. According to Newsday, Agnello, now in his thirties, was arrested and charged in criminal court in 2018 for the crime of operating an automotive scrap and recycling yard in Queens, N.Y. without a license. (It's a mere Class A misdemeanor.)

We end with one more John Gotti. Gotti grandson John "Jr." Gotti, unlike his cousins, doesn't work at the family auto parts shop. Instead, he's building a name for himself in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. 

Son of John Gotti Jr., John "Jr." Gotti told Bleacher Report in 2017 that he's working to make his own mark in the field of fighting. "Nobody in my family ever pursued sports to this degree or became a professional athlete," he said, adding, "It's not like my name is Frank like my brother. I share the name 'John Gotti.' I want to put it in a positive spotlight and show people that I'm a hard-working kid and I'm dedicated to this game."

The Long Island-based Gotti posts news about upcoming fights and his MMA progress on his site Team Gotti, where he also sells Team Gotti gear, if you're so inclined. As for his burgeoning fight career — where he's billed as John Gotti III — he's doing alright. As of 2019, he boasts a career professional MMA record of 4-0-0.