Reputed Gambino crime family soldier John “Johnny G” Gammarano has passed away according to a recent report.

According to the feds, he became a made member of the mafia back in the 1980s and held the rank of acting capo in the Gambino family at various times during his long career in organized crime. Gammarano was reportedly one of the three men inside Sparks Steak House back in 1985 when former Gambino family boss Paul Castellano was assassinated. In early 1990’s he was indicted along with 16 other alleged mobsters including reputed Gambino family capo Joseph (JoJo) Corozzo and former New Orleans mafia boss Anthony S. Carollo in a video poker based racketeering scheme.

“John Gammarano”

His name surfaced again in the testimony of former Gambino capo Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo during the John A. “Junior” Gotti racketeering trial. According to DiLeonardo, Gotti planned to whack Gammarano, capo Daniel Marino, and associate Joseph Watts over a beef in the Cosa Nostra families lucrative construction rackets. DiLeonardo testified that Gotti believed the mob trio has been skimming cash from the rackets since the 1990s and had set a meeting to discuss the matter with plans on killing them if he wasn’t satisfied with their explanation. He said he stocked a Bensonhurst apartment with body bags and instructed a pair of gunmen to hide in a bedroom and make a move if Gotti gave the signal but the hit never went down.

The men arrived in a limo accompanied by a civilian according to DiLeonardo so there was no way the hit could have gone down. During the meeting, Watts explained that he was given carte blanche when it came to construction and had permission to do it from the “Dapper Don” John Gotti. DiLeonardo said Junior took Watts word for it and he was satisfied at that point. Although maybe Gotti never completely forgave the three mobsters because he reportedly detailed crimes that they committed during a secret proffer session with the feds in 2005 when he was making a failed bid to get out from under racketeering charges.

The death of Gammarano leaves one less link back to a historic era of the Gambino family and the NY mafia.