Jury Tampering Alleged in Mob Case Mistrial

NEW YORK — A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the nine-month heroin and racketeering trial of reputed mobster Gene Gotti and nine other men after allegations that the defendants had bought off at least one juror.

U.S. District Judge Mark A. Costantino, granting a prosecution request, said there were not enough impartial jurors remaining to continue the trial. A grand jury is investigating the allegations of jury tampering.

Government papers unsealed by Costantino after his ruling allege that four defendants, including Gotti, had learned the identity of at least five of the anonymous jurors for the purpose of fixing the case, and that at least one of the jurors had been compromised.

‘Bought and Paid for’

U.S. Atty. Andrew Maloney, when asked to explain what was meant by compromised, said: “Bought and paid for, in the bag.” The allegations were based on information from “reliable confidential sources,” the papers said.

Before excusing the 12 jurors and two alternates, Costantino dismissed three who testified at a special hearing last week that they could no longer be impartial because of publicity surrounding the government’s motion.

“Now you will notice we have 11 jurors, we no longer have 12,” he said. “The trial will not continue.”

Maloney said he has requested a hearing to set a new trial date.

Gotti, the brother of reputed Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, was charged along with Angelo Ruggiero and John Carneglia with operating a continuing criminal enterprise and racketeering. The seven other defendants face lesser charges.

“The government has accomplished its goal,” said Ruggiero’s attorney, Jeffrey Hoffman. “The government did not want the jury to vote on this case and as a result, the publicity caused by the unsupported charges of jury tampering allowed the government to succeed.”

Before Costantino declared a mistrial, he released a finding by a panel of nine federal judges that met Thursday to decide whether the government acted in good faith when it moved for a mistrial.

The highly unusual panel, called en banc , or on the bench, found that the grand jury proceeding to investigate possible jury tampering was “appropriate and bona fide” and that the government had good reason to have brought the allegations to Costantino’s attention.