Son of 'Teflon Don' cleared of Mafia kidnap

A judge has declared a mistrial in a racketeering case against the son of an infamous New York Mafia godfather known also as ‘Teflon Don’.

Jurors said they could not agree on verdicts against 41-year-old John A "Junior" Gotti, son of the late head of the powerful Gambino crime family.

Gotti, who has stayed in prison since serving out a sentence for extortion, hugged his lawyers after the decision.

The jury did agree on one count - acquitting Gotti of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

US District Judge Shira Scheindlin said she is likely to agree to a request to allow bail for Gotti.

"It's my view that the time has come," Ms Scheindlin said in the courtroom.

Gotti has already served a five-year sentence on other racketeering charges.

The new charges were brought against him last year before he was due to be released, reports BBC.

According to Times, Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels vigilantes, who was in court, told reporters: “This jury was out to lunch . . . Their furniture upstairs is rearranged in the wrong rooms.

“I’m a dead man walking. I know there are Gambino cohorts who took a solemn vow to do what they couldn’t do, which is to end my life.”

He was abducted in a taxi in 1992 and shot several times but catapulted himself through the window and on to the street.

The judge’s mistrial decision was an unwelcome but not unprecedented blow for the prosecutors, who tried three times before securing the conviction of the elder Gotti in 1992.

The verdict sheet showed the 12 jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favour of convicting Mr Gotti on extortion and racketeering charges. Ten jurors thought it had been proved that he was a conspirator in the attack on Mr Sliwa. The jury acquitted him of one count of securities fraud.