Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano

Soon after Castellano's murder, Gotti elevated Gravano to become an official captain after Salvatore "Toddo" Aurelio stepped down, a position Gravano held until 1987 when he became consigliere. In 1988, he became underboss, a position he held at the time he became a government witness. In 1991, Gravano agreed to turn state's evidence and testify for the prosecution against Gotti after hearing the boss making several disparaging and untrue remarks about Gravano on a wiretap that

At the time, he was among the highest-ranking members of the Five Families, but broke his blood oath and cooperated with the government. As a result of his testimonies, Gotti and Frank LoCascio were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1992. In 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison; however, since he had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year. He was released early and entered the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program in Colorado, but left the program in 1995 after eight months and moved to Arizona with his family.

On the day of his sentencing in 1994, federal authorities stated as a result of Gravano's testimony, there had been "37 convictions, nine people awaiting trial, eight people resigned from the unions as a result of Gravano's cooperation." They also said that Gravano was indirectly responsible for even more convictions, as his actions had encouraged others to become witnesses against the Mafia.

In February 2000, he and nearly 40 other ring members—including his wife Debra, daughter Karen, and son Gerard—were arrested on federal and state drug charges. In 2001, he and his son, Gerard, were indicted on mirror charges with the federal government. In 2002, he was sentenced in New York to twenty years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to nineteen years in prison to run concurrently. Additionally, he was sentenced to lifetime supervised release and a $100,000 fine. He was released in September 2017.

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.