Who is Sammy Gravano and what did he do?
Sammy Gravano is a former gangster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family, and was involved in at least 19 murders during his association with the mob.
He was part of the group that planned the murder of Gambino boss, Paul Castellano, in 1985, paving the way for John Gotti to take the leadership. This also led to Gravano landing more prominent roles in the crime family. He was given the position of captain soon after Gotti took charge, until he became consigliere in 1987, and the following year he was promoted to underboss.
How was Sammy Gravano caught?
Gravano agreed to co-operate in the prosecution against John Gotti, when he was implicated in a number of murders on a wire tap. He became the highest ranking member of the Mafia to break the blood oath he made when inducted into the Gambino as a Made Men, swearing that he would never co-operate with the government. In other words, as the Mafia would say “becoming a rat.”
What happened to Sammy Gravano after he was released?
Due to Gravano’s co-operation, he was given a deal where he would serve a five year prison sentence and enter into a Witness Protection program upon his release. He joined the program in Colorado, but left in 1995 after 8 months to join his family in Arizona. He would forever be watching his back, with retribution for ratting on his former associates actively being sought.
Gravano appeared to be on the straight and narrow until he was arrested in 2000 on drug charges. In 2002, Gravano was sentenced to twenty years in prison. However, he was released in 2017, with lifetime supervision and a $100,000 fine.
Where is Sammy Gravano now?
Sammy Gravano is 78 years old now, and has managed to stay out of trouble since his release from prison in 2017. He launched a YouTube channel in 2020, titled Our Thing, where he conducts interviews with former members of the mob, and discusses his former life in detail. He also has a website, sammythebull.com where people can subscribe for more Mafia content, for a price of course.
He is clearly profiting from his involvement in the Mafia, and is very lucky to be out of prison if you take into account his involvement in at least 19 murders, and possibly many more. He’s also very lucky to be alive, considering the majority of his Mafia counterparts are now dead as a result of being involved in the life.
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