Introduction
John Gotti’s incarceration was at the Marion, in one of the penitentiaries in the United States, Illinois; he spent the majority of his sentence in solitary confinement (Slewinski, 1996). Though he tried to hold legitimate jobs, he failed and returned to the life of crime. His first major sentence was in 1968, where he got convicted along with other two men for hijacking and served a 3-year jail term. Gotti was unsuccessfully prosecuted; an example of a failed prosecution was when the foreman of the jury was paid a $60,000 bribe (Slewinski, 1996).
Discussion
Gotti was then known as a Teflon Don since his criminal charges never stuck and always outwit the justice system. In 1992, he got convicted on 13 counts, including murder, racketeering, and justice obstruction. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and later died in the prison hospital from cancer in the year 2002. During his stay in jail, he was put in a 23-hour lockdown because the authorities or the security agencies believed that he was a serious threat to society at large. Due to this fact, he had to be under constant supervision all the time (Slewinski, 1996).
Most of Al Capone’s crimes were not tried but in 1926 he was arrested for killing three people. He was released after one day for lack of sufficient evidence. In 1929, he got imprisonment for carrying a gun. He was also indicted in 1931 for income tax evasion, and charged for a misdemeanor of failure in tax filing. In general, he was found guilty of 5 out of the 23 counts of conviction. This led to his imprisonment in the county jail for 1 year and another 10 years in the national penitentiary. He was also to serve 6 months earlier for a failure to appear in court in the prescribed time (Kobler, 1992).
He continued to control the outside world while in Atlanta by enjoying privileges that other prisoners would not have, such as having a typewriter in his cell together with a mirror and an encyclopedia. This led to his transfer to Alcatraz, by which he was cut off from the world. Usually, Hard criminals with a record of dangerousness were sent to Alcatraz, California. The prison was in operation from 1934 to 1963. It had maximum security and its prisoners were denied any access to the outside world. This made it hard for Al Capone to have control; he also lacked access to his friends (Kobler, 1992). In 1939, he was transferred to California to serve his 1-year misdemeanor. He got out early in 1939 because of good behavior and after spending his last year in a hospital suffering from syphilis, he later died at his house in Palm Island.
Conclusion
Both Al Capone and John Gotti were regarded as the most notorious mobsters, as they were engaged in organized crimes. The two were regarded as gangsters who appeared to be above the law. The United States penitentiary at Marion where John Gotti was imprisoned was built in the 1960s to replace Alcatraz where Al Capone served his term (Kobler, 1992). In Alcatraz, prisoners had only four rights. These were outfits, haven, foodstuff, and health checkups. The right to family visits was not enjoyed unless the prisoner worked hard for it. Recreational activities were also withdrawn. Bad behavior would be punished through hard labor, lockdowns, and wearing a ball and a chain weighing 12 pounds.
References
Kobler, J. (1992). Capone: the Life and World of Al Capone. New York: Da Capo Press.
Slewinski, C. (1996). Understanding Gotti. New York: John Wiley.