Gotti ridiculed as cartoonish braggart

NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- John "Junior" Gotti was mocked as a blowhard when a former Mafia strongman took the stand at Gotti's conspiracy trial in New York, officials said.

John Alite compared Gotti to Ralph Kramden, a cartoonish character played by the late Jackie Gleason in the TV show "The Honeymooners," The New York Post reported Tuesday.

"He told me every day, like 'The Honeymooners,' he's the king of the castle," Alite told jurors Monday in Manhattan federal court, where Gotti is on trial on racketeering and murder charges.

Gotti's mother, Victoria, and his sister, also named Victoria, left the courtroom when Alite recounted how he allegedly planned a drug dealer's 1991 death on orders from Gotti, the son of John Joseph Gotti Jr., the former head of the Gambino crime family who died in prison in 2002.

Alite said his allegiance to John "Junior" Gotti began to fade after Gotti bad-mouthed Bartholomew "Bobby" Borriello, a friend of the Gotti family who was killed in 1991, allegedly on orders from the Lucchese crime family, The Post reported.

Alite said he wanted retribution and asked who killed Borriello, but Gotti "told me it was none of my effin' business," The Post reported.