Robert DiBernardo Helped John Gotti Become Boss — Gotti Had Him Erased 6 Months Later

The man who helped John Gotti become boss of the Gambino crime family was murdered six months after the coup succeeded. Robert "DiB" DiBernardo controlled the largest criminal pornography distribution network in the United States through his company Star Distributors, maintained a direct tribute arrangement with Gambino boss Paul Castellano that bypassed the entire captain structure of the family, and held significant influence over Teamsters Local 282 in the New York construction industry — all while never heading a crew and never committing a murder to earn his made man status. In September 1985, DiBernardo personally carried the first message that set John Gotti's plot against Paul Castellano in motion, contacting Sammy Gravano to arrange the Queens meeting where Angelo Ruggiero laid out the plan to kill the boss. On December 16, 1985, Castellano and his driver Thomas Bilotti were shot and killed outside Sparks Steak House on East 46th Street in midtown Manhattan. DiBernardo was rewarded with the title of caporegime for his early support. Six months later, he was dead. The FBI's Operation MiPorn — the largest undercover obscenity investigation in US history — had already convicted DiBernardo once, only for his conviction to be overturned when the lead undercover agent suffered a psychological breakdown and could no longer distinguish his real identity from his cover. A new federal investigation, this time for child pornography, was closing in fast. Before it could reach him, John Gotti had him killed. Angelo Ruggiero — the only Gambino family member with access to Gotti in jail — told the boss that DiB had been talking behind his back and undermining his authority. What Sammy Gravano didn't discover until after the murder was done: Ruggiero owed DiBernardo $250,000. On June 5, 1986, DiBernardo was lured to Gravano's drywall company on Stillwell Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Joseph Paruta shot him in the back of the head while pretending to retrieve a cup of coffee. His body was never found. Three years later, FBI bugs planted above the Ravenite Social Club caught Gotti admitting it on tape. He knew why it was being done. He allowed it to happen anyway. DiBernardo also played a direct role in the 1984 US presidential election — his company Star Distributors operated out of a building owned by the husband of Democratic vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, generating one of the most damaging organized crime scandals of that campaign. This is the complete story of Robert DiBernardo: the Gambino capo who built a pornography empire, survived Operation MiPorn, accidentally derailed a presidential campaign, carried the message that made John Gotti, and was erased by the man he helped put in power. Subscribe for new organized crime history every week. #RobertDiBernardo #JohnGotti #GambinoCrimeFamily #Mafia #MafiaHistory #TrueCrime #OrganizedCrime #SammyGravano #PaulCastellano #MobBoss #GambinoFamily #SparksSteakHouse #MafiaDocumentary #NewYorkMafia #CrimeHistory