Hotel Fauchere, Milford October 2010
[from FB post: August 16, 2012]
Social media, mass media, and a small town all collide. I find I have offended Richie and Mary Gotti by saying they are "mafia". In fact, they are nice people who live in Milford just like me. My earlier comments filtered back to them and I found I really upset them. They are not "mafia" in Milford... they are just nice people. However, that is not to say we don't have our own local mafia here... a group of people born and raised here to whom the rules seem NOT TO APPLY, ha! So I think a big lesson has been learned -- even a joke on social media eventually can make it back to anyone. I guess we all have to be more careful what we post. If you don't know something for a FACT, best not say it!
"Oh my GAWD, Richie, RICHIE. It's him! Did I tell ya? The guy with the beautiful house. I knew we was gonna meet him, I told ya we would. Richie!!"
One day at Bar Louis in the Hotel Fauchere I met Mary and Richie Gotti. I found out all of us shared a passion for gardening and a love of cats. I had no idea who they were and later everyone had a good belly laugh at my expense that I had unknowingly met Richard Gotti, of the infamous "Gambino Crime Family". I must admit after finding out I was shocked and hoped it would be a one-off encounter. As fate would have it, I did end up meeting them often in Milford's bustling bar scene. They even invited me to their place (I never went) to give them gardening advice.
My bartender bestie, Bob Grim said, "Matty, I'd be careful digging in that garden. You never know who might turn up"
Everyone teased me mercilessly. I googled him, of course, and found the following:
Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1942. He was one of 13 children (two had died at birth) of John Joseph Gotti Sr. and Philomena "Fannie" DeCarlo. Gotti's brothers included former Gambino boss John, capo Gene, former boss Peter, and Vincent Gotti. They grew up in East New York, Brooklyn. Gotti fathered a son, Richard G. Gotti, who followed him into organized crime. By 1988, Gotti had become a made man and by 1999 a caporegime.
On June 4, 2002, Richard was indicted on racketeering and extortion charges, mainly involving Gambino crimes at an International Longshoremen's Association local and the attempted extortion of actor Steven Seagal. On March 17, 2003, Gotti was convicted of extortion and money laundering. Gotti was later sentenced to 16 years in federal prison. He was released from prison on August 12, 2005.
(Wikipedia)
The guy was a real-life mobster. Hey, he loved gardening and cats - how terrible could the guy be? He and his wife, Mary, were truthfully really nice.
Then I posted I knew him on social media and described him as "mafia". Well, the REAL mafia of Milford kicked in and made sure he knew I had said that. Next time I met him he was very angry with me. He said, "There is no real mafia and I don't appreciate what you wrote about me". Well, sorry sir, you have a Wikipedia page, but then again I had basically said something negative (yet true) about someone who had only been nice to me. Honestly, I felt bad about it.
What made me most angry was the dark side of Milford, PA kicking in and dragging me into some shit after one social media post. After that I learned a lot more about the mafia, and in Milford, it most certainly was NOT Richard Gotti. It was a group of locals who literally lived beyond the law because they held all the elected positions and controlled not only the town, but much of the county. Their joy in life was lording power over everyone in that top right corner county of PA. It was a big wake up call for me to the power of social media and to take greater care in posting about other people.