Plot Synopsis

GOTTI: GODFATHER & SON is a two-night, four-hour BIOGRAPHY documentary that serves as the complete and definitive father-and-son story of two men who were raised in the mob and became the reigning king and heir apparent with John Gotti Jr. providing his most extensive on-camera interview to-date. The narrative spine of the documentary is never-before-seen segments from a 90-minute video of the last visit between a dying John Gotti Sr. and his son at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, MO. Filmmaker and writer Richard Stratton has secured unprecedented access to the Gotti family to tell, for the first time, the complete story of what it was like to grow up a part of the first family of organized crime including unprecedented access to John Gotti Jr. It was during this meeting that John Gotti Jr., asked his father for his blessing to plead guilty to racketeering charges and bring "closure" to his legal troubles, a coded reference to what father and son both understand means taking the unprecedented step of quitting what might have been one of the last of the major mafia dynasties. This first-hand emotional account is provided by John Gotti Jr. himself and supported through unprecedented access to the people who lived it as well as through rare, personal photos from the Gotti family archive. Interview participants include John Gotti Sr.'s children John A. Gotti Jr., Peter Gotti and Angel Gotti; retired U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin; Colombo family "soldier" and author of "The Life" Larry Mazza; former F.B.I. agents Bruce Mouw, Louis Digregorio and Jim Abbott; former chief of the federal Organized Crime Strike Force Ed McDonald; criminal defense lawyers Bruce Cutler, Jeffrey Lichtman and Charlie Carnesi and criminal defense and civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby.

Part 1 (Saturday, June 9, 2018 from 10pm-Midnight): Part 1 tells of the childhood and youth of John Gotti Junior. While growing up in Howard Beach, New York, and as a student at New York Military Academy, John learns of, and we follow the story of his father's meteoric rise to power in the world of organized crime. Years later, after graduating, instead of going on to pursue a career in the military, at his father's urging John Junior takes a year off. That's when his troubles begin and he gets in a barroom brawl. John's father "punishes" him by forcing him to spend his days hanging out at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Social Club, his father's mob headquarters. By the time John is in his twenties, he is asked and chooses to become a made member of the Gambino Crime Family.

Part 2 (Sunday, June 10, 2018 from 9-11pm): In Part 2, the FBI is focused on taking down Gotti and the Gambino crime family, as well as the bosses of all five New York mafia clans. When Gotti's underboss, Sammy Gravano, agrees to testify for the government, Gotti Sr. is convicted and sentenced to life in prison. John Jr. becomes the acting boss of the crime family. With this transition of power, John Jr. quickly becomes the prime target of the FBI. John Jr., having resolved to quit the life of organized crime, pleads guilty to racketeering, serves over seven years in prison, and must still withstand four federal trials all ending in mistrials before he is set free to pursue his life as a "civilian," a husband, father, and law-abiding citizen who honors his vow to quit the mob.