Code Violation

The Mafia's tradition of omerta, the code of silence, is explicit: betray the family and pay with your life. But beginning with the televised confessions of Cosa Nostra Songbird Joseph Valachi in 1963, that code has been repeatedly violated. At the racketeering trial of reputed Mafia Boss John Gotti last week in Brooklyn federal court, omerta suffered one of its rudest shocks yet.

Federal Judge Eugene Nickerson disclosed that a trusted member of Gotti's Gambino crime family had secretly taped conversations between the capo and his confederates over a 30-month period. The informant, a self-styled former hit man named Dominick Lofaro, was brazen enough to carry a concealed wire right into Gotti's lair, the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club in Ozone Park, N.Y. His cooperation with authorities marked the first time that a Mafia "soldier" had ever worked as an informant while on active duty. The intelligence coup, said one New York City police officer, was "like penetrating the Kremlin."

Police and FBI sources say the Lofaro tapes were a consequence of Gotti's ambition to broaden the Gambino family business. Over the objections of former Gambino Boss Paul Castellano, who was gunned down on a crowded Manhattan street last December, authorities say, Gotti urged cronies like Lofaro to get more involved in drug trafficking. Then in 1984 Lofaro was arrested in upstate New York while attempting to sell a kilogram of heroin to an undercover detective.

Faced with a long prison stretch, Lofaro decided to turn informant. His arrest was kept secret to prevent his associates from suspecting him, and he was able to return to his New York City haunts without being searched for the hidden wire. From 1984 until last March, Lofaro made more than 50 tapes that include conversations between Gotti and his lieutenants. The tapes, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Giacalone, provide "direct evidence of John Gotti's role as manager of the gambling enterprise" of the Gambino crime family.

Although Giacalone had notified the court of the Lofaro tapes in July, their existence was kept secret until last week at her request because he was still involved in undercover work. Gotti's attorney, Bruce Cutler, called the last-minute disclosure "outrageous," insisting that the evidence should have been shown to defense attorneys months ago. "There has been a constant attempt by the Government to try Mr. Gotti by ambush," said Cutler. "They are not going to succeed." Nevertheless, the Government obviously hopes the tapes will prove that the most damaging witness against Gotti is the boss himself.