June 11, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1423

NEW YORK, June 10: John Gotti, the head of the Gambino crime family and one of the last mafia icons, died in prison on Monday of cancer at the age of 61, federal law enforcement sources said.

Known as the “Teflon Don” after three previous trial aquittals, Gotti was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in 1992 after being convicted on racketeering and murder charges.

Gotti, who had taken control of the Gambino crime family in 1985, died in a federal prison medical facility in Springfield, Missouri.—AFP