Kimberly Gotti, wife of ex-acting Gambino boss, pleads not guilty to assault charge

Kimberly Gotti, the wife of the former acting Gambino crime family boss, John “Junior” Gotti, pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a brawl that broke out during a basketball game between Oyster Bay and Locust Valley high schools in February.

The couple’s daughter, Gianna Gotti, 25, who is also charged in the case, pleaded not guilty previously during a March hearing.

The mother, 55, could not attend last month's hearing due to a medical procedure, her lawyer, Gerard Marrone said.

Both women rejected an offer by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office to plead guilty and participate in anger management counseling.

Prosecutors on Tuesday said that they had shared with the defense lawyer all the evidence that they would be presenting and are ready to go to trial.

The mother and daughter, through their lawyer and “Junior” Gotti, have maintained their innocence in the case and say that the alleged victim in the case was the aggressor.

Marrone said during the hearing that Nassau County police bodycam footage recorded the woman making contradictory statements after the fight, an issue that the lawyer said he would focus on during the trial.

“She’s making inconsistent statement after inconsistent statement,” he said.

Marrone said that he has a video that shows the alleged victim throwing the first punch, but prosecutors say that they have not seen it.

“You talk a lot about the video where the victim punched first,” District Attorney bureau chief Dana Grossblatt said during a bench conference. “Do you have that for us?”

After the hearing, the former crime boss said that the district attorney’s case is overstated.

“To basically sum this up very quickly — Shakespeare — ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ ” he said.

The fisticuffs broke out on Feb. 8 during a night game between the two high schools.

In a new deposition filed in the case, the alleged victim, Crystal Etienne, said that the Gottis and an unidentified third person were acting up during the game.

“Throughout the game, these three individuals were standing courtside and were shouting at the players and high school students that were in the bleachers,” she said in her sworn statement.

The women were also yelling racially charged and homophobic comments at the high school students, Etienne said in her affidavit.

“I asked her to stop calling the children names,” according to her statement. “I remained calm. At that moment, [Kimberly Gotti] began to aggressively charge at me from the bottom right section of the bleachers.”

She said that her son tried to intervene yelling “Get off my mother” as the two women punched and kicked Etienne, who had fallen to the ground.

Marrone said that fans were chanting “fee fi fo fum” at "Junior" Gotti’s son, Joseph, who plays for Oyster Bay.

“They were bullying the whole team,” the former acting capo said outside the courtroom on Tuesday. “Locust Valley failed those students. They allowed those kids to get bullied that particular day. Multiple complaints were made to the athletic director. She completely and totally ignored requests to have those kids evicted from the arena, so, they’re at fault here. They absolutely let it happen.”

Marrone said that other teams have met with similar treatment during high school sports games.

Locust Valley Central School District Superintendent Kristen Turnow said that school officials responded appropriately.

“The district does not tolerate unsportsmanlike behavior and we expect our student-athletes to abide by our athletic code of conduct at all times. Our athletic director took immediate action and requested that the student spectators exit the gymnasium, which they did.”

The dust-up marks a return of the Gotti name in the media after they were out of the news for many years.

“Junior” Gotti, whose father was dubbed the “Teflon Don” for his ability to avoid conviction in several high-profile federal racketeering trials, was a mainstay in the New York City tabloids in the 1980s and '90s. The father was eventually convicted and his son served as acting boss during his incarceration. John Gotti died in prison in 2002. “Junior” Gotti began serving a 6-year sentence for racketeering and extortion in 1999. He endured four other federal trials in Manhattan from 2006 through 2008, when he was acquitted of all the charges. 

Gotti's daughter, Gianna, has been a standout in high school basketball and did a stint in professional women’s basketball in Portugal. Marrone said it’s important to keep her record clean because she wants to become a lawyer.

They will be back in court on May 15.