'Junior' Gotti feels 'tremendous relief' and will leave NY

John A. "Junior" Gotti said he finally can live in peace.

In his first lengthy interview since federal prosecutors announced this week that they were not going to retry him, the 45-year-old Oyster Bay resident said Friday that he felt "tremendous relief."

The son of one of the most notorious mob bosses in New York City history said he plans to put his home up for sale and move his wife, Kim, and their six children out of New York, possibly to Virginia, the Carolinas or Maryland.

He and his wife will start looking for a new home as early as next week, Gotti said.

"I have to leave New York, but I leave with a heavy heart," Gotti said.

"If I can get a loan, I'll be gone tomorrow," he said.

Gotti was tried three times in 2005 and 2006 on racketeering charges and then tried again last fall on an overlapping indictment that also included two murder charges and accusations of extensive drug dealing.

Fighting the government in four trials has left him broke to the point where he said he couldn't afford to pay for a copy of a court transcript.

"Economically it was a hardship to fight the government itself - believe me. It wore me down mentally."

Gotti made his comments after a dinner with his lawyers at the Galleria Ristorante Dominick in Westbury.

One of the ways he plans to earn a living in the future, Gotti said, is to write. "True crimes," said Gotti, who added it would include his own story.

He also wants to work with children.

"I adore children. I love children," Gotti said.