John Gotti Jr. indicted on murder and cocaine charges

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - John "Junior" Gotti, the accused Mafia boss who beat federal charges three times by having cases end in mistrials, was indicted again on Tuesday on conspiracy charges including murder and cocaine trafficking.

A magistrate-judge denied Gotti bail after federal authorities arrested him at his Long Island home on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and murder three men between 1988 and 1991. The indictment was unsealed in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday, and Gotti could be moved there to face trial.

A defence lawyer denied the allegations and accused federal prosecutors of seeking revenge against Gotti for successfully fighting past charges.

Five other suspects were also indicted by a Tampa grand jury as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police in New York and Tampa, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Gotti, 44, three times escaped conviction on racketeering charges linked to his late father's crime organization, the latest coming in 2006 when a judge declared a mistrial because jurors were deadlocked. Two previous trials also were voided when juries failed to reach a verdict.

In all three trials, Gotti said he had quit the Gambino crime family after taking control from his father. A defence lawyer reiterated that assertion on Tuesday and said Gotti has been law-abiding for years.

"At this point it seems to be more personal than professional," defence lawyer Charles Carnesi told reporters of the prosecutors' quest to convict his client.

"This is a case based on drug dealers who want to avoid going to jail," Carnesi later told a magistrate-judge, referring to prosecution witnesses who have been convicted.