NEW YORK, NY October 20, 2006 —After three hung juries in the last year, federal prosecutors have dropped their pursuit of John Gotti Junior, the son of the convicted mob boss. WNYC's Fred Mogul has more.

The U.S. Justice Department tried three times to prove that Gotti had followed in the footsteps of his father, who died in federal prison in 2002, ten years into a life sentence for murder, racketeering and other charges.

Prosecutors alleged that the younger Gotti – known simply as “Junior” among local tabloids – instigated the botched kidnapping of a local talk radio host, Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa had slammed John Gotti senior on the air and was almost killed in the 1992 attack. Since last September, three different juries have failed to reach a verdict, and today prosecutors said a fourth trial, quote, “is not in the interests of justice.”

Gotti has not been available for comment, but an outraged Sliwa has vowed to sue him in civil court.