Inside the American Mob

It's 1986, and a recent court ruling has landed most of the Mafia family bosses in jail, while on the streets of New York it's every man for himself. But one gangster sees chaos as an opportunity: John Gotti, a Gambino captain with a taste for unbridled violence and a vaulting ambition. NGC chronicles Gotti's rise to power as boss of the Gambino family as told by his closest Gambino associates and the former law enforcement officials determined to bring him down.

The five families of New York City continue to run the American mob with an iron fist, a million scams and a booming resort town named Atlantic City. The gambling mecca is overseen by the Philadelphia mob, which answers directly to New York. But when an old school Philadelphia don named Angelo Bruno is assassinated in 1980, a bloody new era begins.

In the early 1970s, a hidden empire of crime, violence and power ruled the streets of New York City. The five families of the American mafia ruled, and the family bosses were untouchable. No one admits in public that the organization even exists--until one boss decides to break the rules. Joe Colombo. Other bosses are content to run their business from behind the scenes, but Colombo wants to take the fight to the FBI. When he does, the results are disastrous for the mob. Meanwhile, a new generation of agents enters the FBI, and they're not the usual suits. Italian-American guys who grew up in the same neighborhoods as gangsters start working for the Bureau and change the game. One of those agents is Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, who infiltrates a crime family more successfully than any other agent ever had. It's the beginning of the end for the mob, though no one knows it yet.