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Take Gambino soldier Anthony (Tony Pep) Trentacosta, (right)   who rode the John Gotti express train into the mob and reputedly made barrels of cash from the bootleg gasoline racket that cost the government over $1 billion in the 1980's.

Trentacosta, 61, honed his gangster skills growing up in Brooklyn and Ozone Park, Queens. He was in the first wave of recruits Gotti inducted into the family after he took it over by killing Paul Castellano in 1985. By then, Tony Pep had convictions for armed robbery, bookmaking, burglary, receiving stolen property, trespassing, parole violations and criminal contempt, and a reputation as an "earner."

"He was never a tough guy. But he was good -- and lucky -- in the business of crime," said one investigator who never nailed him.

By 1989, Trentacosta had made $million$ for Gotti & Co. -- shaking down three-to-four cents a gallon from gas stations that were selling gas without  paying state and federal excise taxes, according to FBI reports.

Flush with cash, and "tired of the hustle and bustle and the FBI in New York," Tony Pep got Gotti's permission to move to Atlanta just in time, according to 

Trentacosta invested in real estate, a moving and storage company, a nightclub, and more, according to investigative sources. He and his second wife bought a luxurious home in The Polo Fields, a tony community in the exclusive Atlanta suburb of Cumming.

During the 1990's, the FBI pulled out all the stops looking to make a case against the first made guy to set up shop in Atlanta, sources said. Agents recruited a worker as an informer. They tailed him to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami to sitdowns with capo Nicholas (Little Nick) Corozzo. (left) They followed him to New York for meetings with Peter Gotti (right) and other wiseguys.

"They couldn't make a case because he wasn't doing much," said one New York law enforcement official. "He carried messages and did what he was told but he ducked whenever he could. He wanted to take it easy and enjoy himself," the source added.

"He turned down an opportunity to buy into the Gold Club," said another investigator, referring to an Atlanta topless joint that has ensnared other  Gambinos associated with John A. (Junior) Gotti on extortion and fraud charges.

Two years ago, on a Friday afternoon in June, after a week of research in New York on the Gold Club investigation, Atlanta FBI agent John Simmons

As they dined, Trentacosta, dressed to the nines, walked in and was greeted with hugs and kisses from a group of men sitting a few tables away.

"Pep, how you doing?'' said Simmons, with a wave and a smile.

Trentacosta smiled back, walked over and said he couldn't place him: "Who are you?"

"John Simmons, FBI. I'm the guy who's gonna lock you up," said Simmons, never realizing how correct his taunt would be.

The following March, mobster Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano (left) died and Tony Pep "inherited" Fat Andy's South Florida crew, according to Miami U.S. Attorney Guy A. Lewis, who said last week that Trentacosta had been hit with racketeering for heading a crew that committed murder, bank fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice in South Florida from 1994 to 2000.

So Simmons paid Trentacosta a visit and arrested him. Simmons would only say that he and Pep both acted like gentlemen, but the agent surely wore a wide grin as he read Tony Pep his rights.

The cancer was detected after the jailed-for-life Mafia boss was transferred from Marion federal penitentiary to a prison hospital for a routine check up on Sept. 13. Gotti, who had a malignant tumor removed from the back of his throat two years ago, has undergone regular exams ever since.

Gotti is still undergoing tests but preliminary reports are that the cancer has returned, and has spread aggressively.

His longtime lawyer and friend, Bruce Cutler, left New York yesterday to visit Gotti at the hospital in Springfield, Missouri, according to an attorney who works closely with Cutler.

Gotti's daughter Victoria indicated the seriousness of her father's medical condition when she was contacted by the New York Daily News last week, when the paper broke the story.

"It's been too crazy these last two weeks. I don't want to give any comment, because one comment leads to another comment to another. I have too much on my plate right now," she said.  

Radonjich, whose jury tampering charges stemming from the Gotti case were dismissed earlier this year after Gravano was arrested for selling drugs, is expected to plead guilty today to minor charges that usually carry a maximum of six months.

Radonjich, who was arrested on jury tampering charges during a stopover at Miami National Airport, has agreed to plead guilty to making a false statement to a federal officer by telling her his old Bronx address was his current one.

In return, the government will dismiss more serious obstruction of justice charges stemming from the same incident, according to a deal worked out by prosecutors and Radonjich's lawyer Larry Hochheiser.