And while it appears that sick and dying Gotti will escape punishment for the crime, the feds want to make one of his longtime pals pay dearly for helping Gotti exact revenge against a Queens man guilty only of bad luck.

In court papers, citing details supplied by a former Gotti crew member, federal prosecutors assert that the Dapper Don (right) "ordered the murder of John Favara to avenge the (March 18, 1980) death of Gotti's son, Frank."

According to court papers that confirm an exclusive Gang Land account about the slaying on Mar. 8, 2001, Gotti learned that his dirty work had been done in a coded telephone message on the night that Favara was killed.

Gotti had gone to Florida to provide himself an alibi and got the word in a prearranged call on July 29, 1980, according to assistant U.S. attorneys Leonard Lato and Andrew Genser. The prosecutors filed the court papers

Details of the murder plot were given to Providence R.I. police by Richard (Redbird) Gomes in 1989. At the time, Gomes, a Gotti driver in 1980 and 1981, was facing 40 years for murder and thinking about cooperating. Gomes ultimately decided against it and recanted his remarks, but prosecutors assert that his account was corroborated and reliable.

According to the court papers, Gomes was part of the planning session when Gotti "gave the order" for the murder, and was the participant who informed Gotti that "the murder had been taken care of" in a phone call to a gas station on 101st Avenue. "My daughter is flying in tonight," Gomes told Gotti in a coded sentence that was worked out before he left for Florida.

Gomes said after he, Iggy Alogna and John Carneglia abducted and killed Favara in a parking lot in New Hyde Park, L.I. near the Castro Convertible showroom where he worked, they drove to a garage in Brooklyn where Charles Carneglia (left)  placed Favara's body in a cement-filled barrel and dumped it, possibly off a pier in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Citing the Favara murder and three others Carneglia allegedly committed from 1977 to 1990, Lato and  

The prosecutors made the same plea for Gambino capo Salvatore (Fat Sally) Scala, (right) citing Scala's alleged role as a "shooter" in the 1985 murder of Paul Castellano and in the 1988 slaying of Wilfred (Willie Boy) Johnson, a Gotti crew member who was a top echelon FBI informer for 15 years.

Mishler remanded both defendants last week, but reserved a decision on the prosecution request. If he credits the prosecutors' accusations, either before or after a hearing, each could receive up to 20 years.

Defense lawyers Bruce Barket and Joseph Corozzo asked Mishler to reject the prosecutors' allegations outright, or in the alternative, schedule a hearing so they could question whomever the prosecutors would call as witnesses.

Citing the flip flop by Gomes, and an opposite situation by another informer who first exonerated Carneglia and later implicated him, Corozzo said: "The prosecutors ignore all statements that are helpful to the defense, no matter when they are made. They focus on whatever suits their position at any given time."

After five fun-filled years in tinsel town, the Colombo soldier reverted to form and allegedly punched out his current girlfriend and ended up in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Correctional Center for violating his parole.

"He beat her up pretty badly," said one law enforcement official.

On Oct. 3, Los Angeles police arrested Montemarano, 63, for assault. He posted $50,000 bail and was released the same day.

Two days later, the feds cited the same conduct and charged him with a parole violation. Sentenced to 18 years for a 1985 racketeering conviction in New York, he was paroled in 1996 and relocated to California. He awaits a hearing on the charges.

There are still hard feelings all around, but a dispute we told you about last week between top Luchese gangsters Steven Crea (right) and Anthony (Bowat) Baratta (left) over a reserved table at Rao's Restaurant has been ironed out at a sitdown.

Baratta, who won't be able to enjoy the atmosphere or the cuisine of the exclusive East Harlem eatery until he gets out of prison in 2005, has the rights to the table three nights a month while Crea has it every fourth week.

In taped conversations on a court authorized wiretap, Crea was overheard blasting Baratta for trying to take away Crea's once-a-month rights to a table at the tiny 10-table restaurant favored by celebrities, elected officials and wiseguys.