Bartolotta - whose brother, Paul Ragusa, has a $60,000 bounty on him as one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives - was arrested on drug charges and incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

But her holiday wasn't totally ruined. Her son Fabio has resided at MDC since June, 1996, when he was nabbed on racketeering charges. The feds believe Fabio and his uncle Paul (right) are leaders of the Giannini Crew - a gang of murderous wannabe mobsters responsible for a slew of Queens bank jobs and other armed robberies in the 1990's. 

But Bartolotta, 43, had planned to spend  the holidays with younger brother Paul, according to assistant U.S. attorney James Walden. It was supposed to be a double celebration since Christmas Day was Paul's 27th birthday.

In court papers, Walden asserted that Bartolotta was the Godmother of the Giannini Crew - letting members meet at her home and store the "proceeds and instrumentalities of their criminal activities there." And if they were arrested, she would obtain lawyers for them.

Members of an FBI-NYPD bank robbery task force picked her up on a 1995 heroin sale  when they learned from informers that she was planning to rendezvous with Ragusa "during the holidays," and follow him into the wind,

said Walden. Fleeing the feds is a family tradition begun in 1984 by Paul and Francesca's father Fillipo, when FBI agents showed up to arrest him on a heroin trafficking charge.

Back then, Francesca, her husband Salvatore, and a brother-in-law went to trial as members of Fillipo's drug ring. All were convicted. The men got  15 years; Francesca was sentenced to five years. After nearly six years on the run, Fillipo surrendered in 1989 and pleaded guilty. He  served eight years.

This time, Francesca is charged with being a "primary member" in a drug ring that sold 500 grams (about 17.5 ounces) of heroin to a customer, then firebombed the customer's brother's home when the customer refused to pay for the heroin because of its poor quality. A month later, the customer forked over $20,000, Walden said.

When Francesca, a tiny 5' 2" and 100 pound brunette showed up for a Christmas Eve bail hearing, Walden asked that she be detained on grounds she was both a danger to the community and likely to flee.

Defense lawyer Martin Geduldig said his client was neither a danger nor a flight risk but asked that the hearing be put off until Tuesday to give him adequate time to rebut the many charges leveled by Walden.

Meanwhile, as his nephew and older sister sat in jail, Paul Ragusa celebrated his second consecutive Christmas away from home, following in his father's footsteps and no doubt making the rest of the family proud.

Mouw made the observation in a wide ranging discussion about Gotti and the Gambino family. Mouw was head of the FBI's Gambino squad for 17 years and is putting in his papers and looking to the future.

"Every year they used to have a huge Christmas party. John would have one at the Ravenite, Sammy (Salvatore Gravano) would have one at Tali's Bar ... Now they're afraid to meet, so there's no Christmas parties," said Mouw.

At this time of the year, mob bosses also like to reward associates for their evil ways by "straightening" them out - inducting them into the crime family.

"It would be like vibrating through the ranks, 'You gonna get straightened out?' This is like a dream come true for these guys, getting their buttons for Christmas," said Mouw. "There's no talk this Christmas about straightening out any new guys, which is not good for morale."

With Gotti on ice and his crime family in tatters, the thrill of the hunt has left, and that's what triggered his decision to retire, said Mouw.

Mouw, 54, a laid back Iowa native, said the job of nailing the successors to Gotti & Co. will remain in the very capable hands of the men and women who "did all the work for me. I never made a case, it was the street agents who did," said Mouw.

"They have an acting boss, (John) Junior Gotti (left) who is afraid to meet with his captains," said Mouw, conceding however, that the son has learned from his father's mistakes and has tried to make the family a "secret society" again.

In some ways, though, said Mouw, young John is like his father, often using attorneys to try and "legitimize" the Gotti's as businessmen.

"Look at this cast of characters," laughed Mouw. "John is the full boss, brother Gene is a captain. Brother Pete is a captain. Brother Richie is a soldier. Four brothers in one family, that's the most I've ever heard. Plus Junior is acting boss and son-in-law Carmine (Agnello) is a soldier."

John Gotti's 1992 conviction was "nice," but Gene Gotti's in 1989 "was the most satisfying and emotional, coming after two mistrials, jury tampering and all that talk about the Gottis as untouchables," said Mouw.

"I always said if I reach a point when I don't get excited about that stuff it's time to move on," said Mouw. "That time has come." Mouw said he would play some golf, be a New York tourist for a while before looking for some excitement in a second career.

ASK ANDY

This week, Andy (seen at the right reading one of his all time favorite Mafia books)  is taking his first week off since he joined Gang Land last Spring as the web site's organized crime expert. Andy took a minute out from his revelry to wish you all a  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Editor's note: Thank you again for the warm reception to our new Gand Land web site and for your continued support during the chaos and missed deadlines that preceded the change to the current format. In the changeover, many unanswered letters to Gang Land's prior e mail address were gobbled up by cyberspace gremlins and lost forever. Please note that the site is still undergoing reconstruction. Your continued support and patience will be greatly appreciated.