title: Good Friday Agreement

text: As part of the Agreement, the newly created Northern Ireland Assembly and the national parliament of Ireland (the Oireachtas) agreed to consider creating a joint parliamentary forum made up of equal numbers from both institutions. In October 2012, this forum was created as the North/South Inter-Parliamentary Association.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The Northern Ireland political parties who endorsed the agreement were also asked to consider the establishment of an independent consultative forum representative of civil society with members with expertise in social, cultural, economic and other issues and appointed by the two administrations. An outline structure for the North/South Consultative Forum was agreed in 2002 and in 2006 the Northern Ireland Executive agreed it would support its establishment.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Strand 3 dealt with "east-west" issues and institutions to be created between Ireland and Great Britain (as well as the Crown dependencies). These are:


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference was agreed to replace the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council and the Intergovernmental Conference created under the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The conference takes the form of regular and frequent meetings between the British and Irish ministers to promote co-operation at all levels between both governments. On matters not devolved to Northern Ireland, the Government of Ireland may put forward views and proposals. All decisions of the conference will be by agreement between both governments and the two governments agreed to make determined efforts to resolve disagreements between them.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The British–Irish Council is made up of ministerial representatives from the British and Irish governments, the UK's devolved administrations (Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales), as well as from the Crown dependencies, the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey. The purpose of the council is to promote co-operations and pose a forum for the creation of common policies.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Under the agreement, it was proposed that the already-existing British–Irish Interparliamentary Body would be built upon. Prior to the agreement, the body was composed of parliamentarians from the British and Irish parliaments only. In 2001, as suggested by the agreement, it was expanded to incorporate parliamentarians from all of the members of the British–Irish Council.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: These institutional arrangements created across these three strands are set out in the agreement as being "interlocking and interdependent". In particular, the functioning of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the North/South Ministerial Council are stated to be "so closely inter-related that the success of each depends on that of the other" and participation in the North/South Ministerial Council is "one of the essential responsibilities attaching to relevant posts in [Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland]".


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In the opinion of analyst Brendan O'Leary, the institutions established by the deal "made Northern Ireland bi-national" and reinforced "imaginative elements of co-sovereignty".


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Against the background of political violence during the Troubles, the agreement committed the participants to "exclusively democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences on political issues". This took two aspects:


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The participants to the agreement comprised two sovereign states (the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) with armed and police forces involved in the Troubles. Two political parties, Sinn Féin and the PUP, were linked to paramilitary organisations: the IRA and the UVF respectively. The UDP, which was linked to the UDA, had withdrawn from the talks three months previously.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The multi-party agreement committed the parties to "use any influence they may have" to bring about the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms within two years of the referendums approving the agreement. The process of normalisation committed the British government to the reduction in the number and role of its armed forces in Northern Ireland "to levels compatible with a normal peaceful society". This included the removal of security installations and the removal of special emergency powers in Northern Ireland. The Irish government committed to a "wide-ranging review" of its Offences against the State legislation.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The agreement called for the establishment of an independent commission to review policing arrangements in Northern Ireland "including [the] means of encouraging widespread community support" for those arrangements. The British government also committed to a "wide-ranging review" of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: A date of May 2000 was set for total disarming of all paramilitary groups. This was not achieved leading the assembly to be suspended on a number of occasions as a consequence of unionist objections. A series of rounds of decommissioning by the IRA took place (in October 2001, April 2002 and October 2003) and in July 2005 the IRA announced the formal end of its campaign. Loyalist decommissioning did not follow immediately. In June 2009, the UVF announced it had completed decommissioning and the UDA said it had started to decommission its arsenal.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Both the British and Irish governments committed to the early release of the approximately 400 prisoners serving sentences in connection with the activities of paramilitary groups, provided that those groups continued to maintain "a complete and unequivocal ceasefire". Cases were reviewed individually by the Sentence Review Commission. Prisoners from the Continuity Irish Republican Army, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, the Irish National Liberation Army and the Real Irish Republican Army were not eligible for release as those groups had not agreed to an unequivocal ceasefire. There was no amnesty for crimes which had not been prosecuted.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998, received Royal Assent on 28 July 1998. 167 prisoners were released by October 1998. By December 1999 308 prisoners had been released. The final group of prisoners was released by 28 July 2000, giving a total of 428 prisoners released.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The agreement affirmed a commitment to "the mutual respect, the civil rights and the religious liberties of everyone in the community". The multi-party agreement recognised "the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity", especially in relation to the Irish language, Ulster Scots, and the languages of Northern Ireland's other ethnic minorities, "all of which are part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland".


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The British government committed to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into the law of Northern Ireland and to the establishment of a Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Establishing statutory obligations for public authorities in Northern Ireland to carry out their work "with due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity was set as a particular priority". The Irish government committed to "[taking] steps to further the protection of human rights in its jurisdiction" and to the establishment of an Irish Human Rights Commission.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Many of the rights-based provisions have yet to be fully implemented, including a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission delivered advice to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 10 December 2008. However, progress to adopting a Bill of Rights has been consistently delayed.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The Agreement recognised divergent political aspirations and complex identities. Article 1 (vi), commonly referred to as the birthright provisions, states that both governments, "Recognise the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish, or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland."


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Under the agreement, the British and Irish governments committed to organising referendums on 22 May 1998, in Northern Ireland and in the Republic respectively. The Northern Ireland referendum was to approve the agreement reached in the multi-party talks. The Republic of Ireland referendum was to approve the British-Irish Agreement and to facilitate the amendment of the Constitution of Ireland in accordance with the Agreement.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The result of these referendums was a large majority in both parts of Ireland in favour of the agreement. In the Republic, 56% of the electorate voted, with 94% of the votes in favour of the amendment to the constitution. The turnout in Northern Ireland was 81%, with 71% of the votes in favour of the agreement. Of those who voted, almost all of the Catholics voted for the agreement, compared with 57% of the Protestants. The fragility of cross-community enthusiasm for parts of the agreement helps to explain subsequent difficulties in maintaining the powersharing executive.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In the Republic, the electorate voted upon the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. This amendment both permitted the state to comply with the Belfast Agreement and provided for the removal of the "territorial claim" contained in Articles 2 and 3. A referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty (Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) was held on the same day.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Direct rule from Westminster came to an end in Northern Ireland when power was formally devolved to the new Northern Ireland Assembly, the North/South Ministerial Council and the British–Irish Council, as the commencement orders for the British-Irish Agreement came into effect on 2 December 1999. Article 4(2) of the British-Irish Agreement (the Agreement between the British and Irish governments for the implementation of the Belfast Agreement) required the two governments to notify each other in writing of the completion of the requirements for the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement; entry into force was to be upon the receipt of the later of the two notifications. The British government agreed to participate in a televised ceremony at Iveagh House in Dublin, the Irish department of foreign affairs. Peter Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, attended early on 2 December 1999. He exchanged notifications with David Andrews, the Irish foreign minister. Shortly after the ceremony, at 10:30 am, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, signed the declaration formally amending Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution. He then announced to the Dáil that the British-Irish Agreement had entered into force (including certain supplementary agreements concerning the Belfast Agreement).


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The Assembly and Executive were eventually established in December 1999 on the understanding that decommissioning would begin immediately, but were suspended within two months due to lack of progress, before being re-established in May 2000 as Provisional IRA decommissioning eventually began. Aside from the decommissioning issue, however, ongoing paramilitary activity (albeit relatively low-level compared to the past) by the Provisional Irish Republican Army—e.g., arms importations, smuggling, organised crime, "punishment beatings", intelligence-gathering and rioting—was also a stumbling block. The loyalist paramilitaries also continued similar activity although as they were not represented by a significant political party, their position was less central to political change.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The overall result of these problems was to damage confidence among unionists in the agreement, which was expressed by the anti-agreement DUP. The DUP eventually overtook the pro-agreement UUP in the 2003 Assembly election. The UUP had already resigned from the power-sharing Executive in 2002 following the Stormontgate scandal, which saw three men charged with intelligence-gathering. These charges were eventually dropped in 2005 on the controversial grounds that pursuit would not be "in the public interest". Immediately afterwards, one of the accused Sinn Féin members, Denis Donaldson, was exposed as a British agent.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In 2004, negotiations were held between the two governments, the DUP, and Sinn Féin on an agreement to re-establish the institutions. These talks failed, but a document published by the governments detailing changes to the Belfast Agreement became known as the "Comprehensive Agreement". On 26 September 2005, it was announced that the Provisional Irish Republican Army had completely decommissioned its arsenal of weapons and "put them beyond use". Nonetheless, many unionists notably the DUP, remained sceptical. Of the loyalist paramilitaries, only the Loyalist Volunteer Force had decommissioned any weapons. Further negotiations took place in October 2006, leading to the St Andrews Agreement.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In May 2007, a power-sharing executive was again established to govern Northern Ireland in devolved matters. The second Northern Ireland Executive had Ian Paisley of the DUP as First Minister and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin as deputy First Minister in a diarchy.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Paisley retired from the office of First Minister and from the leadership of the DUP on 5 June 2008 and was succeeded in both functions by Peter Robinson. In the third Northern Ireland Executive, the same political relationship existed between Robinson and McGuinness as existed formerly between Paisley and McGuinness. After Robinson resigned as First Minister on 11 January 2016, he was replaced by Arlene Foster. Upon McGuinness's resignation on 9 January 2017, the devolved government in Stormont collapsed, as the Agreement demands when no new leader is appointed. An election was called by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire, whereby the DUP and Sinn Féin were returned as the largest parties, and so began a countdown of talks between both leaders before devolved government could be restored. In January 2020, the Executive was re-established.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Seamus Mallon referred to the Agreement as "Sunningdale for slow learners", which suggests that it was nothing more than what was on offer in the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973. This assertion has been criticised by political scientists like Richard Wilford and Stefan Wolff. The former stated that "there are ... significant differences between them [Sunningdale and Belfast], both in terms of content and the circumstances surrounding their negotiation, implementation, and operation".


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The main issues omitted by Sunningdale and addressed by the Belfast Agreement are the principle of self-determination, the recognition of both national identities, British-Irish intergovernmental cooperation and the legal procedures to make power-sharing mandatory, such as the cross-community vote and the D'Hondt system to appoint ministers to the executive. Former IRA member and journalist Tommy McKearney says that the main difference is the intention of the British government to broker a comprehensive deal by including the IRA and the most uncompromising unionists. Regarding the right to self-determination, two qualifications are noted by the legal writer Austen Morgan. Firstly, the cession of territory from one state to another state has to be by international agreement between the UK and Irish governments. Secondly, the people of Northern Ireland can no longer bring about a united Ireland on their own; they need not only the Irish government but the people of their neighbouring state, Ireland, to also endorse unity. Morgan also pointed out that, unlike the Ireland Act 1949 and the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, devised under Sunningdale, the 1998 agreement and the consequent British legislation did expressly foresee the possibility of a united Ireland.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: As well as the number of signatories, Stefan Wolff identifies the following similarities and differences between the issues addressed in the two agreements:


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Because the Good Friday Agreement binds the British government on several points of law in Northern Ireland, it has de facto become a part of Constitution of the United Kingdom. Legal commentator David Allen Green described it as "a core constitutional text of the UK, and of Ireland ... of more everyday importance than hallowed instruments such as, say, Magna Carta of 1215 or the 1689 Bill of Rights".


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Because the Agreement commits the government to enshrine the European Convention on Human Rights in law and allows Northern Ireland residents access to the European Court of Human Rights, it required enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998. Consequently, the Agreement was a significant factor preventing the repeal of that Act and its replacement with the proposed British Bill of Rights that Prime Minister David Cameron had promised.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: The Agreement also makes reference to the UK and the Republic of Ireland as "partners in the European Union", and it was argued in "R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union" that the Agreement meant that the consent of Northern Ireland's voters was required to leave the European Union (Brexit). The UK Supreme Court unanimously held that this was not the case, but the Agreement has nevertheless strongly shaped the form of Brexit.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: During the negotiations on Britain's planned 2019 withdrawal from the European Union, the EU produced a position paper on its concerns regarding the Good Friday Agreement. The paper identified a range of issues including the avoidance of a hard border, North–South cooperation, citizenship, and the Common Travel Area. Anyone born in Northern Ireland, who is also entitled to Irish citizenship, will also be able to retain EU citizenship after Brexit. Under the European Union negotiating directives for Brexit, the UK was asked to satisfy the other EU members that these topics had been addressed in order to progress to the second stage of Brexit negotiations.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In order to protect North–South co-operation and avoid controls on the Irish border, the UK, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, agreed to protect the Agreement in all its parts and "in the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom would maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement", with the acknowledgement that this is "under the caveat that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed". This provision formed part of a UK-EU deal which was rejected by the British parliament on three occasions. May's successor, Boris Johnson, called for the "Irish backstop" to be removed from the proposed withdrawal agreement. The new Northern Ireland Protocol replaced the Irish backstop as part of the deal which Johnson brokered on 17 October 2019.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In September 2020, while negotiations with the EU over future trading arrangements continued, the Internal Market Bill was introduced in which the Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis told the House of Commons that the British government planned to break international law in a "specific and limited way", by introducing new powers through notwithstanding clauses that would circumvent certain treaty obligations to the EU as set out in the withdrawal agreement. The Bill was criticised in the UK and internationally, with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales both describing the Conservative government's proposals as an attempt to seize power and undo devolution. Most parties in Northern Ireland expressed concern at the Bill, though some within the Democratic Unionist Party welcomed it. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that "trust has been eroded". The bill was enacted in December 2020 without the controversial Northern Ireland provisions.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: Some Brexit supporters have criticised the British government for erecting a trade border "down the Irish Sea"—in other words, between the island of Ireland and Britain. They state that in order to prevent a 'hard border' on the island of Ireland, customs and other controls have instead been imposed on goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland; and that Northern Ireland remains for many purposes in the EU Single Market and Customs Union, subject to a regulatory regime into which it has no input.


title: Good Friday Agreement

text: In March 2021, loyalist groups said they were temporarily withdrawing their support for the agreement. The Loyalist Communities Council said that unionist opposition to the protocol should remain "peaceful and democratic".


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a government witness against him and other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime family, and later for the Brooklyn faction of the Gambino family, Gravano was part of the group that conspired to murder Gambino boss Paul Castellano in 1985. Gravano played a key role in planning and executing Castellano's murder, along with Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, Frank DeCicco, and Joseph Armone.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Soon after Castellano's murder, Gotti elevated Gravano to become an official captain after Salvatore "Toddo" Aurelio retired, a position Gravano held until 1987 when he became consigliere. In 1990 he became underboss, a position he held at the time he became a government witness. In 1991, Gravano agreed to turn state's evidence and testify for the prosecution against Gotti after hearing the boss making several disparaging remarks about Gravano on a wiretap that implicated them both in several murders. At the time, Gravano was the highest-ranking member of the Five Families to break his blood oath and cooperate with the government. As a result of his testimonies, Gotti and Frank Locascio were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1992. In 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison; however, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year. He was released early and entered the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program in Arizona, but left the program in 1995.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1997, Gravano was consulted several times for the biographical book about his life, "Underboss" by author Peter Maas. In February 2000, Gravano and nearly 40 other ring members—including his ex-wife Debra, daughter Karen and son Gerard—were arrested on federal and state drug charges. In 2002, Gravano was sentenced in New York to twenty years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to nineteen years in prison to run concurrently. He was initially scheduled to be released in March 2019, but was released early in September 2017.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Salvatore Gravano was born on March 12, 1945, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, to Giorlando "Gerry" and Caterina "Kay" Gravano. He was the youngest of three children, having two sisters. Both of Gravano's parents hailed from Sicily; his mother was brought to the U.S. as a child, while his father had been on the crew of a freighter when he jumped ship in Canada and entered the U.S. illegally. Gravano's father ran a small dress factory and maintained a good standard of living for the family. Early on, one of Gravano's relatives remarked that he looked like his uncle Sammy. From that point on, everyone called Gravano "Sammy" instead of "Salvatore" or "Sal".


title: Sammy Gravano

text: At age 13, Gravano joined the Rampers, a prominent street gang in Bensonhurst. He had found that some people had stolen his bicycle and went to fight the thieves. Made men who were watching from a café saw him take on a few people at once, and they gave Gravano back his bike. As he was leaving, one of the made men remarked on how little Sammy fought "like a bull", hence his nickname "The Bull".


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano had dyslexia, was bullied, and did poorly in school. Teachers classified him as being "a slow learner", was held back from grade advancement on two occasions, and also punched school officials on two occasions. Gravano was sent to a school for "incorrigibles"; however, just before he reached the age of 16, the school refused to keep him any longer. Gravano's father tried to redirect and discipline his son, including forcing him to attend Mass, but had little success.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1964, Gravano was drafted into the United States Army and served in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While an enlisted man, Gravano mainly worked as a mess hall cook. He rose to the rank of corporal and was granted an honorable discharge after two years.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1971, Gravano married Debra Scibetta; they had two children. His daughter Karen Gravano appeared on the VH1 reality series "Mob Wives" beginning in 2011, and released a book in 2013 titled "Mob Daughter: The Mafia, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Me!"


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Later in his mob career, Gravano was ordered to help arrange the murder of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Scibetta. Gravano is also the brother-in-law of Gambino "caporegime" Eddie Garafola and Mario Garafola. Gravano was a childhood friend of Colombo crime family associate Gerard Pappa.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: The Mafia had a longstanding presence in Bensonhurst via the Profaci family, which evolved into the Colombo family. Despite his father's attempts to dissuade him, Gravano, like many of his Ramper colleagues, drifted into the Cosa Nostra. He first became associated with the Cosa Nostra in 1968 through Anthony Spero, whose uncle Shorty was an associate of the Colombo family under future boss, Carmine "The Snake" Persico. Gravano was initially involved in crimes such as larceny, hijacking, and armed robbery. He quickly moved into racketeering, loansharking, and running a lucrative poker game in the back room of an after-hours club, of which he was part owner.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano became a particular favorite of family boss Joe Colombo, who used Gravano to picket the FBI Manhattan headquarters as part of his Italian-American Civil Rights League initiative. Gravano's rise was so sudden that it was generally understood that he would be among the first to become made when the Cosa Nostra's membership books were reopened (they had been closed since 1957).


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1970, Gravano committed his first murder—that of Joseph Colucci, a fellow Spero associate with whose wife Tommy Spero was having an affair. Gravano described the experience thus:


title: Sammy Gravano

text: As that Beatles song played, I became a killer. Joe Colucci was going to die. I was going to kill him because he was plotting to kill me. I felt the rage inside me. ... Everything went in slow motion. I could almost feel the bullet leaving the gun and entering his skull. It was strange. I didn't hear the first shot. I didn't see any blood. His head didn't seem to move. ... I felt like I was a million miles away, like this was all a dream.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: The Colucci murder won respect and approval from Persico for Gravano. Gravano later became a mentor to Colucci's son Jack, who became involved in the construction industry as a Gambino associate.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In the early 1970s, Colombo soldier Ralph Spero, brother of Shorty, became envious of Gravano's success, fearing that he would become a made man before his son, Tommy. This rivalry culminated with the death of Ralph Ronga, another Colombo family associate in Ralph Spero's crew. After Ronga's death, a rumor had spread that Gravano had attempted to pick up Ronga's widow Sybil Davies at a bar, though Gravano maintained that Davies was the one hitting on him. Ralph Spero used this rumor in an attempt to gain support to have Gravano killed, or as an excuse to kill Gravano himself. While Shorty Spero believed Gravano rather than Ralph, he and the Colombo hierarchy decided that to avoid conflict, it was best for Gravano to leave the Colombo family and join the Gambino crime family.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Now with the Gambinos, Gravano became an associate of capo Salvatore "Toddo" Aurello. Aurello quickly took a liking to Gravano and became his mob mentor. Around this time, Gravano took a construction job (he later claimed to have considered leaving the criminal life). A former associate, however, falsely claimed to the New York District Attorney's Office that Gravano and another associate were responsible for a double murder from 1969. After Gravano was indicted, he desperately needed money to pay his legal bills. He quit his construction job and went on a self-described "robbing rampage" for a year and a half. One week into the trial, the prosecution moved to dismiss the charges. Gravano later said of this legal problem:


title: Sammy Gravano

text: That pinch [arrest] changed my whole life. I never, ever stopped a second from there on in. I was like a madman. Never stopped stealing. Never stopped robbing. I was obsessed.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano's robbery spree impressed Aurello, who proposed him for membership in the Gambino family soon after the membership books were reopened. In 1976, Gravano was formally initiated into the Gambino family as a made man.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1978, boss Paul Castellano allegedly ordered the murder of Gambino associate Nicholas Scibetta. A cocaine and alcohol user, Scibetta participated in several public fights and insulted the daughter of George DeCicco. Since Scibetta was Gravano's brother-in-law, Castellano asked Frank DeCicco to first notify Gravano of the impending hit. When advised of Scibetta's fate, a furious Gravano said he would kill Castellano first. However, Gravano was eventually calmed by DeCicco and accepted Scibetta's death as the punishment earned by his behavior. Another part of the motive for the murder was that Scibetta was suspected of being gay. Gravano later said, "I chose against Nicky. I took an oath that Cosa Nostra came before everything." Scibetta was dismembered and his body was never found, other than an arm.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano later opened an afterhours club in Bensonhurst. The bar was the scene of a violent altercation one night, involving a rowdy biker gang intent on ransacking the establishment. A melee ensued, in which Gravano broke his ankle and the bikers were chased off. Gravano then went to Castellano and received permission to murder the leader of the gang. Along with Milito, Gravano hunted down the leader, wounding him and killing another member of the gang. Castellano was flabbergasted when he learned the crutch-ridden Gravano personally took part in the hit.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Like his predecessor Carlo Gambino, Castellano favored emphasizing more sophisticated schemes involving construction, trucking, and garbage disposal over traditional street-level activities such as loansharking, gambling, and hijackings. Castellano had a particular interest in the construction business. Gravano entered into the plumbing and drywall business with his brother-in-law, Edward Garafola.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano's construction and other business interests soon earned him a reputation as a "good earner" within the Gambino organization and made him a multi-millionaire, enabling him to build a large estate for his family in rural Ocean County, New Jersey. He invested in trotting horses to race at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Gravano became the operator of a popular discotheque, The Plaza Suite in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. He reportedly made $4,000 a week from the Plaza Suite. He also used the club as his construction racket headquarters.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano further ingratiated himself to Castellano when he interceded in a civil war that had erupted within the Philadelphia crime family. In March 1980, longtime Philadelphia boss, Angelo Bruno, was assassinated by his consigliere, Antonio Caponigro, without authorization from The Commission. The Commission summoned Caponigro to New York, where it sentenced him to death for his transgression. After Caponigro was tortured and killed, Philip Testa was installed as the new Philadelphia boss and Nicky Scarfo as consigliere. The Commission subsequently placed contracts on Caponigro's co-conspirators, including John "Johnny Keys" Simone, who also happened to be Bruno's cousin. The Simone contract was given to Gravano.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: After befriending Simone through a series of meetings, Gravano, with the assistance of Milito and D'Angelo, abducted Simone from Yardley Golf Club in Yardley, Pennsylvania (part of suburban Trenton, New Jersey), and drove him to a wooded area on Staten Island.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano then granted Simone's requests to die with his shoes off, in fulfillment of a promise he had made to his wife, and at the hands of a made man. After Gravano removed Simone's shoes, Milito shot Simone in the back of the head, killing him. Gravano later expressed admiration for Simone as a so-called "man's man", remarking favorably on the calmness with which he accepted his fate.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: By the early 1980s, the Plaza Suite was a thriving establishment. Patrons often had to wait an hour to get in and the club featured high-profile live acts such as singers Chubby Checker and the Four Tops.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1982, Frank Fiala, a wealthy businessman and drug trafficker, paid Gravano $40,000 to rent the Plaza Suite for a birthday party he was throwing himself. Two days after the party, Gravano accepted a $1,000,000 offer from Fiala to buy the establishment, which Gravano had only valued at $200,000. The deal was structured to include $100,000 cash as a down payment, $650,000 in gold bullion under the table, and a $250,000 payment at the real estate closing.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Before the transaction was completed, Fiala began acting like he already owned the club. Upon leaving the Plaza Suite, Gravano called Garafola and set up an ambush outside the club, involving Garafola, Milito, D'Angelo, Nicholas Mormando, and Michael DeBatt in the plan. Later that night, Gravano confronted Fiala on the street as he exited the Plaza Suite among a group of people, asking, "Hey, Frank, how you doing?" As Fiala turned around, surprised to see Gravano, Milito came up behind him and shot him in the head. Milito stood over the body and fired a shot into each of Fiala's eyes as Fiala's entourage and the crowd of people on the street dispersed, screaming. Gravano walked up to Fiala's body and spat on him.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano was never charged for the crime; he had made a $5,000 payoff to the later discredited and disgraced New York Police Department homicide detective Louis Eppolito to ensure the investigation yielded no leads.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Although Gravano evaded criminal charges, he incurred Castellano's wrath over the unsanctioned killing. Gravano attempted to lie low for nearly three weeks afterwards, during which time he called his crew together and made the decision to kill Castellano if necessary. Gravano and Milito were then summoned to a meeting with Castellano at a Manhattan restaurant. Castellano had been given the details of what Fiala had done, but he was still livid that Gravano had not come to him for permission to kill Fiala first. Gravano was spared execution when he convinced Castellano that the reason he had kept him in the dark was to protect the boss in case something went wrong with the hit.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Fiala's murder posed one final problem for Gravano in the form of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The high publicity generated by the incident triggered an IRS investigation into Gravano and Fiala's deal for the sale of the Plaza Suite and Gravano was subsequently charged with tax evasion. Gravano was represented by Gerald Shargel and acquitted at trial.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: D'Angelo was later killed by a Colombo family associate celebrating his having been proposed for membership. The killer was then murdered, himself, on orders from the Colombo family.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In the aftermath of the Fiala murder, Gravano continued to focus on his construction business, branching out into the lucrative concrete paving industry. New York City's cement industry was controlled by four of the Five Families, which made millions of dollars by manipulating bids and steering contracts. Gravano said in 1998, "I literally controlled Manhattan, literally. You want concrete poured in Manhattan? That was me. Tishman, Donald Trump, all these guys—they couldn't build a building without me."


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano eventually became embroiled in a dispute with business partner Louie DiBono, a member of another Gambino crew. A sit-down with Castellano was held, at which an irate Gravano accused DiBono of withholding $200,000 in payments for subcontracts and threatened to kill DiBono. Gambino underboss Neil Dellacroce intervened on Gravano's behalf and Castellano told the two men to end their business partnership, though Gravano's standing with the boss slipped as a result of the incident. Dellacroce, however, was rising star John Gotti's mentor, and when word got back to him that Dellacroce had supported Gravano, Gotti was impressed.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: During this time, the FBI had intensified its efforts against the Gambino family and in August 1983, three members of Gotti's crew – Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia, and Gene Gotti – were indicted for heroin trafficking. Castellano was against anyone in the family dealing narcotics. Castellano planned to kill Gene Gotti and Ruggiero if he believed they were drug traffickers. Castellano asked Ruggiero for a copy of the government surveillance tapes that had Ruggiero's conversations. To save Gene Gotti and Ruggiero, Dellacroce stalled the demand. Eventually, one of the reasons for Gotti's killing Castellano was to save his brother and Ruggiero. The FBI had bugged Ruggiero's house and telephone, and Castellano decided he needed copies of the tapes to justify his impending move to Dellacroce and the family's other capos.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: When Castellano was indicted for both his connection to Roy DeMeo's stolen car ring and as part of the Mafia Commission Trial, he learned his own house had been bugged on the basis of evidence from the Ruggiero tapes and he became livid. In June 1985, he again demanded that Dellacroce get him the tapes. Dellacroce and Gotti tried to convince Ruggiero to comply if Castellano explained beforehand how he intended to use the tapes, but Ruggiero refused, fearing he would endanger good friends.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Three months later, Gravano was approached by Robert DiBernardo, a fellow Gambino member acting as an intermediary for Gotti. DiBernardo informed him that Gotti and Ruggiero wanted to meet with him in Queens. Gravano arrived to find only Ruggiero was present. Ruggiero informed Gravano that he and Gotti were planning to murder Castellano and asked for Gravano's support.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano was initially noncommittal, wanting to confer first with Frank DeCicco. In conversation with DeCicco, both men voiced concern that Castellano would designate his nephew, Thomas Gambino, acting boss and his driver, Thomas Bilotti, underboss in the event he was convicted and sent to prison. Neither man appealed to Gravano or DeCicco as leadership material, and they ultimately decided to support the hit on Castellano.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano's second choice to become boss after Castellano's murder was Frank DeCicco, but DeCicco felt John Gotti's ego was too big to take a subservient role. DeCicco argued that Gotti's boldness, intelligence, and charisma made him well-suited to be "a good boss" and he convinced Gravano to give Gotti a chance. DeCicco and Gravano, made a secret pact to kill Gotti and take over the family as boss and underboss, respectively, if they were unhappy with Gotti's leadership after one year. The conspirators' first order of business was meeting with other Gambino members, most of whom were disaffected under Castellano, and gaining their support for the hit. They also recruited longtime capo Joseph "Piney" Armone into the conspiracy. Armone's support was critical; he was a respected old-timer in the family, and it was believed he could help win over Castellano supporters to the new regime.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: The next step was smoothing over the planned hit with the other families. It has long been a hard and fast rule in the Mafia that killing a boss is forbidden without the support of a majority of the Commission. Indeed, Gotti's planned hit would have been the first off-the-record hit on a boss since Frank Costello was nearly killed in 1957. Knowing it would be too risky to approach the other four bosses directly, the conspirators got the support of several important mobsters of their generation in the Lucchese, Colombo and Bonanno families. Gotti and Ruggiero then sought and obtained the approval of key figures from the Colombos and Bonannos, while DeCicco secured the backing of top mobsters aligned with the Luccheses. They did not even consider approaching the Genoveses; Castellano had especially close ties with Genovese boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, and approaching any major Genovese figure, even one of their generation, could have been a tipoff. Gotti could thus claim he had the support of "off-the-record contacts" from three out of five families. With Neil Dellacroce's death on December 2, 1985, the final constraint on a move by Gotti or Castellano against the other was removed. Gotti, enraged that Castellano chose not to attend his mentor's wake, wasted little time in striking.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Not suspecting the plot against him, Castellano invited DeCicco to a meeting on December 16, 1985, with fellow capos Thomas Gambino, James Failla, and Danny Marino at Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. The conspirators considered the restaurant a prime location for the hit because the area would be packed with bustling crowds of holiday shoppers, making it easier for the assassins to blend in and escape. The plans for the assassination were finalized on December 15, and the next afternoon, the conspirators met for a final time on the Lower East Side. At Gotti's suggestion, the shooters wore long white trench coats and black fur Russian hats, which Gravano considered a "brilliant" idea.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gotti and Gravano arrived at the restaurant shortly before 5 o'clock and, after circling the block, parked their car across the intersection and within view of the entrance. Around 5:30, Gravano spotted Castellano's Lincoln Town Car stopped at a nearby intersection and, via walkie talkie, alerted the team of hitmen stationed outside the restaurant of Castellano's approach. Castellano's driver, Thomas Bilotti, pulled the car up directly in front of the entrance. As Castellano and Bilotti exited the Lincoln, they were ambushed and killed in a barrage of bullets. As the hat-and-trench-coat-adorned men slipped away into the night, Gotti calmly drove the car past the front of the restaurant to get a look at the scene. Looking down at Bilotti's body from the passenger window, Gravano remarked, "He's gone."


title: Sammy Gravano

text: After Castellano's death, Gallo–the only surviving member of the hierarchy–convened a three-man committee to temporarily run the family, comprising himself, Gotti and DeCicco. However, it was an open secret that Gotti was acting boss in all but name, and nearly all of the family's "capos" knew he had been the one behind the hit. Gotti was formally acclaimed as the new boss of the Gambino family at a meeting of 20 "capos" held on January 15, 1986. Gotti, in turn, selected DeCicco as his underboss and elevated Gravano to capo after Toddo Aurello announced his desire to retire.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: On April 13, 1986, DeCicco was killed when his car was bombed following a visit to Castellano loyalist James Failla. The bombing was carried out by Victor Amuso and Anthony Casso of the Lucchese family, under orders of Vincent Gigante and Lucchese boss Anthony Corallo, to avenge Castellano and Bilotti by killing their successors; Gotti also planned to visit Failla that day, but canceled, and the bomb was detonated after a soldier who rode with DeCicco was mistaken for the boss.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Bombs had long been banned by the Mafia out of concern that it would put innocent people in harm's way, leading the Gambinos to initially suspect that "zips" — Sicilian "mafiosi" working in the U.S. — were behind it; zips were well known for using bombs.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: The first person on Gravano's hit list after Castellano's murder was Nicholas "Nicky Cowboy" Mormando, a former member of his crew. Mormando had become addicted to crack cocaine and was suspected by Gravano of getting friend and fellow crew member Michael DeBatt addicted to the drug. According to Gravano, Mormando started to act "like a renegade ... berserk". The final straw came when Mormando announced he no longer wanted to be in the crew and planned to start his own gang. Gravano decided he "couldn't take a chance" because Mormando "knew too much" and he got permission from Gotti to kill Mormando.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano arranged to have Mormando murdered on his way to a meeting at Gravano's Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's. After assuring Mormando of his safety, Gravano told him to pick up Joseph Paruta on his way. Paruta got in the backseat of the car and shot Mormando twice in the back of the head. Mormando's corpse was then disposed of in a vacant lot, where it was discovered the next day.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gotti was imprisoned in May 1986 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York, while awaiting trial on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges. He was forced to rely heavily on Gravano, Angelo Ruggiero, and Joseph "Piney" Armone to manage the family's day-to-day affairs while he called the major shots from his jail cell.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In June, Gravano was approached by Ruggiero and, supposedly at Gotti's behest, given orders to murder capo Robert DiBernardo for making negative remarks about Gotti's leadership. Gravano was friendly with DiBernardo and tried to get the murder called off until he had a chance to speak with Gotti after his trial. Ruggiero claimed to have met again with Gotti and told Gravano that the boss wanted DiBernardo killed right away.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano arranged a meeting with DiBernardo where Joe Paruta, a member of Gravano's crew, shot DiBernardo twice in the back of the head as the underboss watched. Gravano later learned that Ruggiero was $250,000 in debt to DiBernardo and realized Ruggiero may have fabricated the orders from Gotti or simply lied to Gotti about what DiBernardo was accused of saying in order to erase the debt and improve his own standing in the family. In any event, DiBernardo's death proved profitable for Gravano, as he took over the deceased man's control of Teamsters Local 282.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gotti's trial ultimately ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury and the boss was freed from jail. Gravano's specific position within the family varied during 1986 and 1987. With Gotti's permission, Gravano set up the murders of Tommy Spero and several other Gambino associates. In 1986, Gotti underwent a racketeering trial. Jury selection for the racketeering case began again in August 1986, with Gotti standing trial alongside Gene "Willie Boy" Johnson (who, despite being exposed as an informant, refused to turn state's evidence), Leonard DiMaria, Tony Rampino, Nicholas Corozzo and John Carneglia.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: At this point, the Gambinos were able to compromise the case when George Pape hid his friendship with Boško Radonjić and was empaneled as juror No. 11. Through Radonjić, Pape contacted Gravano and agreed to sell his vote on the jury for $60,000. On March 13, 1987, they acquitted Gotti and his codefendants of all charges. In the face of previous Mafia convictions, particularly the success of the Mafia Commission Trial, Gotti's acquittal was a major upset that further added to his reputation. The American media dubbed Gotti "The Teflon Don" in reference to the failure of any charges to "stick."


title: Sammy Gravano

text: With DeCicco dead, the Gambinos were left without an underboss. Gotti chose to fill the vacancy with Joseph Armone.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1987, Joseph N. Gallo was replaced with Gravano as consigliere, and by 1990, Gravano was promoted to underboss to replace the acting underboss Frank LoCascio. By this time, Gravano was regarded as a "rising force" in the construction industry and often mingled with executives from major construction firms and union officials at his popular Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano's success was not without a downside. First, his quick rise up the Gambino hierarchy attracted the attention of the FBI, and he was soon placed under surveillance. Second, he started to sense some jealousy from Gotti over the profitability of his legitimate business interests. Nevertheless, Gravano claimed to be kicking up over $2 million each year to Gotti out of his union activities alone. Beginning in January 1988, Gotti, against Gravano's advice, required his "capos" to meet with him at the Ravenite Social Club once a week.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gotti, Gravano and Locascio were often recorded by the bugs placed throughout the Ravenite (concealed in the main room, the first-floor hallway and the upstairs apartment of the building) discussing incriminating events. On December 11, 1990, FBI agents and NYPD detectives raided the Ravenite, arresting Gravano, Gotti and LoCascio. Gravano pleaded guilty to a superseding racketeering charge, and Gotti charged with five murders (Castellano, Bilotti, DiBernardo, Liborio Milito and Louis Dibono), conspiracy to murder Gaetano Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Based on tapes from FBI bugs played at pretrial hearings, the Gambino administration was denied bail. At the same time, attorneys Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel were disqualified from defending Gotti and Gravano after prosecutors successfully contended they were "part of the evidence" and thus liable to be called as witnesses. Prosecutors argued that Cutler and Shargel not only knew about potential criminal activity, but had worked as "in-house counsel" for the Gambino family. Gotti subsequently hired Albert Krieger, a Miami attorney who had worked with Joseph Bonanno, to replace Cutler.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: The tapes also created a rift between Gotti and Gravano, where the Gambino boss described his newly appointed underboss as too greedy and attempted to frame Gravano as the main force behind the murders of DiBernardo, Milito and Dibono. Gotti's attempt at reconciliation failed, leaving Gravano disillusioned with the mob and doubtful on his chances of winning his case without Shargel, his former attorney. Gravano ultimately opted to turn state's evidence, formally agreeing to testify on November 13, 1991. He was the first member of the hierarchy of a New York crime family to turn informer, and the second confessed underboss in the history of the American Mafia to do so after the Philadelphia crime family's Phil Leonetti.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gotti and LoCascio were tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York before District Judge I. Leo Glasser. Jury selection began in January 1992 with an anonymous jury and, for the first time in a Brooklyn federal case, fully sequestered during the trial due to Gotti's reputation for jury tampering. The trial commenced with the prosecution's opening statements on February 12; prosecutors Andrew Maloney and John Gleeson began their case by playing tapes showing Gotti discussing Gambino family business, including murders he approved, and confirming the animosity between Gotti and Castellano to establish the former's motive to kill his boss. After calling an eyewitness of the Sparks hit who identified Carneglia as one of the men who shot Bilotti, they then brought Gravano to testify on March 2. On the stand, Gravano confirmed Gotti's place in the structure of the Gambino family and described in detail the conspiracy to assassinate Castellano, giving a full description of the hit and its aftermath. Gravano confessed to 19 murders, implicating Gotti in four of them. Krieger, and LoCascio's attorney, Anthony Cardinale, proved unable to shake Gravano during cross-examination. After additional testimony and tapes, the government rested its case on March 24. Among other outbursts, Gotti called Gravano a junkie while his attorneys sought to discuss his past steroid use.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: On June 23, 1992, Glasser sentenced Gotti and LoCascio to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and a $250,000 fine. Gotti surrendered to federal authorities to serve his prison time on December 14, 1992. On September 26, 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison. However, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Later in 1994, Gravano was released early and entered the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program. The government moved him to Tempe, Arizona, where he assumed the name Jimmy Moran and started a swimming pool installation company.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: However, in 1995, Gravano left Witness Protection and relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. A federal prosecutor later said that Gravano did not like the constraints of the program. Gravano began living very openly, giving interviews to magazines, and appearing in a nationally televised interview with television journalist Diane Sawyer. It was reported that he had undergone plastic surgery to his face. In 1996, his wife Debra divorced him.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 1997, Gravano was consulted several times for the 1997 biographical book about his life, "Underboss" by author Peter Maas. In it, Gravano said he became a government witness after Gotti attempted to defame him at their trial. Gravano finally realized that the Cosa Nostra code of honor was a sham. At this time, Gravano also hired a publicist, despite the fact Gravano complained often about the publicity-seeking Gotti. After the publication of "Underboss", several families of Gravano's victims filed a $25 million lawsuit against him. Also in 1997, New York State took legal action to seize Gravano's profits from the book.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: During an interview Gravano had with the newspaper "The Arizona Republic", he said federal agents he had met after becoming a government witness had become his personal friends and even visited him in Arizona while on vacation. Gravano later said that he did not want "The Republic" to publish the story, but relented after the paper allegedly threatened to reveal that his family was living with him in Phoenix. The story so incensed his former mob compatriots that they forced the Gambinos to put a murder contract on him. The FBI alleged that Peter Gotti ordered two Gambino soldiers, Thomas "Huck" Carbonaro and Eddie Garafola, to murder Gravano in Arizona in 1999.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: By the late 1990s, Gravano had re-engaged in criminal activity. He partnered with a local youth gang known as the "Devil Dogs" after his son, Gerard, became friends with the gang's 23-year-old leader, Michael Papa. Gravano started a major ecstasy trafficking organization, selling over 30,000 tablets and grossing $500,000 a week.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In February 2000, Gravano and nearly 40 other ring members — including his ex-wife Debra, daughter Karen, and Gerard — were arrested on federal and state drug charges. Gravano was implicated by informants in his own drug ring, as well as by recorded conversations in which he discussed drug profits with Debra and Karen.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: On May 25, 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to drug trafficking charges. On June 29, 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty in Phoenix to the state charges.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 2002, Gravano was diagnosed with Graves' disease, a thyroid disorder that can cause fatigue, weight loss with increased appetite, and hair loss.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: On September 7, 2002, after numerous delays, Gravano was sentenced in New York to 20 years in prison. A month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to 19 years in prison to run concurrently. Gravano served his sentence at ADX Florence, part of it being in solitary confinement. Gerard Gravano received nine years in prison in October 2002. Debra and Karen Gravano also pleaded guilty and received several years on probation. In November 2003, Sammy and Karen were ordered to pay $805,713.41 as reimbursement for court costs and investigative expenses relating to an earlier drug ring judgment.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: On February 24, 2003, New Jersey state prosecutors announced Gravano's indictment for ordering the 1980 murder of NYPD detective Peter Calabro by murderer Richard Kuklinski. Gravano denied any involvement in Calabro's death and rejected a plea deal, under which he would have received no additional jail time if he confessed to the crime and implicated all his accomplices. The charges against Gravano were dropped after Kuklinski's death in 2006.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In August 2015, Gravano's request to leave prison early was denied for reasons citing his "longstanding reputation for extreme violence".


title: Sammy Gravano

text: In 2013, National Geographic Channel dramatized Gravano's ecstasy ring in a scene in the "Banged Up Abroad" episode "Raving Arizona", televised worldwide. The episode told the story of ecstasy dealer "English" Shaun Attwood, who was Gravano's main competitor in the Arizona ecstasy market.


title: Sammy Gravano

text: Gravano was listed as being in the Arizona state prison system at a CO Special Services unit. He was initially scheduled to be released in March 2019, however, was released early on September 18, 2017.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premier League history, he is the Premier League's record goalscorer with 260 goals. He was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in 1994 and won the PFA Player of the Year award in 1995. In 1996, he came third in both Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Shearer was one of the first two players inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer played his entire career in the top level of English football. He started his career at Southampton in 1988 before moving to Blackburn Rovers in 1992, where he established himself as among the most prolific goalscorers in Europe. Whilst at Blackburn Rovers, he won the 1994–95 Premier League, as well as two consecutive Premier League Golden Boots. In the summer of 1996, he joined his hometown club Newcastle United for a then world record £15 million. He led Newcastle to the 1998 FA Cup and 1999 FA Cup finals, and eventually became the club's all-time top scorer. He retired at the end of the 2005–06 season.


title: Alan Shearer

text: For the England national team, Shearer appeared 63 times and scored 30 goals. UEFA Euro 1996 was his biggest success at international football; England reached the semi-finals and Shearer was awarded the UEFA Euro Golden Boot and was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament. He went on to represent England at 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. Shearer retired from international football following the end of the latter competition.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Since retiring as a player in 2006, Shearer has worked as a television pundit for the BBC. In 2009, he briefly left his BBC role to become Newcastle United's manager in the last eight games of their 2008–09 season, in an unsuccessful attempt to save them from relegation. Shearer is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, a Freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne and an honorary Doctor of Civil Law of Northumbria and Newcastle Universities.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Alan Shearer was born in the Gosforth area of Newcastle upon Tyne on 13 August 1970, the son of Anne and sheet-metal worker Alan Shearer. His parents were working class. His father encouraged him to play football in his youth, and Shearer continued with the sport as he progressed through school. He was educated at Gosforth Central Middle School and Gosforth High School. Growing up, he played on the streets of his hometown and was originally a midfielder because "it meant [he] could get more involved in the games". Shearer captained his school team and helped a Newcastle City Schools team win a seven-a-side tournament at St James' Park, before joining the amateur Wallsend Boys Club as a teenager. It was while playing for the Wallsend club that he was spotted by Southampton's scout Jack Hixon, which resulted in him spending his summers training with the club's youth team, a time he would later refer to as "the making of me". Shearer had successful trials for First Division clubs West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Newcastle United, before being offered a youth contract with Southampton in April 1986.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer was promoted to the first team after spending two years with the youth squad. He made his professional debut for Southampton on 26 March 1988, coming on as a substitute in a First Division fixture at Chelsea, before prompting national headlines in his full debut at The Dell two weeks later. He scored a hat-trick, helping the team to a 4–2 victory against Arsenal, thus becoming the youngest player – at 17 years, 240 days – to score a hat-trick in the top division, breaking Jimmy Greaves' 30-year–old record. Shearer ended the 1987–88 season with three goals in five games, and was rewarded with his first professional contract.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Despite this auspicious start to his career, Shearer was only eased into the first team gradually and made just ten goalless appearances for the club the following season. Throughout his career Shearer was recognised for his strength, which, during his time at Southampton, enabled him to retain the ball and provide opportunities for teammates. Playing as a lone striker between wide men, Rod Wallace and Matt Le Tissier, Shearer scored three goals in 26 appearances in the 1989–90 season, and in the next, four goals in 36 games. His performances in the centre of the "Saints" attack were soon recognised by the fans, who voted him their Player of the Year for 1991.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In the middle of 1991, Shearer was a member of the England national under-21 football squad in the Toulon Tournament in Toulon, France. Shearer was the star of the tournament where he scored seven goals in four games. It was during the 1991–92 season that Shearer rose to national prominence. 13 goals in 41 appearances for the "Saints" led to an England call-up; he scored on his debut, and was strongly linked in the press with a summer move to Manchester United. A possible move for Shearer was being mentioned in the media during late autumn of 1991, but he rejected talk of a transfer and vowed to see out the season with Southampton, resisting the temptation of a possible transfer to the two clubs who headed the title race for most of the season. Speculation of a transfer to Liverpool, who finished the season as FA Cup winners, also came to nothing.


title: Alan Shearer

text: During the middle of 1992, Southampton's manager, Ian Branfoot, became "the most popular manager in English football", as he took telephone calls from clubs "trying to bargain with players they don't want plus cash". Although Branfoot accepted that a sale was inevitable, he claimed that "whatever happens, we are in the driving seat". In July 1992, Shearer was sold to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3.6 million, with David Speedie reluctantly moving to The Dell as part of the deal. Despite Branfoot's claim to be "in the driving seat", "Saints" failed to include a "sell-on clause" in the contract. Shearer, less than a month off his 22nd birthday, was the most expensive player in British football. In his four years in the Southampton first team, Shearer made a total of 158 appearances in all competitions, scoring 43 goals.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Despite making just one goalless appearance as England failed to progress past the Euro 1992 group stages, Shearer was soon subject to an English transfer record-breaking £3.6 million bid from Blackburn Rovers. Although there was also interest from Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Blackburn benefactor Jack Walker's millions were enough to prise the striker from Southampton, and Shearer moved north to Ewood Park in the middle of 1992.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 15 August 1992, the opening weekend of the first Premier League season, Shearer scored twice against Crystal Palace with two strikes from the edge of the 18-yard box. He missed half of his first season with Blackburn through injury after snapping his right anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Leeds United in December 1992, but scored 16 goals in the 21 games in which he did feature. Shearer also became a regular in the England team this season and scored his second international goal; it came in a 4–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier win over Turkey in November. However, Shearer was forced to miss January through to May due to injury and England's World Cup qualification chances were hit by a run of poor form.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Returning to fitness for the 1993–94 season, he scored 31 goals from 40 games as Blackburn finished runners-up in the Premier League. His performances for the club led to him being named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for that season. On the international scene, England had failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals, but Shearer added three more goals to his international tally before embarking on his most successful domestic season as a player to date.


title: Alan Shearer

text: The arrival of Chris Sutton for the 1994–95 season established a strong attacking partnership at Blackburn. Shearer's 34 goals coupled with Sutton's 15, helped the Lancashire club take the Premier League title from archrivals Manchester United on the final day of the season, and the duo gained the nickname "the SAS" (Shearer And Sutton). After being asked by the press how he planned to celebrate winning the title, Shearer replied with "creosoting the fence". Shearer also had his first taste of European football in the UEFA Cup that season, and scored in the second leg as Blackburn went out in the first round, losing to Trelleborgs FF of Sweden. His efforts for the club led to Shearer being awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year for 1995.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Although the club could not retain the title the following year, Shearer again ended the (now 38-game) season as Premier League top scorer, with 31 goals in 35 games, as Blackburn finished seventh in the league. The previous season's first-place finish also saw the club enter the Champions League. Shearer's only goal in six full Champions League games was a penalty in a 4–1 victory against Rosenborg BK in the final fixture and Blackburn finished third in their group, failing to progress to the next stage.


title: Alan Shearer

text: He passed the 100-goal milestone for Blackburn in all competitions on 23 September 1995, scoring a hat-trick in their 5–1 home win over Coventry City in the Premier League. On 30 December, he scored his 100th Premier League goal, making him the first player to hit the landmark, in a 2–1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur. His final tally for the club was 112 goals in the Premier League and 130 in all competitions. His final goals for the club came on 17 April 1996, when he scored twice in a 3–2 home league win over Wimbledon.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer's international strike rate had also dried up, with no goals in the twelve matches leading up to Euro 96. He missed the final three games of the season for his club due to injury, but recovered in time to play in England's UEFA European Championship campaign.


title: Alan Shearer

text: After Euro 96, Manchester United and Real Madrid again sought to sign Shearer, and attempted to enter the battle for his signature. However Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards and Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz stated that Blackburn Rovers refused to let Shearer go to Old Trafford or Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Ultimately Shearer joined his boyhood club: Newcastle United, Manchester United's title rivals.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 30 July 1996, for a world transfer record-breaking £15 million (equivalent to £ million today) Shearer joined his hometown club and league runners-up Newcastle United, managed by his hero Keegan. Shearer made his league debut away at Everton, on 17 August 1996, and maintained his form during the rest of the season, finishing as Premier League top-scorer for the third consecutive season with 25 goals in 31 Premier League games, as well as winning another PFA Player of the Year accolade, despite a groin injury forcing him to miss seven matches. Perhaps his best performance of the season came on 2 February 1997, when Newcastle went into the final 15 minutes of the game 3–1 down at home to Leicester City in the league, only for Shearer to win them the game 4–3 by scoring a late hat-trick. However, the league title still eluded the club, who finished second in the league for a consecutive year, with Keegan resigning midway through the season.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Another injury problem, this time an ankle ligament injury sustained in a pre-season match at Goodison Park, restricted Shearer to just two goals in 17 games in the 1997–98 season. His injury was reflected in the club's form, and Newcastle finished just 13th in the Premier League. To help Shearer get over the injury, club physiotherapist Paul Ferris devised unorthodox methods. At the club's training ground at Durham University, Ferris stacked six school benches and placed Shearer on top with high-jump mats either side – the striker trying to improve his balance by standing on one leg and bending over to pick up coins while having objects thrown at him, while a crowd of student onlookers watched on. However, United (now managed by Shearer's old boss at Blackburn, Kenny Dalglish) had a good run in the FA Cup; Shearer scored the winning goal in a semi-final victory over Sheffield United as the team reached the final. The team were unable to get on the scoresheet at Wembley, and lost the game 2–0 to Arsenal.


title: Alan Shearer

text: An incident during a game against Leicester City in the league saw Shearer charged with misconduct by the FA, with media sources claiming that video footage showed him intentionally kicking Neil Lennon in the head following a challenge. The referee of the game took no action against Shearer, and he was then cleared of all charges by the FA, with Lennon giving evidence in the player's defence. Former Football Association chief Graham Kelly, who brought the charges against the player, later claimed in his autobiography that Shearer had threatened to withdraw himself from the 1998 World Cup squad if the charges were upheld, a claim strenuously denied by Shearer.


title: Alan Shearer

text: An almost injury-free season helped Shearer improve on his previous year's tally in the 1998–99 season, the striker converting 14 goals in 30 league games and replacing Rob Lee as Newcastle captain, but Newcastle finished 13th again, with Ruud Gullit having replaced Kenny Dalglish just after the season got underway. He also helped Newcastle to a second consecutive FA Cup final and qualification for the following season's UEFA Cup, scoring twice in the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, but they once again lost 2–0, this time to treble-chasing Manchester United.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On the opening day of the 1999–2000 season, Shearer received the first red card of his career in his 100th appearance for Newcastle. After dropping Shearer to the bench in a Tyne-Wear derby loss against Sunderland, the unpopular Gullit resigned to be replaced by the 66-year-old Bobby Robson. Despite Gullit giving Shearer the captain's armband, reports of a rift between club captain and manager were rife, Gullit's decision to drop Shearer proved deeply unpopular with fans and his departure capped a dismal start to the season. The animosity between Shearer and Gullit was later confirmed by the latter, who reported telling the striker that he was "...the most overrated player I have ever seen." Ironically, Robson had tried to sign Shearer for Barcelona in 1997, making a bid of £20million which would have seen Shearer break the world's transfer fee record for the second time in 12 months. However, then Newcastle manager Kenny Dalglish rejected the offer.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In Robson's first match in charge, Shearer scored five goals in an 8–0 defeat of Sheffield Wednesday. With Robson in charge, the team moved away from the relegation zone, finishing in mid-table and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, but a third consecutive final was beyond them as they were beaten by Chelsea. Shearer missed only one league game and notched up 23 goals.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer suffered an injury-hit and frustrating season in the 2000–01 season, having retired from international football after the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament to focus on club football. He managed only five goals in 19 games in the league. The 2001–02 season was much better though: Shearer bagged 23 goals in 37 league games as Newcastle finished fourth — their highest standing since 1997 — meaning they would qualify for the following season's Champions League competition. One of the most memorable incidents of the season saw Roy Keane sent off after a confrontation with Shearer during Newcastle's 4–3 win over the "Red Devils" in September 2001. Shearer also saw red for the second time in his career this season, after allegedly elbowing an opposition player in a match against Charlton Athletic, however, this decision was later rescinded.


title: Alan Shearer

text: The 2002–03 season saw Shearer and Newcastle make their return to the UEFA Champions League. Newcastle lost their first three matches in the opening group stage, but Shearer's goal against Dynamo Kyiv, coupled with further wins against Juventus and Feyenoord saw the club progress to the second group stage.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer's Champions League hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen and a brace against Inter Milan in the second group stage helped him reach a total of seven Champions League goals, along with his 17 in 35 games in the league, and a total of 25 for the season as the team again improved to finish in third place in the Premier League.


title: Alan Shearer

text: After this, Newcastle would have one more chance to progress in the Champions League in early 2003, but Shearer was one of those who failed to score as the team were eliminated in a penalty shootout by Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round. United progressed well in that season's UEFA Cup and Shearer's six goals helped the club reach the semi-finals, where they were beaten by eventual runners up Olympique de Marseille. Domestically he also had a good season, with 22 goals in 37 appearances, however this did not prevent the club dropping out of the Champions League places to finish in fifth, qualifying once again for the UEFA Cup.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Announcing that this would be his final season before retirement, Shearer's form in the 2004–05 season was patchy; alongside new signing Patrick Kluivert, he scored only seven goals in his 28 games as the club finished the season in 14th place. The club fared better in the cup competitions, however, eventually losing out to Sporting CP in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals. Shearer scored a hat-trick in the first round win against Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin, and ended the season with a haul of 11 European goals, in addition to his one goal in domestic cups.


title: Alan Shearer

text: The middle of 2005 saw Shearer reverse his decision to retire, after persuasion from manager Graeme Souness. He decided to continue playing in a player-coach capacity until the end of the following season. and he returned for one more season in the 2005–06 season. This last season saw him break Jackie Milburn's 49-year-old record of 200 goals for Newcastle United (not including his 38 World War II Wartime League goals) when he netted his 201st strike in a home Premier League fixture against Portsmouth on 4 February 2006, becoming the club's highest-ever league and cup competition goalscorer with 201 goals altogether. On 17 April 2006, with three games remaining in his final season as a player, Shearer suffered a tear to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee after a collision during a 4–1 win at Sunderland in which he scored his 206th and final goal in what was his 395th appearance for the club. The injury caused him to miss those final three games, effectively bringing forward his retirement. Shearer finished his final season with 10 goals in 32 league games.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In tribute to Shearer's contribution to Newcastle United over more than ten years, the club erected a large banner of Shearer on the outside of the cantilever superstructure of the Gallowgate End of St James' Park. The banner measured high by wide, covering almost half of the Gallowgate End, aptly placed above the club bar, Shearer's Bar, opened in his honour in 2005. The banner depicted Shearer as the "Gallowgate Giant", with one arm aloft in his signature goal celebration, with the message "Thanks for 10 great years", and was featured in the media coverage reflecting on his career at the club, with the banner being displayed from 19 April 2006 until 11 May 2006, the day of his testimonial match. The banner could be seen across the city and as far away as Gateshead across the River Tyne, standing taller than the iconic local landmark, the Angel of the North.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer was awarded a testimonial match by the club, against Scottish side Celtic. All proceeds of the match went to charitable causes. Because of the injury he sustained three games earlier at Sunderland, Shearer was unable to play in the whole match; however, he kicked off the game and came off the bench to score a penalty, helping Newcastle win the game 3–2. The match was a sell-out, and saw Shearer perform a lap of honour at the end with his family, with his young son covering his ears due to the volume of noise produced by the crowd in tribute.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer's international career began in 1990 when he was handed a callup to the England under-21 squad under Dave Sexton. During his time with the squad, he scored 13 times in 11 games, a record return which is still unbeaten. The striker's goals at this level, coupled with his club form, meant he was soon promoted to the senior squad by coach Graham Taylor. Marking his debut in the 2–0 win against France in February 1992 with a goal, he made his only appearance for the England B team a month later. Due to replace Gary Lineker, who retired from international action after UEFA Euro 1992, in the England attack, Shearer played only intermittently in the qualifying campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup due to injury and the team failed to reach the competition finals.


title: Alan Shearer

text: UEFA Euro 1996 was a more positive experience for both Shearer and England. With England not required to qualify as hosts, Shearer had not scored in 12 games in the 21 months prior, and even his overall goalscoring record for England did not look too impressive so far, with five goals in 23 games. However, he found the net in the 22nd minute of the first game, against Switzerland. Scoring once in the following game against Scotland and twice in a 4–1 win over the Netherlands, Shearer helped England to progress to the next stage in front of their own fans in Wembley.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In the quarter-finals, England were outplayed by Spain but got through to a penalty shootout after a goalless draw. Shearer scored the first England penalty, while the Spaniards failed to score from two of theirs, sending England into the semi-final against Germany. Shearer headed England into the lead after three minutes, but the Germans quickly equalised and the match went to penalties again. This time, Germany won from the spot; although Shearer scored, his teammate Gareth Southgate missed his kick and England were eliminated. Shearer's five goals made him the competition's top scorer, and together with teammates David Seaman and Steve McManaman, was listed in the official UEFA team of the tournament.


title: Alan Shearer

text: The new England manager Glenn Hoddle appointed Shearer captain for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Moldova on 1 September 1996, and the player held onto the captaincy after scoring once in that match and twice in the following game against Poland. He scored a total of five goals in England's successful qualification campaign for the World Cup, adding strikes against Georgia and away to Poland to his tally. Shearer was sidelined for much of the 1997–98 season, but recovered to play in the World Cup finals. With Michael Owen replacing Teddy Sheringham as Shearer's strike partner, Shearer's return saw him score England's first goal of the tournament, in a 2–0 win over Tunisia, his only goal in the three group matches. England faced long-time rivals Argentina in the second round. Shearer scored a first-half equaliser from the penalty-spot before David Beckham was sent off early in the second half. In the final minutes of the game Sol Campbell headed in what could have been the winning goal only for the referee to disallow it due to Shearer having elbowed goalkeeper Carlos Roa. The scores tied 2–2, the game went to penalties. Shearer scored again, but England were eliminated after David Batty's shot was saved by the Argentina goalkeeper. This defeat ended England's participation in what was to be Shearer's only World Cup tournament.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In September 1999, Shearer scored his only England hat-trick in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Luxembourg. This helped England reach a play-off against Scotland; England won the game over two legs and in doing so qualified for the European Championships. By now, Shearer was approaching his 30th birthday, and he announced that he intended to retire from international football after the Euro 2000 tournament.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer did not score in England's opening 3–2 defeat against Portugal, but did so as England defeated Germany 1–0 in Charleroi, ensuring that England beat their European neighbours for the first time since the 1966 World Cup Final. To remain in the tournament, England only required a draw against Romania in the final group match, and Shearer scored a penalty as England went in at half-time 2–1 up, but Romania ultimately won 3–2. England's tournament was over, and so was Shearer's international career. From his 63 caps, he captained the team 34 times and scored thirty goals; he is ranked joint-sixth in the England all-time goalscorers list with Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney. Shearer remained in international retirement despite speculation of a return during the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship campaigns, and further declined an offer to be assistant manager to Steve McClaren after the 2006 World Cup – a position ultimately filled by Terry Venables.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League, Shearer was often styled as a classic English centre-forward, owing to his strength, physical stature, heading ability and strong shot, which enabled him to be a highly prolific goalscorer. Of his 206 Newcastle goals, 49 were scored with his head. Earlier in his career, especially at Southampton, Shearer played a more creative role: providing chances for fellow strikers, and making runs into space, owing to his link-up play, work-rate, and early development as a midfielder. Later on in his career, Shearer played a more forward role, after his age robbed him of some of his pace. Able to hold the ball up well, he often functioned as a target man, providing balls for other players. Although his strength allowed him to hold on to the ball, his playing style sometimes brought him criticism – most commonly that his play was too physical, and that he used his elbows too aggressively. It was this that contributed to both of his dismissals, although one was later rescinded on appeal. As well as the two red cards, Shearer received 59 yellow cards during his career. In addition to his playing ability, he also stood out for his leadership qualities throughout his career.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer was noted as a proficient penalty taker for both club and country, and he scored 45 times from the spot for Newcastle, where he was the first-choice taker; with 56 goals from 67 attempts, he is also the most prolific penalty-taker in Premier League history. He also scored five goals from free-kicks for the north-east club. He was known for his accuracy and shooting power from outside the penalty area either when taking set-pieces or from open play.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On his retirement as a player, Shearer responded to speculation of an immediate move into coaching, saying that he would take some personal time off to "enjoy life" for the next couple of years. He was also quoted as saying that he would eventually like to move into management, "when the time was right" however as of March 2009 he was yet to start the UEFA Pro Licence course, which is required to be permitted to manage a team in the Premier League and European competition.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Reflecting his desire for personal time off to "enjoy life", in July 2006 he turned down a coaching role with England, citing his BBC commitments and desire to be away from the pressure of a job within football. Despite this, Shearer was often linked in the media with managerial or coaching positions at his three former clubs.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer took a brief role in the dugout for his final three games under Glenn Roeder. Shearer had rejected offers of coaching or assistant roles at Newcastle under both the returning Kevin Keegan in February 2008 and Joe Kinnear in November 2008. Shearer had previously had talks about, but never been offered, a full-time manager's role at Newcastle until his appointment on 1 April 2009.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In a surprise move, late on 1 April 2009, it was announced that Shearer would become the manager of his former club Newcastle United for the remaining eight games of the season, taking over from head coach Chris Hughton who was in temporary charge while the permanent manager Joe Kinnear recovered from heart surgery, having taken ill on 7 February. Shearer stated "It's a club I love and I don't want them to go down. I'll do everything I can to stop that."


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer was unveiled at a press conference the following day by club managing director Derek Llambias. In explaining his acceptance of a managerial role at Newcastle at this time, Shearer stated that he would not have done this for any other club in this position, including his two other previous Premier League clubs. Amid persistent questioning regarding the permanency of the appointment, Llambias announced that Shearer was to be manager for the remaining eight games, and after his recovery, Joe Kinnear would return as manager after the end of the season. Shearer confirmed that the BBC had agreed to giving him an 8-week sabbatical from his "Match of the Day" role. Llambias also confirmed Dennis Wise had left his executive role at the club and the club had no plans to appoint a replacement, with Shearer stating that "the people that have moved, were moving on anyways, that had nothing to do with me". Wise's presence had previously been speculated as being a blockage to any possible appointment of a manager. Shearer accepted the surprise offer on the Monday on the condition that he could bring in Iain Dowie as his assistant. Shearer also brought in Paul Ferris to oversee club medical, physio and dietary matters. Ferris had previously worked with Shearer in his playing days, and had been at the club for 13 years prior to an earlier departure under then manager Glenn Roeder.


title: Alan Shearer

text: His first match in charge ended in a 2–0 defeat against Chelsea at St James' Park. On 11 April, Newcastle earned their first point under Shearer with a 1–1 draw with Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium with Andy Carroll scoring a late equalising goal. After a defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and a draw against Portsmouth, his first win for Newcastle came in a 3–1 victory over Middlesbrough that lifted Newcastle from the relegation zone.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On the eve of the final day of the season on 24 May, where all fixtures are played simultaneously, Newcastle faced the prospect of being relegated to the Championship, along with Hull City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, which would end their 16-year unbroken spell in the Premier League. After losing 1–0 at Aston Villa with Damien Duff scoring an own goal, Newcastle were relegated with local rivals Middlesbrough, joining West Bromwich Albion whose relegation had been confirmed in previous weeks, while Sunderland and Hull City survived. Shearer's eight games yielded only five points out of a possible twenty-four.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer did not get the manager's job on a permanent basis. Chris Hughton stepped up from the coaching staff to take charge of the quest to get Newcastle back into the Premier League, which was achieved at the first attempt as Newcastle finished top of the Championship in the 2009–10 season.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer met his future wife, Lainya, whilst playing for Southampton. They lived locally with her parents in the city during his second year at the club, and were married on 8 June 1991 at St James' Church, West End, near Southampton. They have three children together. Shearer has described his wife as a quiet and reserved person who is uncomfortable with the public attention his fame sometimes brings. He cited not wanting to uproot his family as a key reason for remaining in England during his career, having had the chance to move to Juventus or Barcelona when leaving Blackburn. In May 2006, his family accompanied him onto the pitch at St James' Park as he performed a lap of honour following his testimonial match.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 6 December 2000, Shearer was given Honorary Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, with the citation "in recognition of his role as captain of Newcastle United Football Club and as former captain of England which have enhanced the reputation of the City". Shearer was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for charitable services to the community in North East England.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 4 December 2006, Shearer was created a Doctor of Civil Law by Northumbria University, at a ceremony at Newcastle City Hall, where the university vice-chancellor declared that "Throughout his career Alan Shearer has been hard-working, committed, disciplined and focused in his endeavours, fighting back from career-threatening injuries with great determination and courage".


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 1 October 2009, Shearer was commissioned as Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, having been nominated by the Duchess of Northumberland in her capacity as Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, and approved for the position by the Queen. In this role, Shearer, along with 21 other deputies, is the stand-in for the Duchess when she cannot fulfill her role as the Queen's official representative in the region at official engagements. Deputies must live within seven miles of the county boundaries, and retain their appointment until age 75. The Duchess said of the appointment that "You could not find a more iconic person than Alan, not just for what he has done in football but for all the extra work he tirelessly does for charity and communities. I am delighted he has accepted the role of Deputy Lieutenant because he is a real role model. I have promised him he is not going to have to do too much, but even if it is just one occasion a year he is the perfect choice"


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 7 December 2009, Shearer was made a Doctor of Civil Law by Newcastle University. Chancellor Liam Donaldson stated "Newcastle United are my team. Alan Shearer is more than just a local legend, he's probably one of the greatest footballers of all time". On 12 September 2016, a statue of Shearer's likeness was unveiled outside St James' Park. It was sculpted by Tom Maley, and paid for by the Shepherd family.


title: Alan Shearer

text: After his retirement and following guest appearances, Shearer became a regular pundit for the BBC's "Match of the Day". He also formed part of the team which covered the World Cups and European Championships from 2006 onwards for the BBC.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd announced that, after Shearer finished the 2005–06 season as Newcastle's caretaker assistant manager, he would become the club's "Sporting Ambassador" for the 2006–07 season. However, in September 2008, tabloids reported that Shearer was removed from this largely honorary position by the club's owner Mike Ashley – though these reports were denied by the club.


title: Alan Shearer

text: During his playing career Shearer appeared in commercials for the sports drink Lucozade. He is among a group of high-profile athletic figures in British pop culture to promote the brand, which includes Olympic champions Daley Thompson and Linford Christie, footballer John Barnes, rugby player Jonny Wilkinson, and "Tomb Raider" heroine Lara Croft.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Shearer features in EA Sports' "FIFA" video game series; he was included in the "FIFA 15" Ultimate Team Legends.


title: Alan Shearer

text: During his playing days, Shearer had been involved with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, taking part in the organisation's Full Stop campaign in 1999. Since retiring from football Shearer has also done work for several charities both nationally and in the Newcastle area.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In his testimonial match, he raised £1.64m benefiting fourteen good causes including £400,000 for the NSPCC and £320,000 for completion of the "Alan Shearer Centre", a respite care facility based in West Denton, Newcastle. In October 2006, he became an ambassador for the NSPCC, describing it as "the kick-off to my most important role yet". He has also worked with The Dream Foundation. In 2006, Shearer founded the Alan Shearer Academy Scholarship to aid the development of promising young players in the region.


title: Alan Shearer

text: In 2008, he raised over £300,000 for Sport Relief in a bike ride with fellow "Match of the Day" presenter Adrian Chiles, the idea for which emerged in an off the cuff question from cycling fan Chiles to Shearer as to how he kept fit since retirement. Shearer also played and scored twice in Soccer Aid, a game involving celebrities and former players at Wembley Stadium in September 2008, to raise money for UNICEF.


title: Alan Shearer

text: On 26 July 2009, Shearer played and scored in the Sir Bobby Robson Trophy match, a charity match held at St James' Park in tribute of Bobby Robson and in aid of his cancer charity the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. It proved to be Robson's last public appearance, as he died five days later. On 15 October 2009, Shearer became the new patron of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.