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Bail Approved For Junior Gotti

Junior Gotti, got bail today. Eight months after he was arrested and two weeks after a judge ruled he was not a danger to the community, John A. Gotti, also known as Junior, won permission to go home today.

Bookkeeping was expected to delay Gotti's release until late tonight.

Federal Magistrate Judge Mark Fox gave final approval to a $10 million dollar bail package and to stringent bail conditions that will keep the younger Gotti at home. He will be under guard and subject to federal search and surveillance.

Gotti's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, called it a victory.

It is a privilege denied to his famous father, John J. Gotti. The elder Gotti is the Dapper Don who is imprisoned for life without parole.

The younger Gotti has been jailed since his indictment in January on charges alleging the extortion of a nightclub and a phone card fraud. His trial is scheduled for January 1999.

For each of the 10 to 15 real estate parcels that have been put forward to back Gotti's bond, government lawyers looked into "who owns it, how much they bought it, what it's worth," Gotti attorney Bruce Cutler said last week.

Among the properties pledged is the Old Westbury, Conn., home of Gotti's sister, novelist Victoria Gotti. Her husband, Carmine Agnello, reportedly is suspected of mob ties, prompting a closer examination by government lawyers.

Besides posting the $10 million bond, Gotti will have to stay at his Oyster Bay home except for medical emergencies. He will wear an electronic monitoring device on his ankle, there will be a guard at the house 24 hours a day and his telephone calls, except those to his lawyers, will be taped for prosecutors.

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