He was a hero cop, an ace detective and a private eye extraordinaire - but now prosecutors say
John McNally is an unindicted co-conspirator to one of the mob's most vicious hit men.
McNally, 76, is the "longtime associate" of
John Gotti's hired gun,
Joseph Watts, and has worked with him on extortion and money laundering for years, documents filed in
Manhattan Federal Court say.
"At this point, he's really old and really sick," said a friend of McNally, who assisted in the recovery of the Star of
India sapphire as a detective and helped win the
O.J. Simpson case as private eye.
"They are just trying to besmirch his career, to embarrass him."
McNally has been eyed by the
FBI before, most notably when he was working with
F. Lee Bailey on the Simpson defense team in the 1990s, and when he did "security" in the 1980s for Gene Gotti, the
Teflon Don's brother.
But now McNally's name is all over government papers filed against Watts, who is charged with racketeering in connection with a slew of homicides during the mob's go-go 1980s.
One hit is among the most notorious of all - the murder of Gambino godfather
Paul Castellano that paved the way for Gotti to take over the
New York mob.
McNally isn't tied to any of those homicides, or with any of the crimes committed by Watts' co-defendant
John D'Amico - who is expected to take a plea today in exchange for a three-year sentence.
But McNally's name is linked to more recent extortion and money-laundering allegations against Watts.
"In January 2007, Watts longtime associate John McNally, a retired
NYPD detective who has performed various services for Watts, traveled from
Florida to New York to try to collect at least $30,000 that [Wail] Al-Khalib owed Watts," according to a court paper filed last week.
Prosecutors also allege that Watts once transferred approximately $200,000 from a Swiss bank account to a
Staten Island bank where McNally then paid off debts.
Calls to the ex-cop's phone were not answered.
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