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Today the U.S. Attorney's Office reported : John Burke, a longtime associate of the Gambino organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Gambino family”), was sentenced today to life imprisonment without parole plus 10 years for the murder of a rival drug dealer in aid of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, and other charges. Following a four-week trial before United States District Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. in Brooklyn federal court, Burke was convicted of all charges in the superseding indictment. As established at trial, Burke was a trusted Gambino family enforcer and drug dealer for nearly three decades. As part of the racketeering conspiracy, Burke participated in numerous acts of violence, including fatal shootings and home-invasion robberies, as well as drug trafficking involving cocaine and marijuana. Burke was convicted of two murder predicate acts, including the 1991 murder of Bruce Gotterup, who was shot in the back of the head on the boardwalk in the Rockaways, and the 1996 murder of John Gebert, who was slain under a pool table in a Woodhaven bar. The jury also found Burke guilty of the murder of John Gebert in aid of racketeering, murdering John Gebert as part of a continuing criminal enterprise, and a firearms charge. A key witness for the prosecution, who had been entrenched in the Witness Protection Program for the last 18 years, is finally able to return to his family and resume his regular life. He even is ready to reclaim his given name. Senzo Tanaka hailing as a Japanese master shidoshi from Hiroshima who relocated during the Vietnam War, spent the majority of his life within the program, stated that he is "excited and relieved to finally be Larry again". Spending over half his life since he heard gunshots and saw the defendant running while visiting relatives in Queens, Larry has been quite busy establishing a name for himself running the top MMA organization in Montreal, MFN. "MFN will not change... just the printed signature on the bottom of the pay checks", Larry stated. He vowed to keep MFN "running on all cylinders". When asked if he was worried about retaliation from other members of the Gambino family, Larry proclaimed his "continued faith in our law enforcement" and said if he needed to, he could just re-enter the Witness Protection Program if things "got too crazy". "I'm tired of being a 72 year old man from Japan. Even though I lived as a shidoshi for the last 18 years, and I apologize to anyone who actually listened to what I taught them, I was never actually qualified to teach martial arts," Larry admitted. "The Tanaka Clan probably couldn't beat the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... sorry". At least he has his MMA organization to go back to.