John “Junior” Gotti, a suspected Mafia boss who has repeatedly been acquitted in trials after juries failed to agree a verdict, was charged today with offences including murder.

Federal authorities arrested the 44-year-old businessman at his home at Oyster Bay, Long Island, on several conspiracy charges, including three murders in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The arrests followed an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in New York and Tampa, Florida, according to James Margolin, an FBI spokesman.

A separate indictment charges five other men with racketeering. It alleges some of them were involved with Mr Gotti in one of the three New York murders, according to a law enforcement official official. It also alleges a fourth killing in New York, not linked to Mr Gotti.

Mr Gotti and two other suspects arrested in New York are expected to appear in Manhattan federal court today for a removal hearing. At least one other man has been arrested in Florida.

Charles Carnesi, Mr Gotti’s lawyer, said he had not yet spoken with his client or seen the charges, but noted these were the latest of many accusations.

“They tried very hard to convict him up here. They spared no resources and it didn’t work,” said Mr Carnesi.

“It’s tragic for him and his family to have to continually go through this. It’s almost laughable.”

In 1999, Mr Gotti pleaded guilty to racketeering crimes including bribery, extortion, gambling and fraud. He was sentenced to 77 months in prison and was released in 2005.

He has however three times escaped conviction in Manhattan on racketeering charges linked to an alleged plot to kidnap Curtis Sliwa, the founder of Guardian Angels.

Federal prosecutors announced at the time that they were giving up, and Mr Gotti said he had long since retired from his life of crime.

The most recent occasion was in 2006 when a judge declared a mistrial because jurors were deadlocked. Two previous trials also were declared void after juries failed to reach a verdict.

In all three trials, Mr Gotti said he had quit the Gambino crime family after taking control from his father, "Dapper Don" John J Gotti. Gotti senior was also known as the “Teflon Don” after escaping conviction three times.

The elder Gotti was eventually convicted of racketeering charges and died in prison in 2002.

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