Ex-Mob Boss Gotti Near Death

June 13 -- Former mob boss John Gotti is apparently near death and his family is making funeral preparations, ABCNEWS has learned.

Once the powerful boss of the Gambino organized crime family in New York, Gotti is now so ill that a private jet is standing by to retrieve his body from a Missouri prison hospital where he has been undergoing treatment.

Gotti's family has also begun to interview different funeral directors and funeral homes.

Dapper Don’s Two-Year Battle Against the Disease

Gotti is serving a life sentence for a multitude of crimes, including murder. He is suffering from cancer of the head and neck and now is reportedly too weak to continue chemotherapy treatments. He has been fighting the disease for more than two years.

Prison doctors originally misdiagnosed the illness.

The 60-year-old father of five was once considered America's most powerful gangster.

After Gotti was sentenced to prison in 1992, authorities said John A. "Junior" Gotti took over as acting boss of the once-mighty Gambino family.

In 1999, the younger Gotti was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison for racketeering and other crimes.

ABCNEWS' John Miller and Jim Hickey contributed to this report.