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EspañolJOSEPH MASSINO
(Redirected from Joe Massino)
'Joseph C. "Big Joey" Massino' (January 10, 1943) known in the media as ''The Last Don'', was a Queens, New York restaurateur and former head of the Bonanno crime family. He was convicted in July 2004 of racketeering, seven murders, arson, extortion, loan sharking, illegal gambling, conspiracy, and money laundering.
Joey Massino was a protege of Phillip Rastelli and his brothers in the 60s. Joey began running a wagon in Maspeth selling pastries and coffee to dock workers. Joey was involved in truck hijacking, running numbers and fencing stolen goods specializing in coffee, liquor and clothes.
In 1975 Joe Massino murdered Vito Borelli at the behest of Paul Castellano, a rising star in the Gambino crime family. The Borelli hit put Joey not far away from being made an official member of the Bonanno crime family.
Joe Massino was arrested for conspiring with Raymond Wean to receive 225 cartons of merchandise stolen from an interstate shipment contained in the Hemingway truck. Both men made bail.
In 1976 Joe Massino was made an official member of the Bonanno crime family. Joey was placed under Capo Phillip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone. Surprisingly Massino was still under the radar of the FBI and hadn't attracted any serious federal attention.
In 1977 Joe Massino went on trial for the truck hijacking and took the witness stand in his defence and won an acquittal. Raymond Wean wasn't so lucky and received 3 years in prison.
On June 1st 1976 outside 58-77 57th Avenue Maspeth, literally around the corner from Massino's social club and deli, the body of Joseph Pastore was found in a dumpster. Pastore had been shot twice in the head. Pastore was a truck hijacker who supplied Massino with stolen goods that he could sell on. It wasn't long before the police came knocking at Joey Massino's door. Joey Massino and Richard Dormer (Pastore's half brother) were taken to the morgue to identify the body. Dormer threw up when he saw Pastore's corpse. Prior to the murder Massino had his brother in law Salvatore Vitale borrow $9,000 from Pastore on the behalf of Massino.
In 1979, Carmine Galante was shot to death in his favourite restaurant, some say Massino was present outside the restaurant the day of the shooting. Rusty Rastelli took over the Family and Joey Massino was promoted to the rank of Caporegime. A major promotion for him since he had been made only 3 years before.
Joe is also known for his famous line 'Quien es tu papa?'
In 1981 Joey Massino got word from his informants that Alphonse Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Phillip Giaccone were stocking up on automatic weapons and preparing for a purge on Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno Family and to take complete control. Massino turned to Carmine Persico and Paul Castellano for advice, both of whom urged him to kill or be killed.
Joey Massino and Domnick Napolitano began planning the deaths of Alphonse Indelicato, Phillip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera. The Commission assured Massino and Napolitano that Phillip Rastelli would be absolute Boss after the deaths of the three captains.
Indelicato, Giaccone, and Trinchera were lured to a sit-down with their rival factions in the Bonanno crime family. The three captains turned up with Frank Lino. When Gerlando Sciascia, Vito Rizzuto and Napolitano burst out of a closet Trinchera charged at them and was gunned down. Giaccone and Indelicato were shot dead soon after but Frank Lino escaped unscathed.
Massino later came into conflict with Capo Dominick Napolitano when he proposed Donnie Brasco to be made before Joey's loyal associate Salvatore Vitale who had been loyal to him for years and had participated in gangland killings, whereas Brasco had only been known for a few years and hadn't taken part in any sanctioned mob hits.
Later Donnie Brasco disappeared and was later confirmed to be an undercover FBI agent. Sonny Black disappeared in August of 1981, no more than a couple of weeks after the Brasco bomb had hit the world of La Cosa Nostra.
Sonny Black was taken to a meeting by Frank Lino and Steven Cannone. They drove him to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate. Sonny Black was greeted by Frank Coppa, a Bonanno family Capo. Sonny Black was thrown down the stairs into the house's basement where he was shot to death, Sonny Black didn't fight and merely told his attackers to make it quick which they did. Whilst Napolitano's body was "prepared" to be disposed of Frank Lino exited the house and approached a nearby van he told the men in the van that Napolitano was dead and handed them his car keys, one of the men in the car was Joseph Massino.
By now Joe was a close friend of John Gotti, his neighbour in Howard Beach. Massino owned a cut in the house of a high stakes dice game operated by Gotti on Mott Street in Manhattan. Mott Street is a main avenue in Chinatown but also crosses into Little Italy where many mobsters resided.
Joe discovered a wire tap in his social club, J&S Cake Social Club in Maspeth, Queens. Joe later handed over the wire to the FBI.
On November 23rd 1981 six men were indicted on racketeering charges. They were Dominick Napolitano, Benjamin Ruggiero, Nicholas Santora, John Cerasani, James Episcopia and Antonio Tomasulo. At the time it was unknown to the FBI that Dominck Napolitano had been murdered in August.
On February 12th 1982 Tony Mirra was shot in the head by his close friend Joseph D'Amico. D'Amico had been sent to kill him by Richard Cantarella, who got the order from Al Embarrato who had conspired with Joe Massino to have Mirra killed.
Tony Mirra had recently been released from prison but had previously befriended Joseph D. Pistone as an undercover FBI agent known as Donnie Brasco. Tony was to be consequenced for introducing an undercover FBI agent to members of the Bonanno Family.
Joseph Massino went on the lam with Duane Leisenheimer to avoid indictment. Massino's nose for trouble served him well, no sooner had he and Leisenheimer gone into hiding on March 5th 1982, than a federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted Massino among others. Massino was charged with conspiracy to murder the three captains Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera.
While in hiding Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, even John Gotti made the trip once or twice. Massino was kept flush with cash by his associates in New York City.
On August 12th 1982 the body of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano was unearthed.
In 1984 Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli was released from prison and Joe Massino gave the order that Cesare Bonventre had to go. He summoned Salvatore Vitale, Louie Attanasio and James Tartaglione to his hide out.
Despite the fact that Phillip Rastelli was the Boss of the Bonanno Family Joe Massino was running the show and was considered by most mobsters to be the real power in the Family.
Cesare Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rusty in Queens. He was picked up by Sal Vitale and Louie Attanasio. Sal drove into a garage where he gave Louie the signal. Attanasio then shot Bonventre twice in the head. Surprisingly, Cesare lived and struggled, and they pulled over in the car park. Cesare slumped out of the car and crawled across the concrete before Attanasio fired two more shots into Bonventre killing him. The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti.
The remains of Cesare Bonventre were discovered on April 16th 1984 in a warehouse in Garfield stuffed into 55 gallon drums. Infanti had promised Vitale that the remains would disappear forever, but he failed his promise.
Joe Massino summoned Jon Pollak to his hide out. Joe wanted legal advice from Pollak. Pollak decided to represent him in court. Joe then turned himself in and was back on the street after making bail.
In 1985 Joe Massino was indicted for labor racketeering along with Phillip Rastelli, Carmine Rastelli, Nicky Marangello and 13 other defendants.
In October of 1986, Massino was found guilty of violations of RICO Law (one count), the Hobbs Act (one count) and the Taft-Hartley Act (9 counts). In January of 1987, he was sentenced to a ten-year prison term.
Joe Massino went on trial for truck hijacking and murder charges, which he should have gone on trial for back in 1982. The trial began on April 18th 1987. Raymond Wean testified against Joe at the trial. Joe Pistone also testified against him and implicated him in a triple homicide in 1981. Massino was acquitted of the triple homicide as well as the conspiracies to murder Joseph Pastore and Bruno Indelicato. Massino was acquitted of truck hijacking charges due to a legal technicality.
Massino owned the CasaBlanca Restaurant, an Italian restaurant and catering firm. He was a friend of former Gambino boss John Gotti. However, Massino was upset with Gotti's flamboyance and openness to media attention and informants testified he remarked, "John set this thing of ours back a hundred years."
His former best friend and brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale testified against him at his 2004 trial, claiming that his family had been neglected by Massino when he was in prison.
Massino was charged with ordering the murder of Sonny Black Napolitano, who had introduced him to undercover FBI Agent Joseph D. Pistone (known as "Donnie Brasco"), and Anthony Mirra. Napolitano was found with his hands cut off, which prosecutors claimed was so nobody else would let a turncoat shake hands with a made man.
Massino was scheduled to go on trial for the second time for a separate murder trial, which he was also expected to lose. If convicted, he faced the death penalty, courtesy of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft's office; a first for a mob boss and for an Italian member of American organized crime. However, that was not to be.
In October of 2004, the FBI began to dig up bodies at an infamous mob graveyard in Queens known as "The Hole". They were looking for the bodies of three capos killed in a Bonanno civil war in the 70's. They also hoped to find the bodies of Gotti victims, including John Favara, who killed John Gotti's son in a terrible accident, as well as Tommy DeSimone, who was murdered in 1979 for killing of William Devino (as depicted in the film 'Goodfellas') as well as for the murder of Ronald Jerothe another close friend of John Gotti, Alphonse Indelicato, Phillip Giaconne and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera; who were murdered by Sonny Black Napolitano and members of his crew.
The FBI said only that this operation was based on "credible information" from an informant.
On February 4 2005, the name of that informant was released to the press: none other than the Last Don, the last 'real' boss himself: Joseph Massino. Hoping to save his life and his assets, he began to cooperate sometime in late September 2004, recording conversations with his own hand-picked acting boss, Vincent Basciano. This is the first time that an official boss has gone informant. This may in fact represent the final unraveling of the Mafia in New York City.
On June 23 2005, Massino was finally sentenced for his many crimes. Although he was able to dodge the death penalty because of his cooperation and information, Massino was sentenced to life in prison.
The book "The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino" by Simon Crittle was released March 7 of this year.
★ Reputed Crime Boss Goes On Trial in New York, May 09, 2004, Associated Press
★ An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies, New York Times, May 23 2004
★ New York's 'Last Don' Convicted, CBSNews.com, July 30 2004
★ Skeletal Remains Are Believed to Be Those of Mob Captains, New York Times, October 13 2004
★ American Organized Crime - Bonanno Crime Family - Joseph "Fat Joey" Massino
'Joseph C. "Big Joey" Massino' (January 10, 1943) known in the media as ''The Last Don'', was a Queens, New York restaurateur and former head of the Bonanno crime family. He was convicted in July 2004 of racketeering, seven murders, arson, extortion, loan sharking, illegal gambling, conspiracy, and money laundering.
| Contents |
| Rise to Power |
| The Crackdown of the 80s |
| The Family Regroups |
| Photographs |
| Surveillance Photographs |
| External links |
Rise to Power
Joey Massino was a protege of Phillip Rastelli and his brothers in the 60s. Joey began running a wagon in Maspeth selling pastries and coffee to dock workers. Joey was involved in truck hijacking, running numbers and fencing stolen goods specializing in coffee, liquor and clothes.
In 1975 Joe Massino murdered Vito Borelli at the behest of Paul Castellano, a rising star in the Gambino crime family. The Borelli hit put Joey not far away from being made an official member of the Bonanno crime family.
Joe Massino was arrested for conspiring with Raymond Wean to receive 225 cartons of merchandise stolen from an interstate shipment contained in the Hemingway truck. Both men made bail.
In 1976 Joe Massino was made an official member of the Bonanno crime family. Joey was placed under Capo Phillip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone. Surprisingly Massino was still under the radar of the FBI and hadn't attracted any serious federal attention.
In 1977 Joe Massino went on trial for the truck hijacking and took the witness stand in his defence and won an acquittal. Raymond Wean wasn't so lucky and received 3 years in prison.
On June 1st 1976 outside 58-77 57th Avenue Maspeth, literally around the corner from Massino's social club and deli, the body of Joseph Pastore was found in a dumpster. Pastore had been shot twice in the head. Pastore was a truck hijacker who supplied Massino with stolen goods that he could sell on. It wasn't long before the police came knocking at Joey Massino's door. Joey Massino and Richard Dormer (Pastore's half brother) were taken to the morgue to identify the body. Dormer threw up when he saw Pastore's corpse. Prior to the murder Massino had his brother in law Salvatore Vitale borrow $9,000 from Pastore on the behalf of Massino.
In 1979, Carmine Galante was shot to death in his favourite restaurant, some say Massino was present outside the restaurant the day of the shooting. Rusty Rastelli took over the Family and Joey Massino was promoted to the rank of Caporegime. A major promotion for him since he had been made only 3 years before.
Joe is also known for his famous line 'Quien es tu papa?'
The Crackdown of the 80s
In 1981 Joey Massino got word from his informants that Alphonse Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Phillip Giaccone were stocking up on automatic weapons and preparing for a purge on Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno Family and to take complete control. Massino turned to Carmine Persico and Paul Castellano for advice, both of whom urged him to kill or be killed.
Joey Massino and Domnick Napolitano began planning the deaths of Alphonse Indelicato, Phillip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera. The Commission assured Massino and Napolitano that Phillip Rastelli would be absolute Boss after the deaths of the three captains.
Indelicato, Giaccone, and Trinchera were lured to a sit-down with their rival factions in the Bonanno crime family. The three captains turned up with Frank Lino. When Gerlando Sciascia, Vito Rizzuto and Napolitano burst out of a closet Trinchera charged at them and was gunned down. Giaccone and Indelicato were shot dead soon after but Frank Lino escaped unscathed.
Massino later came into conflict with Capo Dominick Napolitano when he proposed Donnie Brasco to be made before Joey's loyal associate Salvatore Vitale who had been loyal to him for years and had participated in gangland killings, whereas Brasco had only been known for a few years and hadn't taken part in any sanctioned mob hits.
Later Donnie Brasco disappeared and was later confirmed to be an undercover FBI agent. Sonny Black disappeared in August of 1981, no more than a couple of weeks after the Brasco bomb had hit the world of La Cosa Nostra.
Sonny Black was taken to a meeting by Frank Lino and Steven Cannone. They drove him to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate. Sonny Black was greeted by Frank Coppa, a Bonanno family Capo. Sonny Black was thrown down the stairs into the house's basement where he was shot to death, Sonny Black didn't fight and merely told his attackers to make it quick which they did. Whilst Napolitano's body was "prepared" to be disposed of Frank Lino exited the house and approached a nearby van he told the men in the van that Napolitano was dead and handed them his car keys, one of the men in the car was Joseph Massino.
By now Joe was a close friend of John Gotti, his neighbour in Howard Beach. Massino owned a cut in the house of a high stakes dice game operated by Gotti on Mott Street in Manhattan. Mott Street is a main avenue in Chinatown but also crosses into Little Italy where many mobsters resided.
Joe discovered a wire tap in his social club, J&S Cake Social Club in Maspeth, Queens. Joe later handed over the wire to the FBI.
On November 23rd 1981 six men were indicted on racketeering charges. They were Dominick Napolitano, Benjamin Ruggiero, Nicholas Santora, John Cerasani, James Episcopia and Antonio Tomasulo. At the time it was unknown to the FBI that Dominck Napolitano had been murdered in August.
On February 12th 1982 Tony Mirra was shot in the head by his close friend Joseph D'Amico. D'Amico had been sent to kill him by Richard Cantarella, who got the order from Al Embarrato who had conspired with Joe Massino to have Mirra killed.
Tony Mirra had recently been released from prison but had previously befriended Joseph D. Pistone as an undercover FBI agent known as Donnie Brasco. Tony was to be consequenced for introducing an undercover FBI agent to members of the Bonanno Family.
Joseph Massino went on the lam with Duane Leisenheimer to avoid indictment. Massino's nose for trouble served him well, no sooner had he and Leisenheimer gone into hiding on March 5th 1982, than a federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted Massino among others. Massino was charged with conspiracy to murder the three captains Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera.
While in hiding Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, even John Gotti made the trip once or twice. Massino was kept flush with cash by his associates in New York City.
On August 12th 1982 the body of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano was unearthed.
In 1984 Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli was released from prison and Joe Massino gave the order that Cesare Bonventre had to go. He summoned Salvatore Vitale, Louie Attanasio and James Tartaglione to his hide out.
Despite the fact that Phillip Rastelli was the Boss of the Bonanno Family Joe Massino was running the show and was considered by most mobsters to be the real power in the Family.
Cesare Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rusty in Queens. He was picked up by Sal Vitale and Louie Attanasio. Sal drove into a garage where he gave Louie the signal. Attanasio then shot Bonventre twice in the head. Surprisingly, Cesare lived and struggled, and they pulled over in the car park. Cesare slumped out of the car and crawled across the concrete before Attanasio fired two more shots into Bonventre killing him. The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti.
The remains of Cesare Bonventre were discovered on April 16th 1984 in a warehouse in Garfield stuffed into 55 gallon drums. Infanti had promised Vitale that the remains would disappear forever, but he failed his promise.
Joe Massino summoned Jon Pollak to his hide out. Joe wanted legal advice from Pollak. Pollak decided to represent him in court. Joe then turned himself in and was back on the street after making bail.
In 1985 Joe Massino was indicted for labor racketeering along with Phillip Rastelli, Carmine Rastelli, Nicky Marangello and 13 other defendants.
In October of 1986, Massino was found guilty of violations of RICO Law (one count), the Hobbs Act (one count) and the Taft-Hartley Act (9 counts). In January of 1987, he was sentenced to a ten-year prison term.
Joe Massino went on trial for truck hijacking and murder charges, which he should have gone on trial for back in 1982. The trial began on April 18th 1987. Raymond Wean testified against Joe at the trial. Joe Pistone also testified against him and implicated him in a triple homicide in 1981. Massino was acquitted of the triple homicide as well as the conspiracies to murder Joseph Pastore and Bruno Indelicato. Massino was acquitted of truck hijacking charges due to a legal technicality.
The Family Regroups
Massino owned the CasaBlanca Restaurant, an Italian restaurant and catering firm. He was a friend of former Gambino boss John Gotti. However, Massino was upset with Gotti's flamboyance and openness to media attention and informants testified he remarked, "John set this thing of ours back a hundred years."
His former best friend and brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale testified against him at his 2004 trial, claiming that his family had been neglected by Massino when he was in prison.
Massino was charged with ordering the murder of Sonny Black Napolitano, who had introduced him to undercover FBI Agent Joseph D. Pistone (known as "Donnie Brasco"), and Anthony Mirra. Napolitano was found with his hands cut off, which prosecutors claimed was so nobody else would let a turncoat shake hands with a made man.
Massino was scheduled to go on trial for the second time for a separate murder trial, which he was also expected to lose. If convicted, he faced the death penalty, courtesy of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft's office; a first for a mob boss and for an Italian member of American organized crime. However, that was not to be.
In October of 2004, the FBI began to dig up bodies at an infamous mob graveyard in Queens known as "The Hole". They were looking for the bodies of three capos killed in a Bonanno civil war in the 70's. They also hoped to find the bodies of Gotti victims, including John Favara, who killed John Gotti's son in a terrible accident, as well as Tommy DeSimone, who was murdered in 1979 for killing of William Devino (as depicted in the film 'Goodfellas') as well as for the murder of Ronald Jerothe another close friend of John Gotti, Alphonse Indelicato, Phillip Giaconne and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera; who were murdered by Sonny Black Napolitano and members of his crew.
The FBI said only that this operation was based on "credible information" from an informant.
On February 4 2005, the name of that informant was released to the press: none other than the Last Don, the last 'real' boss himself: Joseph Massino. Hoping to save his life and his assets, he began to cooperate sometime in late September 2004, recording conversations with his own hand-picked acting boss, Vincent Basciano. This is the first time that an official boss has gone informant. This may in fact represent the final unraveling of the Mafia in New York City.
On June 23 2005, Massino was finally sentenced for his many crimes. Although he was able to dodge the death penalty because of his cooperation and information, Massino was sentenced to life in prison.
The book "The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino" by Simon Crittle was released March 7 of this year.
Photographs
Surveillance Photographs
External links
★ Reputed Crime Boss Goes On Trial in New York, May 09, 2004, Associated Press
★ An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies, New York Times, May 23 2004
★ New York's 'Last Don' Convicted, CBSNews.com, July 30 2004
★ Skeletal Remains Are Believed to Be Those of Mob Captains, New York Times, October 13 2004
★ American Organized Crime - Bonanno Crime Family - Joseph "Fat Joey" Massino
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