Joseph N. Gallo

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Prison photo by Joseph N. Gallo

Joseph N. Gallo (born January 8, 1912 in Hartford , Connecticut , † September 1, 1995 in Astoria , New York City ) was an Italian-American mobster and consigliere of the Gambino family .

He served as consigliere under the chiefs Carlo Gambino and Paul Castellano . John Gotti replaced Gallo with Sammy Gravano , who later became a pentito and informant of the government as an underboss .

Gallo , on the other hand, never broke the duty of confidentiality ( omertà ); When he was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1988, one of the longest criminal careers of a mobster without a break in prison ended in 1988.

Life

origin

Joseph N. Gallo was born in Connecticut but grew up in Little Italy , Manhattan. Gallo later lived in Queens with his wife and children . In 1930 he was convicted of illegal gambling in New York. Gallo was in the textile business and had strong relationships with the Trafficante family under Ignacio Antinori in Tampa , Florida and the New Orleans family ruled by Carlos Marcello . He occasionally represented these families at conferences in New York

Consigliere

Joseph N. Gallo was the earliest consigliere of the Gambino family , after Albert Anastasia was murdered in 1957 on the instructions of Carlo Gambino and after the Apalachin meeting on November 14, 1957. There, Joseph "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono had as consigliere participated and was arrested. There are also sources that assign this position to Riccobono until 1967.

Gallo was often to be found in the Sperazza's Luncheonette restaurant in the Astoria borough of Queens , which served as a kind of public office and meeting place for the clan to conduct his business.

Little Apalachin

His involvement and leading role in La Cosa Nostra was first made clear to a broader public when he was among the 13 arrested on September 22, 1966, who had been arrested in the Italian restaurant "La Stella" in Queens . The New York Times dubbed to the importance of the meeting and the arrests to illustrate the process on its front page - alluding to the disastrous Apalachin Meeting of 1957 - as "Little Apalachin". The New York police got hold of it at 2:30 in the morning; Among those arrested in the “La Stella Raid” were Gallo and others. a. Mafia greats like Carlo Gambino , Thomas Eboli and Joseph Colombo . In the sense of omertà , none of the arrested could remember their own name, date of birth or home address.

The Westies

The Gambino family not only competed and cooperated with other La Cosa Nostra families , but also cooperated with other (ethnic) gangs. Roy DeMeo had established first contacts between the Gamibinos and the Irish-American gang The Westies . In February 1978, in addition to boss Paul Castellano , Carmine Lombardozzi , Anthony "Nino" Gaggi , Aniello Dellacroce and Frank Tieri ( Genovese family ), Gallo was also present when the Gambino family met with the Westies. At the meeting, the Westies were allowed to do business in the West Side in exchange for a percentage of the profits.

Assassination of Castellano and deposition

In addition to advising his clan, Gallo was also directly involved in criminal activities; particularly in organizing illegal gambling and bookmaking in his residential area of Astoria . But he also earned income through business with real estate and pornography .

He brought the young Tommy Agro into the Gambino family . When his activities, which he undertook with Joe Ianuzzi in Florida , were exposed , Gallo ordered the murder of Ianuzzi so that he could not become the government's informant. The assassination attempt failed, however.

In December 1985, the family boss Paul Castellano was murdered by members of his own Gambino family led by John Gotti. Gallo had agreed to this assassination and Gotti became Gambino boss. Gallo initially remained Consiligiere, but was replaced by Sammy Gravano after his conviction in 1987 .

Condemnation

The FBI had also had its sights on Gallo since around the early 1980s , was arrested in 1986 and found guilty in 1987. Other defendants in the trial included Joseph Armone , Joseph Corrao, Robert DiBernardo , James Failla , Joseph Zingaro, Thomas Agro, Robert Desimone, Jack Giordano, Angelo Ruggiero, Anthony Vitta, George Daly, Louis Giardina, Salvatore Migliorisi, Julie Miron and Mildred Russo .

In 1988, the verdict was pronounced and Gallo was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of $ 380,000. The prison sentence was pronounced despite the old age of Gallo (76 years); especially because of its criminal importance and entanglements. A serving as house arrest , which had been proposed by the defense, was rejected.

It is not easy to sentence an old man, but you have to be sentenced for the things you have done and so that you will not be used as a role model for others

"It is not easy to judge an old man, but you have to be judged for things that you have done and you must not use these as an example for others."

- Judge Jack B. Weinstein delivering the verdict on Joseph N. Gallo

The prosecutor Douglas E. Grover had referred in the indictment to the important role of Gallo and Armone in the Gambino family .

"... they don't have a hand in day-to-day activities, just like Lee Iacocca is not on the production line at Chrysler ."

"... they weren't involved in day-to-day business, but Lee Iacocca wasn't on Chrysler's production line either."

- Douglas E. Grover

Gallo showed no emotion when the verdict was pronounced, the charges related to fraud , illegal border crossing, usury of credit, etc. and was brought up on the basis of the RICO Act and originally the public prosecutor had even asked for 20 years in prison. The fine related in particular to a bribe with which Gallo wanted to have his son Joseph C. Gallo transferred to another prison. For health reasons, Gallo was released early in 1995 and died of natural causes on September 1, 1995.

Others

literature

  • Jerry Capeci: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia . Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
  • Peter Maas : Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-06-093096-9
  • James B. Jacobs, Coleen Friel, Robert Radick: Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime . New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
  • James B. Jacobs, Christopher Panarella, Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra . New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
  • Clint Willis Clint (Ed.): Wise Guys: Stories of Mobsters from Jersey to Vegas . New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003. ISBN 1-56025-498-X

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gamobono Family ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) on members.fortunecity.com (English)
  2. ↑ Sketches of 13 Seized in Queens Raid . In: New York Times , October 1, 1966. Retrieved December 22, 2011. 
  3. ↑ Nicholas Pileggi : Anatomy of the Drug War . In: New York Magazine , January 8, 1973. Retrieved December 22, 2011. 
  4. ↑ Five families succession history on www.streetgangs.com (English)
  5. ↑ "The Power Lunch - Mob Style" ( Memento of the original from February 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Allen May on www.crimemagazine.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.crimemagazine.com
  6. ↑ The La Stella Raid by John William Tuchy on November 7, 2006 at /www.newcriminologist.com (English)
  7. ↑ Position 26 ( Memento from January 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on www.geocities.com (English); in the Internet Archive
  8. ^ Gambino family ( Memento of November 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) at www.geocities.com (English); in the Internet Archive
  9. ↑ United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. - 863 F.2d 185 Argued Sept. 26, 1988.Decided Nov. 29, 1988 on cases.justia.com (English)
  10. ↑ a b c A 10-Year Term Given by Judge To Crime Figure by Leonard Buder on February 10, 1988 The New York Times (English)
  11. ↑ Trial of Gambino Figures Starts With Depictions of Leaders by Leonard Buder on September 30, 1987 at www.nytimes.com (English)

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Joseph Riccobono Consigliere of the
" Gambino family " of La Cosa Nostra
1957 (or 1967 ) - 1987 		Sammy Gravano
personal data
SURNAME Gallo, Joseph N.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gallo, Joe N.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Hartford , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1995
Place of death New York City , New York