This will be the last blog for 2014, so I thought I would end it with the Gambino Consigliere JoJo Corozzo. I am reading over his court documents and find it amusing to see the full page of medication that JoJo has to take every day. How does this 71 year old man have the time or the health to commit crimes. Well, JoJo made time for crime, and he has been at it since the 1980s when he was one of John Gotti Sr.’s most loyal and biggest moneymakers. He ran large parts of Queens and Howard Beach for the Gambinos. In October of 2005, JoJo was picked up on tape by a confidential witness (CW) talking about why John “Baby” Gotti did not like him. John Sr would tell JoJo to tell Jr not to do this or do that. Then all guys in Queens would go to JoJo instead of Jr. This made Jr. crazy and it made him hate JoJo.
During the 1980s and 1990s JoJo built up a power base and brought in a number of young up-and-comers including Ronald Trucchio, Alphonse Trucchio and Louis Mastrangelo who all later became Capos in the family, and Bartolomeo Vernace who became a Capo and also served on the panel and many others that are soldiers or associates in the family.
JoJo used to take the whole neighborhood to the movies to encourage others into the life. A prime example is Howard Santos who JoJo met when he was in his 40s and Santos was a teenager. He made Howard who became his driver and was later put in charge of his social club and other rackets that were run out of the club. Santos was well thought of and trusted until he flipped in 2009.
JoJo Corozzo has the Mafia distinction of being convicted of racketeering in 3 decades: the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.
JoJo has been the boss of a sports betting business for many years and raked in untold millions in profit both for him and the Gambino family. The bookmaking business is a huge money maker for organized crime because it does not take a lot overhead, unlike other crimes like drugs or stealing. When taking bets the bookie gets the vig or 10% win or lose. The main thing, unlike drugs or anything else criminal, is that it is all just numbers on a page. What I mean is that they are not out any physical thing so If someone skips out they just lose numbers in a ledger. Its not real cash.
I am sure that JoJo has no intention of going straight or retiring from the Gambinos. He has put in the time and work to reach the pinnacle of the mafia. This is what JoJo and his brother Nicky have worked so hard for all their adult lives. Nicky also ran a vast gambling enterprise like the one Andrew DiDonato wrote about in his book, “Surviving the Mob.” Andrew details his time around Nicky from his teens until well into manhood.
If anyone would like a look inside the Gambino family, especially the Corozzo crew, they should read Andrew’s book. The show Mob Wives will have a new edition this season named Natalie DiDonato who is related to or married to someone. The DiDonato name is not common but Andrew is the real deal.
One of the best stories in Andrew's book is when Andrew was driving one night with JoJo’s son Joseph and they got into a traffic altercation with another car. At a stop light the two cars stopped and a guy got out with a butcher knife and came out of the car. Andrew was asleep and Joseph started screaming like a girl to shoot him. So Andrew shot him in the groin and they drove off. This was huge trouble for Andrew because not only was it JoJo’s son, but also his car. They found out who the guy was and what hospital he was in and they sent some guys over there to see him. They offered the guy 10k to forget what happened or die so the guy accepted. This would come up later because Joseph later became a lawyer who represented mafia guys including his father and uncle. It is all in Federal court records. He represented Teddy Persico Jr. when I got him some more time. Joseph had nothing good to say about me, in fact he ranted about me for an hour to another lawyer. The funny thing is he never called me in to ask about the tapes I made.
JoJo will be locked away until 2016 when he will be released under supervision. He will have to pay 8k installments to the government to pay his forfeiture. Nicky is now locked up in SuperMax in Florence, Colorado until 2020 and for the sake of the citizens lets hope he never gets released.
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