JoJo Corozzo - Gambino Racketeer

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.

The Massino Family: The Last Boss

There are five Mafia families in New York. Of the five families, only one boss was left on the street, the rest were all locked up, with “acting bosses” or panels running in their absence.  

The last one left on the street was Joey Massino, boss of the Bonanno family.  Joey Massino had been in prison when Rusty Rastelli, the previous Bonanno family boss had passed away. The captains voted him in as boss and he inherited a family that had been in constant conflict for 25 years.  The ranks had been thinned and the remaining family was about 80 made members strong.

Joey started to change things for the better right away.  He suggested that his men close the Social Clubs because they made easy targets for the FBI.  The feds could set up surveillance and watch 50 men very easily at once.  Joey’s logic was simple, if his men were scattered the FBI could not be in 50 places at once.  

He also dropped the mandatory attendance of weddings, wake and other family events for the same reason.  Then he changed the rules on being made, he wanted anyone proposed for membership be around the crew for a minimum of 8 years.  After Donnie Brasco he decided there was no way the FBI would keep a Special Agent undercover for 8 years just to be made.

Joseph Bonanno, the founder of the modern Bonanno family had written a book.  The book spoke about the Cosa Nostra and even the Commission.  Joey felt that this was huge breach of Omerta and it was an embarrassment.  Joey changed the family name internally to the Massino Family.  He then started building up the family after so many years of neglect.  Each family was allowed to fill positions of those who had died and they were also allowed 10 new members a year. A list would be passed among the families of those proposed. The family would swell to 190 made members and 17 capos with people in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Canada.

Joey decided to break up his Massino family, so he put Sal Vitale in charge of so many capos, TG aka Anthony Graziano in charge of others and Tony Green Urso in charge of the rest.  He made this move for a number of reasons, but a main reason was that his brother-in-law, Sal Vitale, and John Gotti had plotted to get rid of him and take over the family in 1993.  Joey has stated that it was a good thing John Gotti had been away when he got home or he would not be on the stand testifying.

Joey called a meeting of the heads of the 5 families in the year 2000 and told the men to only come if they could make decisions.  Louie Bagels attended from the Lucchese Family, Joe Waverly came representing the Colombos, Peter Gotti came for the Gambinos and Skinny Larry attended for the Genovese.  They were to set important policy for the mafia across the country. They wanted guys who came home from prison to have to wait 10 years before they could be made.  They didn't want guys who took drug beefs still doing the same thing in the families.  They finally settled on a 5 year waiting period.  He told the other families at the meeting that the Massino family would only be inducting full-blooded Italians.  That was the only big meeting of all the five families while Joey was the boss.  

Early January 2003 Joey could see that the FBI was all over him.  They watched him day and night.  No matter where he went they followed him and they had guys outside of his house all night.  He knew that they were going to arrest him.  He knew that they had gotten his accountant to turn over all his records.  The noose was tightening, so on January 7 he slipped the FBI and met Bruno and Vinny Basciano at a diner close to his house.  There he told them he was going away and that he was leaving a panel to run the family.  He had found out from a lawyer on New Years’ Eve that Frank Coppa had flipped so he knew he was finished.  Vinny wanted to kill Sal Vitale before he was arrested, but Joey squashed it.  On January 9th the FBI came and took Joey away.  He asked them if they had gotten Sal and they said yes.  Joey knew that it was over and soon he found out how many guys had flipped on him.  It would turn out to be 7 guys who flipped on him, including his brother-in-law Sal Vitale.   

In January of 2004 the FBI came down with another massive indictment and took down the Bonanno family’s panel.   Joey sat through the trial where all his closest friends testified against him and he was convicted and facing life.  It was then he learned that the Feds were putting together a death penalty case against him for the murder of George from Canada. They said it was because George had accused TG Graziano of being on cocaine but it was because he murdered a wiseguy’s son in Canada.

Joey decided to flip but not until he saw what happened with the trial.  He was in his 70’s at the time, and he learned that the FBI was going to go after his wife.  He had married Josephine Vitale in 1960 and he had worked hard first in a factory and then on a food truck to provide for her.   He had built up his food truck business branching out to stocking other peoples trucks.  He had a deli and a catering business and he had saved this cash.  He had won the lotto 4 times and put that money away.  He had invested heavily in real estate for his family.  The FBI was going after his wife for money laundering.  The Bonannos had stopped giving him money from his book and shylock on the street.  Vincent Basciano had made himself acting boss and told people that the Commission okayed it.  Vinny took Joey’s money guys and placed them in his crew.  He made guys and broke and promoted Capos.  Then he had Randy Pizzola killed to show people he was boss.  The Genovese wanted to kill Vinny because they said he was like John Gotti in his suits but Joey told them no.  Joey went to a proffer with Edward McDonald as his shadow council. When the Government decided against the death penalty he started wearing a wire.

Vinny Basciano now locked up with him and was running his mouth.  He had made Michael Mancuso the acting boss but the rest of the family wanted to hear from Joey.  The Family was split into factions again.   Then it came out that Joey had flipped, the first official boss in the Cosa Nostra to flip and wear a wire.  Josephine gave the FBI 7 million in cash, over 500 gold bars and 5 properties to satisfy the forfeiture judgement against him.  She was allowed to keep 6 properties including her home, his mother’s house and four rental properties.  The rentals gave his wife an income of 270k a year.  

Joey would be sentenced to time served in 2013.

Mob Wives just announced a new cast member by the name of Natalie DiDonato, from Philadelphia.  Could she be related to Andrew DiDonato?

Andrew DiDonato: Surviving the Mob

Big Joey Massino (Part I)

Joey Massino went on record with Rusty Rastelli, the boss of the Bonanno family in 1973, and Rusty put him in for induction when he opened the books in 1975 after 19 years of remaining closed.  Joey passed because he felt he didn't need it at the time.  Joey had been involved in killing a Family associate named Tommy Zummo.  The killing had not been authorized, Joey had done what is known as “Cop A Sneak” a killing not okayed by the family.  Rusty would have killed him if he found out that Joey had done the hit.  Instead, Rusty thought highly of him. So, on June 14, 1977 he was inducted into the Bonanno Family in a bar along with some others.  Carmine Galante, the acting boss, Stevie Beef the Consigliere, Nicky Glasses, Capo and Al Walker ran the ceremony.  Those along with Joey to be made that day were Joe Chili, Joe Indelicato, Anthony Spero and Manny from the Bronx.    

Joey was soon back to work after the Boss of the Gambino Family, Paul Castellano, asked the Bonanno boss for a favor.  Paul’s daughter had been dating a man named Vito Borelli and Vito had been going around talk bad about Paul.  The Gambinos were having trouble setting him up for a hit so Paul reached out for Rusty for help.  Joey ended up helping the shooter, John Gotti, take him out.  This helped him become even closer to the Gottis during their reign.  He was also highjacking cargo out of JFK and he did well at that.  

One of his arrests came after he and his crew had taken a truck and they were driving it down the street.  Joey was following behind it when he saw an FBI Agent following the truck.  Joey pulled up next to up to the truck and told them the FBI was behind them.  Joey was recognized by the FBI and he was arrested.  Joey’s defense in the trial was simple: the truck had cut him off and he was yelling at the men.  The jury bought his story and he was found not guilty.

One of the most storied hits in the Mafia is the shooting of Carmine Galante in the rear of Joe and Mary’s Italian restaurant.  The picture of Carmine dead with a cigar clenched in his teeth is a classic.  Carmine was made acting boss while Rusty was away but it went to his head.  He stopped listening to Rusty’s directions and started making his own moves.  He angered the other families and the Commission with his actions.  Carmine felt safe because he had imported a bunch of Sicilians or “Zips” but he thought wrong.  The Zips sided with Rusty.  Cesare Bonventre, one of his bodyguards, turned on him during the hit.   Cesare was made a Capo after the hit but he would not last long.  

Joey had gone into hiding in Pennsylvania because the FBI had built a case on him.  While he was there, Rusty sent word that he was going to kill Cesare and Baldo Amato.  Joey went to bat for Baldo because he was listening to his Capo and doing what he was told.  Cesare was another story, he had been shaking down drug dealers but he forgot to kick up the cash.  Cesare had taken 10-15 kilos of heroin from Anthony Aiello Sr (roughly 600k) and he had not kicked up a cent.  Anthony was friends with Rusty and told him what went down, so Rusty sent for Cesare.  Cesare came to the meeting at Marty Rastelli’s home with John Ligamatti, another Capo.  Rusty questioned Cesare and Cesare denied it.  He turned to John and said, “Come on, lets go.” That is the type of attitude you cannot use when dealing with the Boss of the family.  And that is why Cesare was found in two 55 gallon drums in a warehouse.  

Joey turned himself in rather than staying low, and he got a short sentence. But, in 1986 while he was away, Rusty died.  He was voted in as boss while he was still away.   He made Sal Vitale, his brother-in-law, his underboss but he ran the family most of the time by panel.  Joey started closing the social clubs.  He also made it a rule that you had to be a full Italian to be made, and he also required that a guy be around them for 8 years before he could be proposed to be made.  Everyone was forbidden to mention his name, you instead had to tug your ear.  He told guys they no longer had to go to weddings and wakes, it was up to them.  He built the family back up and he had 17 Capos that reported to Sal Vitale, Tony Green and TG  Graziano.

 

He got about 4k a month from his Capos.  They had a book that he and Sal Vitale split.  Joey and Sal also 500k in Shylock cash on the street that they made a couple grand a week from.  He got 30k a year from the Feast Of San Gennaro because a Bonanno was the president of the Feast.  If anyone wanted a good booth or lights they had to pay.  The family had a Baccarat game they split with the Gambinos for the last 60 years that was held in coffee shops from November through mid-January.  Everyday at noon all the coffee shops would close and the one that was open hosted the game.  For a while he was getting 10k a month from a trucking company at JFK until changing times caught up and it dropped to 800 a month.  Every year at Christmas he got about 160k from his Capos, so Joey Massino was doing pretty well.  He used to meet Capos in the “weeds” in Queens, a street that had weeds on it. The FBI was playing catch up until it all came down.   Next week more on Joey Massino.

Bonanno Family

The best inside secrets come from the guys who turn.  Nobody was a bigger coup for the government than Joey Massino.  Joey was Boss of the Bonanno family and not just any boss but the man who built it back up.  The Bonanno family had been decimated by internal strife and embarrassed by Donnie Brasco aka Joseph Pistone infiltrating the family.

Joey shut the social clubs and made a secret gesture where they tugged on their ear lobe to signify the Bonanno family.  He was able to get the family back on the Commission and he brought new blood into the family.  

Joey Massino wanted to flip even before his conviction.  He had attended a couple of proffer sessions in prison and the Government was still on the fence about a deal or no deal.  

Vincent Basciano, aka Vinny, had been in charge on the street as acting boss of the Bonanno family while Joey was behind bars.  He was able to make Captains or break them if necessary, and was the last word on the street for the Bonanno family.  Then Vinny was also arrested and housed at Brooklyn MDC. In November of 2004 Joey called a family meeting by using lawyers to set up co-defendant meeting so they could go over family business.

It was at one of these prison meetings that Joey Massino wore a wire for the FBI.  He got Vinny to talk about Randy Pizzolo, a guy who was an associate of his crew who was found murdered in Brooklyn.   Vinny spoke freely to Joey because, after all, he had been boss for over 13 years.  

Vinny had sent Joey’s wife 50k in a bottle of Dom while he was locked up.

Vinny told Joey that he had given the order to kill Randy Pizzolo because the kid was a rat and scumbag that he had brought a pistol to a meeting at Villa Sonoma with a made Bonanno family guy.  He had then gotten drunk and started running his mouth.  Vinny had chased him and he was told to go to Florida.  Randy would not leave New York and this bothered Vinny a lot.

Randy was lured to Greenpoint Brooklyn early one day and he was shot seven times by Anthony “Ace” Aiello, a made Bonanno man.  Vinny had told Joey on tape in MDC that Ace was his Luca Brasi, a fictional character from the The Godfather.  

Joey Massino also gave up how the Bonanno family inducted new members.  A Capo would place a guy who had been around them for a number of years on a piece of paper and give it to Joey.  Joey would then at his leisure look into the guy to see if he was “stand up.”  If he passed, Joey would put his name next to the name of a soldier who had died or gone away and that would be passed among the other five families.  If they had no objections he would induct them into the family.  He told the FBI that he personally attended 60-70 induction ceremonies over the years.

The Bonannos would bring a guy or two or even three into the room and say something along the lines of, “This is the life you chose. If not, there is the door, you can leave now.  If you choose this life, you are here until you die.” Once they say yes they start the ceremony.  They then go over the rules: you dont mess with a Wiseguy’s wife or daughter, you don’t sell drugs (which is a joke because they all make money this way), never bring a gun to a meeting, and you put everything on record with your Capo.

Then he said they would tell them if your wife is dying, your kids, your mother and you are called you must come. The Family, the Mafia comes first. They tell you to murder, your brother is dying, your kid, you have to murder, the Bonanno family always comes first.   They then told them that if they were told to kill their brother or best friend they had to right away.  After that they swear allegiance to the family and Omerta.  Then they are put with a Capo.  If it was a Capo who proposed them, then they are put with him.  If it was a soldier that proposed them, they are instead put with a Capo who needs another guy.