Joel Cacace Sr. (born April 9, 1941), also known as Joe Waverly, is an American

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and former

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

of the

Colombo crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was du ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was convicted of murder in 2004 and was released from prison in 2020.

Early life

Cacace had one child, Joel "JoJo" Cacace Jr., with his wife Vita Rose Cacace. JoJo was reportedly a member of the Colombo family and was allegedly involved in labor racketeering before his death from a heart attack on January 1, 2015, at the age of 44. Cacace is close friends with Colombo capo Luca DeMatteo and former acting boss Victor Orena. Cacace was involved in

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, c ...

, and the hijacking and selling of truckloads of cigarettes.

Criminal career

On December 20, 1976, Joel Cacace Sr. was ambushed by three robbers near his florist shop in

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. S ...

. After being shot in the chest, Cacace wrestled a handgun from one of the robbers, and shot and killed an assailant. The remaining robbers fled the scene. The critically wounded Cacace drove to a local police station with the robber's body in the backseat. In early 1987, imprisoned Colombo boss

Carmine Persico Carmine John Persico Jr. (; August 8, 1933 – March 7, 2019), also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", was an American mobster and the longtime boss of the Colombo crime family in New York City from 1973 until his death in 2019. He ha ...

ordered Cacace to kill federal prosecutors William Aronwald and

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

. Persico believed that Aronwald, who had helped prosecute Persico, had been disrespectful to the

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...

. Killing a prosecutor was normally forbidden in

tradition, but Persico wanted him murdered anyway. Cacace arranged for brothers Vincent and Eddie Carnini to murder Aronwald. Cacace gave the two hit men a piece of paper with the name ''Aronwald'' on it. However, Aronwald's father, George Aronwald, was an

administrative law judge An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evid ...

and shared his son's office; the gunmen thought he was the target. On March 20, 1987, the Carninis shot and killed George Aronwald Senior in a

laundromat A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Unit ...

near his home."MOB TARGETED RUDY, PERSICO WANTED HIM WHACKED IN '86 TO AVENGE LIFE SENTENCE"
New York Daily News August 23, 2008 Furious at the Aronwald murder, the heads of the other New York "

Five Families The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...

" demanded that the Colombos kill the Carnini brothers. An enraged Cacace recruited

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...

member Carmine Variale and

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

associate Frank Santora to eliminate the Carninis. In June 1987, both Carnini brothers were found dead in the back seats of their cars in Brooklyn. Concerned about the loyalty of his assassins, Cacace decided to murder them also. At the Carninis' funeral, Cacace allegedly pointed out Variale and Santora to a second pair of hitmen. In September 1987, Variale and Santora were murdered outside a Brooklyn social club in broad daylight. This extraordinary caution helped to temporarily conceal Cacace's involvement in the Aronwald murder. Also in 1987, Cacace was involved in the unrelated murder of former

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

(NYPD) officer Carlo Antonino. Despite the Aronwald fiasco, Cacace's brutal reputation gained him a large following among his men. One family member supposedly commented,

With Joe dealing the cards, you never know where the next card is coming from - the top or the bottom or the middle of the deck.

Following the Carnini murders, Eddie Carnini's widow, Kim T. Kennaugh, moved in with Cacace and later married him. They soon separated and Kim divorced him. In January 1991, during the 1990s Colombo War, Cacace attempted to kill

Gregory Scarpa Gregory Scarpa (May 8, 1928 – June 4, 1994) nicknamed the Grim Reaper and also the Mad Hatter, was an American caporegime and hitman for the Colombo crime family, as well as an informant for the FBI. During the 1970s and 80s, Scarpa was the ...

, a hitman aligned with the Persico faction. Cacace was a supporter of temporary acting boss Victor Orena, who was challenging Carmine Persico for control of the family. Cacace drove up next to Scarpa's car in Sheepshead Bay and fired at him several times. Scarpa escaped unharmed. On February 26, 1992, the two mobsters shot at each other again outside a social club in the same neighborhood. Two gunmen in a parked

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

fired 14 shots at Cacace as he was visiting his

dry cleaner Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Dry cleaning still involves liquid, but clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent. Tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), known in ...

. Although wounded in the stomach, Cacace drew a handgun and exchanged shots with the men. Colombo enforcer

Greg Scarpa Gregory Scarpa (May 8, 1928 – June 4, 1994) nicknamed the Grim Reaper and also the Mad Hatter, was an American caporegime and hitman for the Colombo crime family, as well as an informant for the FBI. During the 1970s and 80s, Scarpa was the ...

later boasted about participating in the Cacace murder attempt. As the Colombo War progressed, Cacace switched sides to the Persico faction, which ultimately won.

Murder conviction

On January 23, 2003, Cacace was indicted for the murders of Antonino, Aronwald, Variale, and Santora. On August 13, 2004, Cacace pleaded guilty to charges of extortion,

and the four murders. On September 8, 2004, Cacace was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was imprisoned at the

ADX Florence The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...

Florence, Colorado The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,822 at the 2020 United States Census. Florence is a part of the Cañon City, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area and the Front ...

, and was later transferred to the

United States Penitentiary, Beaumont The United States Penitentiary, Beaumont (USP Beaumont) is a high security United States federal prison for male inmates in unincorporated Jefferson County, Texas. It is part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Beaumont (FCC Beaumont) and is o ...

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

. On December 18, 2008, Cacace was charged with ordering the 1997 murder of

officer Ralph Dols. According to the indictment, Cacace felt humiliated that Dols, a

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

, had recently married Cacace's ex-wife Kim. Cacace allegedly ordered Colombo capo Dino Calabro and soldier Dino Saracino to murder Dols. On August 25, 1997, Calabro and Saracino allegedly ambushed Dols outside his Brooklyn home and killed him. On November 26, 2013, a jury acquitted Cacace on the Dols murder charge. Cacace was imprisoned at the Tucson

Federal Correctional Institution The Federal Bureau of Prisons classifies prisons into seven categories: * United States penitentiaries * Federal correctional institutions * Private correctional institutions * Federal prison camps * Administrative facilities * Federal correctio ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, and was later transferred to the low security FCI Ashland in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Cacace was released from prison on May 22, 2020.

Early life

Criminal career

Murder conviction

References

Further reading