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Joseph "Joe Glitz" Galizia (July 24, 1941 – 1998) was a
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
mobster who became a high-ranking soldier in the
Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...
, and ran a large gasoline bootlegging operation.


Becoming a family member

In the mid-1970s, Galizia became a "
made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oat ...
" in the Genovese family by killing Genovese mobster Carlo "Collie" DiPietro. DiPietro had been a partner of both Galizia and future Gambino boss
John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...
, in a
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
flea market. During this time, Joe and Larry Galizia earned a reputation as a huge money maker, by moving his family into the extremely lucrative gasoline bootlegging rackets. While never attaining a position within the administration, Galizia became a very influential and wealthy mafioso who occasionally answered directly to
Vincent Gigante Vincent Louis Gigante (; March 28, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "The Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fough ...
and his uppermost family members, often going over his captain's head. Galizia maintained interests in several
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
produce companies as well. Galizia and his brother Larry ran construction schemes,
loansharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
, and
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, ...
rackets in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island. In the early 1980s, Larry went to federal prison for supervising a
credit card fraud Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The P ...
scheme. The Galizias also engaged in criminal activities with Genovese gangsters
Rosario Gangi Rosario "Ross" Gangi (born November 10, 1939) is a New York City mobster and former captain in the Genovese crime family who became involved in labor racketeering and white collar crime. Biography His father, uncles and cousins were associated ...
, Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone and Rudolph "Rudy Cueball" Izzi.


Gasoline bootlegging partnership with the Russians

The gasoline bootlegging rackets were originally conceived by Russian mobsters; however, the Russians needed the cooperation of the New York Mafia
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 ...
to continue their business. Galizia's operation was run by Russian mob boss
Marat Balagula Marat Yakovlevich Balagula (russian: Мара́т Я́ковлевич Балагула; 8 September 1943 – 19 December 2019) was a Jewish-American organized crime figure, crime boss, and close associate of the Lucchese crime family and Colom ...
and his associates Igor Roizman, Igor Porotsky, and Sheldon Levine. The mobsters would set up
shell companies A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or ...
to distribute gasoline at a price fraudulently represented as including federal, state and local excise taxes. Naturally, the mobsters would in fact pay no tax on such sales. Should the operation be uncovered by the authorities, the shell companies would simply be closed, and others opened. Another major figure in the gasoline racket scene was
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 ...
capo
Michael Franzese Michael Franzese () ('' né'' Grillo; born May 27, 1951) is an American former mobster who was a caporegime in the Colombo crime family, and son of former underboss Sonny Franzese. Franzese was enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University ...
, a friend of Galizia.


Federal indictments

In 1986, the Galizia's, their Russian partners and Franzese were charged with evading over $5 million in taxes in just a few months. All the defendants were eventually convicted or pleaded guilty, and all went to federal prison. In 1989, while in prison, Joe Galizia was suspected by federal investigators of ordering the murder of Michael Markowitz, a Russian gangster. Markowitz was shot dead in Brooklyn by Joseph Reisch. Galizia would be indicted again on similar charges in 1991. An investigation by the New York State Governor's office reported that the New York Five Families bootlegging scheme avoided taxes on one out of every ten gallons of gasoline brought into the metropolitan area. The report stated that gasoline bootlegging had become the mob's most profitable scheme.


LCN group running the gasoline rackets

In being one of the Genovese family's first point-men in the gasoline bootlegging racket, Galizia was involved in the setting up of a council of mobsters that decided which wiseguys and families had the rights to which companies and profits. Other wiseguys involved in the operation included Genovese soldier Daniel "Danny" Pagano (based in the Bronx and East Harlem), Gambino captain Anthony "Fat Tony" Morelli (based in Staten Island), Gambino soldier Genaro "Jimmy Sweats" Dellamonica (Morelli Staten Island crew), Lucchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso (who testified before Congress about the Mob's involvement with the Russians), Colombo capo Victor Orena, Jr. (son of the family's former acting boss), Colombo soldiers Frank "Frankie the Bug" Sciortino and Joseph Audino (both Orena crew members)


Family ties

Joseph Galizia's brother Lawrence "Larry Glitz" Galizia is a Genovese soldier. Joseph Galizia's son Lawrence, a Genovese associate, was arrested in 2001 on federal loan sharking charges. Former Gambino underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano testified that at Galizia's son's wedding in the early-1990s, a sitdown was held between Gambino boss
John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...
and
Patriarca crime family The Patriarca crime family (, ), also known as the New England Mafia, the Boston Mafia, the Providence Mafia, or The Office is an Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime family, family in New England. It has two distinct factions, one based ...
captain Junior Russo to avoid a shooting war with the family's new boss,
Raymond Patriarca, Jr. Raymond Joseph Patriarca (; born February 24, 1945), known as Raymond Patriarca Jr., is an American former gangster from Providence, Rhode Island, son of mob boss Raymond L. S. Patriarca, after whom the Patriarca crime family was named. The crime ...


References


Further reading

*Friedman, Robert I., Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America (2000). *Gallagher, Mike, "Gas Tax Scam Plea", Newsday, January 7, 1992. *Taylor, Letta, "5 Charged in Tax Scam", Newsday, January 31, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Galizia, Joseph American gangsters of Italian descent Genovese crime family 1941 births 1998 deaths