Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci (; October 2, 1897 – June 6, 1962) was an Italian-born
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what became 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 duri ...
. Established in 1928, this was the last of the
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 be organized. He was the family's boss for over three decades.
Biography
Early life
Giuseppe Profaci was born in
Villabate
Villabate ( Sicilian: ''Villabbati'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 19,441 and an area of .All d ...
, in the
Province of Palermo
The Province of Palermo ( it, provincia di Palermo; Sicilian: ''pruvincia di Palermu'') was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Palermo. On 4 August 2015, it was replaced ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
, on October 2, 1897. In 1920, Profaci spent one year in prison in Palermo on theft charges.
Family ties
Profaci's sons were Frank Profaci and John Profaci Sr. Frank eventually joined the Profaci crime family while John Sr. followed legitimate pursuits.
Two of Profaci's daughters married the sons of
Detroit Partnership
The Detroit Partnership (also known as the Detroit crime family, Detroit Combination, Detroit Mafia, Zerilli crime family, and the Tocco–Zerilli crime family) () is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Detroit, Michigan, and ...
mobsters
William Tocco and
Joseph Zerilli.
Profaci's brother was Salvatore Profaci, who served as his
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 ...
for years, and is known to have been heavily into dealing of pornographic materials. One of Profaci's brothers-in-law was
Joseph Magliocco
Joseph Magliocco (born Giuseppe Magliocco; ; June 29, 1898 – December 28, 1963), also known as "Joe Malayak" and "Joe Evil Eye", was an Italian-born New York mobster and the boss of the Profaci crime family (later to become the Colombo cri ...
, who would eventually become Profaci's underboss. Profaci's niece Rosalie Profaci was married to
Salvatore Bonanno
Salvatore Vincent "Bill" Bonanno (November 5, 1932 – January 1, 2008) was an American mobster who served as consigliere of the Bonanno crime family, and son of crime boss Joseph Bonanno. Later in life, he became a writer and produced films f ...
, the son of
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 ...
boss
Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno (born Giuseppe Carlo Bonanno; ; January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002), sometimes referred to as Joe Bananas, was an Italian-American crime boss of the Bonanno crime family, which he ran from 1931 to 1968.
Bonanno was born i ...
. Profaci was the uncle of Salvatore Profaci Jr., also a member of the
Profaci 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 duri ...
.
Rosalie Profaci offered the following description of her uncle:
He was a flamboyant man who smoked big cigars, drove big black Cadillacs, and did things like buy tickets to a Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
play for us cousins. But he didn't buy two or three or even four seats, he bought a whole row.
Released from prison in 1921, Profaci emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City on September 4. Profaci settled in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, where he opened a grocery store and bakery. However, the business was unsuccessful, and in 1925, Profaci relocated to New York, where he entered the olive oil import business.
On September 27, 1927, Profaci became a United States citizen.
At some point after his move to Brooklyn, Profaci became involved with local gangs.
Rise to family boss
On December 5, 1928, Profaci attended a mob meeting in
Cleveland, Ohio. The agenda of the meeting included resolving conflicts arising from assassinations, and a vote on recognition of the Profaci crime family in Brooklyn. The 1963 McClellan hearings introduced some erroneous facts about the origins of the Profaci Family, one being that it was an offshoot of Maranzano's crime family.
His brother-in-law, Joe Magliocco, was Profaci's second-in-command.
Given Profaci's lack of experience in organized crime, it is unclear why the New York gangs gave him power in Brooklyn. Some speculated that Profaci received this position due to his family's status in Sicily, where they may have belonged to the Villabate Mafia. Profaci may have also benefited from contacts made through his olive oil business.
Cleveland police eventually raided the meeting and expelled the mobsters from Cleveland, but Profaci's business was accomplished.
By 1930, Profaci was controlling numbers, prostitution,
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 narcotics trafficking in Brooklyn. In 1930, the
Castellammarese War broke out in New York City. Some sources say that Profaci remained neutral, while others say that Profaci was firmly aligned with Castellammarese boss
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...
.
When the war finally ended in 1931, top mobster
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...
reorganized the New York gangs into five organized crime families. At this point, Profaci was recognized as boss of what was now the Profaci crime family, with Magliocco as
underboss
Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...
and Salvatore Profaci as
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 ...
.
When Luciano created the
National Crime Syndicate
The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to the multi-ethnic, loosely connected, American confederation of several criminal organizations. It mostly consisted of and was led by the closely interconnected Italian-American Mafia ...
, also known as the
Mafia Commission, he gave Profaci a seat on the governing board. Profaci's closest ally on the board was Bonanno, who would cooperate with Profaci over the next 30 years. Profaci was also allied with
Stefano Magaddino, the boss of the
Buffalo crime family.
Business and faith
Profaci obtained most of his wealth through traditional illegal enterprises such as
protection racket
A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...
s 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, ...
. However, to protect himself from federal
tax evasion
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...
charges, Profaci still maintained his original olive oil business, known as Mamma Mia Importing Company, leading to his nickname as "Olive Oil King".
As the demand for olive oil skyrocketed after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, his business thrived. Profaci owned 20 other businesses that employed hundreds of workers in New York.
Profaci owned a large house in
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
, a home in
Miami Beach, Florida, and an estate near
Hightstown
Hightstown is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,494,[New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...]
, which previously belonged to President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. Profaci's estate had its own airstrip and a chapel with an altar that replicated one in
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
Profaci was a devout Catholic who made generous cash donations to Catholic charities. A member of the
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
, Profaci would invite priests to his estate to celebrate
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
. In May 1952, a thief stole valuable jeweled crowns from the
Regina Pacis Votive
A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
shrine in Brooklyn. Profaci sent his men to recover the crowns and reportedly kill the thief. However, accounts of the thief being strangled with a
rosary are unfounded.
In 1949, the Vatican received a petition from a group of New York Catholics to confer a knighthood on Profaci. However, when the Brooklyn District Attorney complained about the move, the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
denied the petition.
Legal problems
In 1953, the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service sued Profaci for over $1.5 million in unpaid income taxes.
The taxes were still unpaid when Profaci died nine years later.
In 1954, the
US Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
moved to revoke Profaci's citizenship. The government claimed that when Profaci entered the United States in 1921, he lied to immigration officials about having no arrest record in Italy. In 1960, a U.S.
Court of Appeals
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
reversed Profaci's
deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
order, ending the legal action.
In 1956, law enforcement recorded a phone conversation between Profaci and
Antonio Cottone, a Sicilian
mafioso, about exporting Sicilian oranges to the United States. In 1959,
US Customs agents intercepted one of those orange crates in New York. The crate contained 90 wax oranges containing a total of pure
heroin. Smugglers in Sicily had filled the hollow oranges with
heroin until they weighed as much as real oranges, then packed them in the crate.
Covert Money, Power & Policy: Assassination
/ref> Profaci was never prosecuted for this crime.
In 1957, Profaci attended the Apalachin Conference, a national mob meeting, at the farm of mobster Joseph Barbara in Apalachin, New York
Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...
. While the conference was in progress, New York State Troopers
The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the state of New York in the United States. It is part of the New York State Executive Department, and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 civilian members.
History
The Stat ...
surrounded the farm and raided it. Profaci was one of over 60 mobsters arrested that day. On January 13, 1960, Profaci and 21 others were convicted of conspiracy and he was sentenced to five years in prison. However, on November 28, 1960, a United States Court of Appeals
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
overturned the verdicts.
First Colombo war
In contrast to Profaci's generosity to his relatives and the church, many of his men considered him miserly and mean with money. One reason for their rancor was that Profaci required each family member to pay him a $25 a month tithe, an old Sicilian gang custom. The money, which amounted to approximately $50,000 a month, was meant to support the families of mobsters in prison. However, most of this money stayed with Profaci. In addition, Profaci did not tolerate any dissent from his policies, and people who expressed discontent were murdered.
On February 27, 1961, the Gallos, led by Joe Gallo
Joseph Gallo (April 7, 1929 – April 7, 1972), also known as "Crazy Joe", was an Italian-American mobster and Caporegime of the Colombo crime family of New York City.
In his youth, Gallo was diagnosed with schizophrenia after an arrest. He ...
, kidnapped four of Profaci's top men: underboss Magliocco, Frank Profaci (Joe Profaci's brother), capo Salvatore Musacchia and soldier John Scimone.[Cage, Nicholas (July 17, 1972]
"Part II The Mafia at War"
'' New York'' pp.27-36 Profaci himself eluded capture and flew to sanctuary in Florida. While holding the hostages, Larry and Albert Gallo sent Joe Gallo to California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. The Gallos demanded a more favorable financial scheme for the hostages' release. Gallo wanted to kill one hostage and demand $100,000 before negotiations, but his brother Larry overruled him. After a few weeks of negotiation, Profaci made a deal with the Gallos. Profaci's consigliere Charles "the Sidge" LoCicero negotiated with the Gallos and all the hostages were released peacefully.[Capeci (2001), p.303] However, Profaci had no intention of honoring this peace agreement. On August 20, 1961 Joseph Profaci ordered the murder of Gallo members Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioielli and Larry Gallo. Gunmen allegedly murdered Gioielli after inviting him to go fishing. Larry Gallo survived a strangulation attempt in the Sahara club of East Flatbush
East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the ...
by 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 h ...
and Salvatore "Sally" D'Ambrosio after a police officer intervened.[Raab (2006), pp.321-324] The Gallo brothers had been previously aligned with Persico against Profaci and his loyalists; The Gallos then began calling Persico ''"The Snake"'' after he had betrayed them. the war continued on resulting in nine murders and three disappearances. With the start of the gang war, the Gallo crew retreated to the Dormitory.
Mob standoff
By 1962, Profaci's health was failing. In early 1962, Carlo Gambino and 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 ...
boss Tommy Lucchese
Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese; ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member ...
tried to convince Profaci to resign to end the gang war. However, Profaci strongly suspected that the two bosses were secretly supporting the Gallo brothers and wanted to take control of his family. Profaci vehemently refused to resign; furthermore, he warned that any attempt to remove him would spark a wider gang war. Gambino and Lucchese did not pursue their efforts.
Death
On June 6, 1962, Profaci died in South Side Hospital in Bay Shore, New York
Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...
of liver cancer. He is buried at Saint John Cemetery in the Middle Village section of Queens, in one of the largest mausoleums in the cemetery.
After Profaci's death, Magliocco succeeded him as head of the family. In late 1963, the Mafia Commission forced Magliocco out of office and installed Joseph Colombo
Joseph Anthony Colombo Sr. (; June 16, 1923 – May 22, 1978) was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the Five Families of the American Mafia in New York City.
Colombo was born in New York City, where his father was an early member ...
as family boss. At this point, the Profaci crime family became 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 duri ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Seize the Night: Joseph Profaci
{{DEFAULTSORT:Profaci, Joseph
1897 births
1962 deaths
People from Villabate
American drug traffickers
American crime bosses
American gangsters of Sicilian descent
American gangsters of Italian descent
American Roman Catholics
Bosses of the Colombo crime family
Burials at St. John's Cemetery (Queens)
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Colombo crime family
Deaths from liver cancer
Italian drug traffickers
Italian emigrants to the United States
Italian crime bosses
Gangsters from the Province of Palermo
Italian Roman Catholics
Prohibition-era gangsters