Joseph Watts (born 1942) also known as "The German" is an associate of the

Gambino crime family The Gambino 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, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

. He was a close confidant of former boss

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and Crime boss, boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of ...

and participated in the infamous 1985 assassination of Paul "Big Paul" Castellano. Watts was not 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 o ...

due to being only Italian on his maternal side, while being German, Welsh on his paternal side. After underboss Tommy Bilotti was murdered, Watts was given Bilotti's black book for his

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 ...

operation, which made him a millionaire and a good earner for the Gambino family. Watts also insisted that Gotti should put a hit on his brother, Joey Bilotti as well. However, Bilotti accepted the fate of his brother and did not retaliate, therefore killing him was unnecessary. John Gotti appointed Watts as a liaison to the Westies, an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

gang in Hells Kitchen. The Westies were being used as hired guns for the Gambino family under Paul Castellano, and continued under the Gotti regime. Watts was charged and acquitted of the 1987 killing of William Ciccone. According to the testimony of government witness; Dominic "Fat Dom" Borghese, Watts allegedly drove him from Queens to Staten Island in the back of his black Mercedes-Benz. Borghese testified that Watts shot Ciccone in the head five times. In 2011, Watts was convicted for his part in a 1989 murder conspiracy ordered by John Gotti, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He served his sentence at FCI Cumberland, and was released from prison on January 14, 2022.Federal inmate locator
(Necessary to type inmate name into website)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Joe 1942 births Gambino crime family Date of birth unknown American people convicted of murder American people of Welsh descent American gangsters of Italian descent Living people American people of German descent People acquitted of murder Criminals from Staten Island Gangsters from New York City