MOB TALK: June 6, 1962, Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci New York City Cosa Nostra Boss Dies
- mobtalk247
- Jun 6
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 8
On June 6, 1962, Italian-born New York City Cosa Nostra boss, who was the founder of what became the Colombo crime family, Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci died in South Side Hospital in Bay Shore, New York of liver cancer. In 1920, Profaci spent 1 year in prison in Palermo on theft charges. Released from prison in 1921, Profaci emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York City on September 4. Profaci settled in Chicago, where he opened a grocery store & bakery. But the business was unsuccessful, & 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.
On December 5, 1928, Profaci attended a mob meeting in Cleveland, Ohio that would make him an organized crime boss in Brooklyn. In October 1928, Brooklyn boss Salvatore D'Aquila had been murdered. An important part of the Cleveland meeting, attended by mobsters from Tampa, Florida, Chicago, & Brooklyn, was to appoint Profaci as Aquila's replacement so as to maintain calm among the Brooklyn gangs. Magliocco was named as Profaci's 2nd-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 & expelled the mobsters from Cleveland, but Profaci's business was accomplished. By 1930, Profaci was controlling numbers, prostitution, loansharking, & 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. When the war finally ended in 1931, top mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano reorganized the New York gangs into 5 organized crime families. At this point, Profaci was recognized as boss of what was now the Profaci crime family, with Magliocco as underboss & Salvatore Profaci as consigliere.
When Luciano created the National Crime Syndicate, also known as the Mafia Commission, he gave Profaci a seat on the governing board. Profaci's closest ally on the board was Joe 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. Profaci obtained most of his wealth through traditional illegal enterprises such as protection rackets & extortion. But to protect himself from federal tax evasion 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, his business thrived. Profaci owned 20 other businesses, which employed 100s of workers in New York. Profaci owned a large house in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a home in Miami Beach, Florida, & a 328-acre estate near Hightstown, New Jersey, which previously belonged to President Theodore Roosevelt. Profaci's estate had its own airstrip & a chapel with an altar that replicated one in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Profaci was a devout Catholic, who made generous cash donations to Catholic charities. A member of the Knights of Columbus, Profaci would invite priests to his estate, to celebrate Mass. In May 1952, a thief stole valuable jeweled crowns from the Regina Pacis Votive shrine in Brooklyn. Profaci sent his men to recover the crowns & reportedly kill the thief. But the rumored 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. But when the Brooklyn District Attorney complained about the move, the Vatican denied the petition.
In 1953, the United States IRS sued Profaci for over $1.5 million in unpaid income taxes. The taxes were still unpaid when Profaci died 9 years later. In 1954, the US Department of Justice 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 reversed Profaci's 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 110 pounds 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. 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. While the conference was in progress, New York State Troopers surrounded the farm & raided it. Profaci was 1 of over 60 mobsters arrested that day. On January 13, 1960, Profaci and 21 others were convicted of conspiracy & he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. But on November 28, 1960, a United States Court of Appeals overturned the verdicts.
In contrast to Profaci's generosity to his relatives & the church, many of his men considered him miserly & mean with money. 1 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 $50k a month, was meant to support the families of mobsters in prison. But most of this money stayed with Profaci. In addition, Profaci did not tolerate any dissent from his policies, & people who expressed discontent were murdered. On February 27, 1961, the Gallos, led by Joe Gallo, kidnapped 4 of Profaci's top men: underboss Magliocco, Frank Profaci (Joe Profaci's brother), capo Salvatore Musacchia & soldier John Scimone. Profaci himself eluded capture & flew to sanctuary in Florida. While holding the hostages, Larry & Albert Gallo sent Crazy Joe Gallo to California. The Gallos demanded a more favorable financial scheme for the hostages' release. Gallo wanted to kill 1 hostage & demand $100k 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 & all the hostages were released peacefully. 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 & 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 by Carmine Persico & Salvatore "Sally" D'Ambrosio after a police officer intervened. The Gallo brothers had been previously aligned with Carmine “Junior” Persico against Profaci & his loyalists; The Gallos then began calling Persico "The Snake" after he had betrayed them. the war continued on resulting in 9 murders & 3 disappearances. With the start of the gang war, the Gallo crew retreated to the Dormitory.
By 1962, Profaci's health was failing. In early 1962, Carlo Gambino & Lucchese crime family boss Tommy Lucchese tried to convince Profaci to resign to end the gang war. But Profaci strongly suspected that the 2 bosses were secretly supporting the Gallo brothers & just wanted to take control of his family. Profaci was the family's boss for over 3 decades & he vehemently refused to resign; furthermore, he warned that any attempt to remove him would spark a wider gang war. Gambino & Lucchese did not pursue their efforts. After Profaci's death, Magliocco succeeded him as head of the family. In late 1963, the Mafia Commission forced Magliocco out of office & installed Joseph Colombo as family boss. At this point, the Profaci crime family became the Colombo crime family. Profaci is buried at Saint John Cemetery in the Middle Village section of Queens, in 1 of the largest mausoleums in the cemetery.
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