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Joseph Massino

2013-09-09T20:21:49Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Rise to power */ the fate of J&S Cake

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] (Cosa Nostra) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families and tried to rename it the "Massino family." Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref> The building was seized in 1988 during a crackdown on the Bonannos' gambling activities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Howe|first=Marvine|title=U.S. Gambling Raid Seizes 2 Social Clubs And 200 Pet Birds|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/20/nyregion/us-gambling-raid-seizes-2-social-clubs-and-200-pet-birds.html|accessdate=2013-09-09|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1988-07-20}}</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informant or government witness. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections left Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]

Joseph Massino

2013-09-09T19:59:21Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Three capos and Napolitano murders */ was gonna rewrite a sentence to be more direct, but figured it wasn't an important detail anyway

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] (Cosa Nostra) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families and tried to rename it the "Massino family." Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informant or government witness. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections left Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]

Salvatore Vitale

2013-09-04T19:54:21Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Biography */ I am so not articulate, but at least this part isn't borderline plagiarized anymore

{{Infobox person
| name=Salvatore Vitale
| image= Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg
| caption=FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|9|22|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Maspeth, Queens]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Former [[underboss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family]]
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

{{More footnotes|date=October 2011}}
'''Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale''' (born September 22, 1947 [[Maspeth, Queens]]) was a [[New York City]] caterer and former underboss of the [[Bonanno crime family]] of the [[American Mafia]] before becoming a government informant.<ref>[http://www.mafianj.com/sci89/bonanno.shtml The Mafia in New Jersey – La Cosa Nostra – State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation 1989 Report – The Bonanno/Rastelli/Vitale Family]</ref>

==Biography==
Salvatore Vitale was born on September 22, 1947 in [[Maspeth, Queens]] in [[New York City]]. He was the son of Giuseppe and Lilli Vitale, who had emigrated from the village of [[San Giuseppe Jato]] in [[Sicily]] after [[World War II]]; the couple had already had three daughters, but Salvatore was their only son to survive childbirth. Salvatore was described by his family as emotionally distant as a child.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 41-42</ref>

Vitale first met Joseph Massino as a child.<ref name="ff621">Raab, p. 621</ref> Massino had begun dating Vitale's sister Josephine in 1956,<ref>DeStefano, p. 43</ref> and the couple married in 1960.<ref>Crittle, p. 50</ref> Massino also befriended Salvatore Vitale, becoming a surrogate "big brother" to his future brother-in-law.<ref name="ff621"/>

Unlike Massino,<ref>Raab, pp. 604-605</ref> Vitale graduated from high school.<ref name="ff621"/> He also attempted to have a legitimate career; Vitale entered the U.S. Military and had been trained as a paratrooper. Discharged in 1968, he went on to work briefly as a corrections officer, working in Queens with drug offenders.<ref name="ff621"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 64</ref>

===Legitimate career===
He and Diana moved to [[Long Island]], a safe distance from mob-entrenched [[Maspeth, Queens]], to have a better life for themselves. Salvatore managed his own social club in Maspeth, Queens not far from Joseph Massino's CasaBlanca Restaurant and Catering Service where he would meet with his underlings. His son Anthony would later work for mob associate [[Robert Perrino]] at ''[[The New York Post]]'' after he dropped out of college.

===Criminal career===
When he quit that job, Vitale approached Joseph Massino for criminal work. He soon became involved in burglaries and transport truck hijacking. His first real piece of work was helping dispose of [[Paul Castellano]]'s son-in-law Frank Amato in 1975. He was given a no-show job as a food consultant for King Caterer's. He suffered from poor health, and had his first heart attack at the age of 38 and another in 2001. Vitale was one of the gunmen who killed three Bonanno captains; [[Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera]] and [[Philip Giaccone]].

Vitale was put under [[house arrest]] in 2001, and was allowed to go to work at his no-show job at King Caterers in [[Farmingdale, Long Island]] as a "food consultant" and owner, but had to be home by 6pm. He was allowed to take his wife out to dinner three times a week. The probation officer just required Vitale to fax over the name of the restaurant. He would later be involved directly in murdering four individuals with Gerlando Sciascia, loansharking, bookmaking, extortion and illegal gambling. By that time, the stress of home detention and his ensuing legal problems aggravated the already strained marriage.

He became a second father to his niece Joanna Massino, when her father became a wanted fugitive during her freshman year at high school. He arranged her 16th birthday party in the absence of Joseph and danced with his niece. His niece Adeline, who would become a psychology major in college, did not trust Vitale, and thought he seemed full of himself. With Joseph he was disrespected and belittled as underboss of the Bonanno crime family, which caused Vitale to resent Massino for many years. He was a close friend and business associate of Bonanno crime family capo James Tartaglione. His vanity was a well-known subject of gossip. He relished the aura of being a mob boss. His favorite cologne was Gray Flanel.

===Joseph Massino===
Although Vitale was underboss of the Bonanno crime family, he chafed at the paltry power Massino had given him, going so far as to forbid him from speaking to the capos under his leadership in the family. Massino did not assign any captains to work for Vitale and was not even given Christmas gifts from the family. It was thought by many of his fellow capos that he was power hungry and greedy and knew too much intimate criminal knowledge to be trusted by others. Some wished that he was dead and thought Massino's judgement in promoting him to underboss was clouded because he was married to Vitale's sister.

He was a successful business man and co-owner and manager of the successful J & S Catering Social Club and Casablanca Restaurant, both in Maspeth where he grew up. When Sal Vitale was arrested he was informed by the FBI that Massino was plotting to kill him. After learning this information he decided to turn on Massino and have the last laugh.

===Informant===
In January 2004, a secret recording by capo James Tartaglione showed that Diana Vitale had been so frightened of Massino that Salvatore stayed away from him during the time leading up to his arrest. He had not aged well, his face was puffy and his hair had gone mostly gray. In 2003, Vitale and Joseph Massino were arrested by the FBI and charged with racketeering and murder. Vitale was also indicted for another murder. Soon after Vitale's arrest, prosecutors found out that Massino suspected Vitale of turning informer and wanted him killed. When the FBI informed Vitale of this, he agreed to testify against Massino in exchange for sentencing leniency.

Vitale's testimony centered around a series of murders allegedly orchestrated by Massino and [[John Gotti]]. Vitale told the FBI about both his and Massino's involvement in over 10 murders, including: Indelicato, Trinchera, Giaccone, [[Dominick Napolitano]], [[Anthony Mirra]], [[Cesare Bonventre]], [[Gerlando Sciascia]], Gabriel Infante, Joseph Pastore, [[John Favara]] and Vito Borelli. This information helped lead to the conviction of Massino.

As of 2010, Vitale had testified against 51 organized crime figures.<ref>{{cite news|title=Betrayed by a Mafia Underboss|url=http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/10/28/us/mafia.html?ref=nyregion|accessdate=June 27, 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 28, 2010}}</ref> On October 29, 2010 Vitale was sentenced by Judge Nicholos Garufis to time served for 11 murders and other crimes. After leaving the courtroom he entered the federal [[Witness Protection Program]]. Vitale returned to the stand again in March 2012 to testify against [[Thomas Gioeli]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Rosenberg|first=Noah|title=Former Underboss Offers Primer on Mob Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/nyregion/salvatore-vitale-ex-underboss-testifies-at-murder-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2012-03-20}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Italian American mobsters]]
*[[List of crime bosses convicted in the 21st century]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinncle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
*Crittle, Simon, ''The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino'' Berkley (March 7, 2006) ISBN 0-425-20939-3
*Pistone, Joseph D.; & Woodley, Richard (1999) ''[[Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia]]'', Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-66637-4.
*Pistone, Joseph D.; & Brandt, Charles (2007). ''Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business'', Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-2707-8.
*Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8

==External links==
* http://www.ipsn.org/court_cases/united_states_v_massino.htm
*http://www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=-214427771

{{s-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Joseph Massino|Joseph "Big Joe" Massino]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1991–2004}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nicholas Santora|Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora]]}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Persondata
| NAME =Vitale, Salvatore
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American mobster
| DATE OF BIRTH =September 22, 1947
| PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Maspeth, Queens]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitale, Salvatore}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Sicilian descent]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program]]

Joseph Massino

2013-08-07T15:36:30Z

Lenin and McCarthy: change Mafia term in lead

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] (Cosa Nostra) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families and tried to rename it the "Massino family." Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informant or government witness. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]

Joseph Massino

2013-08-07T15:34:38Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* External links */ getting rid of life sentence categories

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families and tried to rename it the "Massino family." Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informant or government witness. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-15T21:19:16Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Run-up to prosecution */ it may be splitting hairs, but you can be an informant without agreeing to testify

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families and tried to rename it the "Massino family." Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informant or government witness. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-15T21:14:47Z

Lenin and McCarthy: "Massino family" probably important enough for the lead

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families and tried to rename it the "Massino family." Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-11T02:07:51Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Massino's testimony and release */ misread D'arco article

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence;<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-11T01:59:26Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Relations with other families */ Took forever for this article to come back up again - update NYDN commission ref

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/boss-rat-joseph-massino-admits-court-mafia-commission-hasn-met-25-years-article-1.114750|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> With Lucchese acting boss and fellow government witness [[Alphonse D'Arco]] testifying on their behalf, prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco says fellow crime boss Joseph Massino should be let out of prison before he dies|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/alphonse-al-arco-fellow-crime-boss-joseph-massino-article-1.1393354|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-11T01:56:50Z

Lenin and McCarthy:

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to [[time served]] in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> With Lucchese acting boss and fellow government witness [[Alphonse D'Arco]] testifying on their behalf, prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco says fellow crime boss Joseph Massino should be let out of prison before he dies|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/alphonse-al-arco-fellow-crime-boss-joseph-massino-article-1.1393354|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-11T01:15:34Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Massino's testimony and release */

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to time served in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> With Lucchese acting boss and fellow government witness [[Alphonse D'Arco]] testifying on their behalf, prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco says fellow crime boss Joseph Massino should be let out of prison before he dies|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/alphonse-al-arco-fellow-crime-boss-joseph-massino-article-1.1393354|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to time served and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-10T20:32:44Z

Lenin and McCarthy:

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Sentence reduced to time served
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]] in 2011, and was resentenced to time served in 2013.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> With Lucchese acting boss and fellow government witness [[Alphonse D'Arco]] testifying on their behalf, prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco says fellow crime boss Joseph Massino should be let out of prison before he dies|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/alphonse-al-arco-fellow-crime-boss-joseph-massino-article-1.1393354|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to 10 years minus time served, effectively an immediate release, and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-10T20:28:29Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Massino's testimony */

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony and release===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref> With Lucchese acting boss and fellow government witness [[Alphonse D'Arco]] testifying on their behalf, prosecutors cited both the impact of Massino's unprecedented cooperation and his failing health as reasons for a reduction of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco says fellow crime boss Joseph Massino should be let out of prison before he dies|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/alphonse-al-arco-fellow-crime-boss-joseph-massino-article-1.1393354|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Algar|first=Selim|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss turned FBI informant wants out of jail as reward for testimony against mafia|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mafia_bonanno_crime_boss_turned_lttBNQ4Sex3pMYaeKhakbL|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Post|date=2013-07-08}}</ref> Garaufis granted their request on July 10, resentencing Massino to 10 years minus time served, effectively an immediate release, and supervised release for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-mob boss wins reprieve in NY from life sentence|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/AP60fd8950a7ec4f70a5dd1405b423a42b.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2013-07-10|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-10T20:10:32Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Massino's testimony */ fix a dead link

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-won-sing-mob-trial-article-1.616945|accessdate=2013-07-10|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-09T20:39:03Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Massino's testimony */

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref> While Massino had not worked closely with Romanello, prosecutors decided to use him after another mobster-turned-witness was dropped;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino, in prison for murder, set to sing again in extortion trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ex-bonanno-crime-boss-set-sing-extortion-trial-article-1.1201678|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-14}}</ref> the case ended in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Colombo, Genovese mob men walk free in stunning verdicts|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-men-walk-free-stunning-verdicts-article-1.1211428|accessdate=2013-07-09|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-07-09T20:22:53Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Turning state's evidence */ subsection for testimony and resentencing - perhaps DeStefano's new book might be useful for expansion

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

===Massino's testimony===
Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-06-25T19:22:19Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Turning state's evidence */ I was waiting to hear the result of the filing before I made this update...what's taking so long?

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

In June 2013 the U.S. Department of Justice filed a request to Judge Garaufis for a reduction of Massino's sentence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Secret|first=Mosi|title=U.S. Requests Shorter Term for Mob Boss Sentenced to Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/nyregion/us-requests-shorter-term-for-mob-boss-sentenced-to-life.html?_r=0|accessdate=2013-06-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2013-06-10}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-06-25T17:25:47Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Turning state's evidence */ vic49 created the mancuso article

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when [[Michael Mancuso]], who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-06-24T21:56:24Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Turning state's evidence */ fix ref

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when Michael Mancuso, who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-06-24T21:55:43Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Turning state's evidence */ mancuso reported as the successor

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino has admitted to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and claimed that at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, became one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> grew overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was not replaced as Bonanno boss until 2013 when Michael Mancuso, who had replaced Basciano as acting boss,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=HELP WANTED: CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/wanted-crime-boss-article-1.559255|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-02-17}}</ref> was reported to have formally assumed the title.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno crime family sniffs out Michael ‘The Nose’ Mancuso as new boss: sources Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609#ixzz2XAnoo6C5|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/bonanno-family-names-nose-new-boss-article-1.1380609|accessdate=2013-06-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2013-06-24}}</ref>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Peter Gotti

2013-06-07T20:09:44Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Background */ update ref

{{Infobox criminal
| name = Peter Gotti
| image_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|10|15}}
| birth_place = [[The Bronx]], [[New York City]], [[New York]], [[United States]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| charge = Attempted extortion, [[Conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]], [[extortion]], [[money laundering]]
| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment]]
| conviction_status = Incarcerated
| occupation = Caretaker of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, [[Crime boss]], [[Criminal]], [[Gangster]], [[:wikt:Mafioso|Mafioso]], [[Mobster]], [[Racketeer]], [[Sanitation worker]]
| religion = [[Roman Catholic]]
| spouse = Catherine Gotti (1960-2002, divorced)
| children =
| nickname = "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye"
}}

'''Peter Gotti,''' also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" (born November 15, 1939), is a New York mobster who is the former boss of the [[Gambino crime family]] and the older brother of deceased Gambino [[crime boss|boss]] [[John J. Gotti]].

==Background==
Peter Gotti was born to John and Fannie Gotti. Peter's brothers included [[John J. Gotti]], capo [[Gene Gotti]], capo [[Richard V. Gotti]], and soldier Vincent Gotti. Peter is the father of [[Peter Gotti Jr.]]. Peter Gotti has a wife Catherine; they live in [[Howard Beach, Queens]]. Peter's nickname "One Eye" derives from blindness from [[glaucoma]] in one eye.<ref name="crime boss">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=NAB NEWEST GAMBINO CRIME BOSS|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/nab-newest-gambino-crime-boss-article-1.488860|accessdate=12 April 2012|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=June 5, 2002}}</ref>

Around 1960, at age 21, Peter Gotti started working as an associate for the Gambino family. In 1988, at age 49, the family inducted Peter Gotti as a full member, or [[made man]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Gotti's Family|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/gotti-s-family-1.203105|publisher=Newsday|accessdate=2012-01-13}}</ref> John J. Gotti did not believe his brother Peter had the ability to belong to [[Cosa Nostra]], which may have led to Peter's reputation as "the Dumbest Don." John J. Gotti designated Peter as caretaker of the [[Bergin Hunt and Fish Club]], and as a driver for John and Gene. By 1989, Peter was promoted to [[capo (Mafia)|capo]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Zambito|first=Thomas|title=Dapper Don Diatribe May Doom Peter|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/dapper-don-diatribe-doom-peter-article-1.621440|accessdate=2013-06-07|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-17}}</ref>

Like his father, Peter Gotti had a legitimate job as a sanitation worker for the [[New York City Department of Sanitation]]. Peter eventually retired from the Sanitation Department with a disability pension after injuring his head against the back end of a garbage truck.<ref name="dumbest"/> This accident generated many jokes at the Bergin about how the accident occurred to the one part of Peter's anatomy certain to sustain no lasting damage.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

==Rise to leadership==

Despite everyone's low expectations for Peter Gotti, he was soon fulfilling a more important role in the family. When John J. Gotti and Gene Gotti went to prison, Peter started relaying messages from the two leaders to the rest of the family. In 1999, Gambino acting boss [[John A. Gotti]], commonly known as "Junior" Gotti, was sent to prison and Peter became the new acting boss, with assistance from [[caporegime|capos]] [[Nicholas Corozzo|Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo]], a former rival of John J. Gotti and [[Jackie D'Amico|John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico]], a longtime Gotti associate. The three mobsters formed a "Committee" which ran the day-to-day operations of the Family. As acting boss, Peter Gotti represented the Gambinos at a 2000 [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]] meeting.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-02-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref>

Sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, with ''official boss'' John J. Gotti dying in prison, Peter became the new ''sitting'' or ''official'' boss.

==Conviction and prison==

In June 2002, a few days before his brother John's death, Peter Gotti was indicted on federal [[racketeering]] charges. During Peter Gotti's trial, federal prosecutors released information revealing that Peter was having an affair with Marjorie Alexander, a longtime girlfriend. Alexander then publicly acknowledged the liaison and declared her love for Peter. In response, Peter berated Alexander for causing the publicity and broke off all contact with her.<ref name="dumbest">[http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/10869/ "The Dumbest Don"] by By John Lombardi New York Magazine May 21, 2005.</ref> Alexander later committed suicide. During this time Catherine Gotti, Peter's wife of 42 years, filed for divorce.

In 2003, Peter Gotti was convicted of extortion and money laundering activities centered on the [[Brooklyn]] and [[Staten Island]] waterfronts, and for the attempted extortion of film actor [[Steven Seagal]]. Judge [[Frederic Block]] of the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York]] also sentenced Gotti to 9 years and 4 months in prison on April 15, 2004 for the money laundering and racketeering charges.<ref name="boss"/> Peter received over 20 years in prison. On December 22, 2004, Peter was convicted of extortion in the construction industry and for plotting to murder government informant and former Gambino underboss [[Sammy Gravano|Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano]].<ref>{{cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|title=Peter Gotti Is Found Guilty In Murder and Racket Case|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E7DC1130F930A15751C1A9629C8B63|accessdate=January 20, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 23, 2004|author2=Lueck, Thomas J.}}</ref> Judge [[Richard C. Casey]] on July 27, 2005, sentenced Peter Gotti to 25 years in prison regarding those charges.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mafia boss Peter Gotti sentenced to 25 years|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-07-28-mafia-boss-peter-gotti-sentenced-to-25-years|accessdate=January 20, 2011|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=July 28, 2005|agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref>

Peter Gotti is imprisoned at the [[Federal Correctional Institution]] (FCI) in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]]. His projected release date, if he survives, is May 5, 2032.<ref>[http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/tha/index.jsp Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator]</ref> During his last trial, lawyers stated that Peter Gotti was blind in one eye and suffered from [[thyroid]] [[goiter]], [[sciatica]], [[emphysema]], [[rheumatoid arthritis]], [[postconcussion syndrome]], and [[Clinical depression|depression]].<ref name="boss">{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Andy|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/16/nyregion/gambino-crime-boss-or-not-peter-gotti-gets-9-year-term.html|title=Gambino Crime Boss or Not, Peter Gotti Gets 9-Year Term|work=The New York Times|date=April 16, 2004|accessdate=January 20, 2011}}</ref>

In July 2011 Gangland writer [[Jerry Capeci]] reported that [[Domenico Cefalu]] had formally replaced Peter Gotti as official Gambino boss.<ref>{{cite news |title= Wiseguy Sicilian Domenico Cefalu takes reins of Gambino crime family, once ruled by Gottis|author= John Marzulli|url= http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-07-29/news/29844200_1_crime-family-john-gotti-lewis-kasman|newspaper= New York Daily News|date= 2011-07-29|accessdate=2012-02-19}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti by Gene Mustain & [[Jerry Capeci]] in 2002, ISBN 0-02-864416-6.
*Gotti: The Rise & Fall by [[Jerry Capeci]] in 1996, ISBN 0-451-40681-8.
*Mafia Dynasty: The Rise & Fall of the Gambino Crime Family by John H. Davis in 1994, ISBN 0-06-109184-7.

{{s-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John A. Gotti|John "Junior" Gotti]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Gambino crime family]] Acting boss|years=1999–2002}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arnold Squitieri|Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Gotti]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Gambino crime family]] Boss|years=2002–2011}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Domenico Cefalu]]}}
{{end}}

{{Gambino crime family}}{{American Mafia}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Gotti, Peter
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = October 15, 1939
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[The Bronx]], [[New York City]], [[New York]], [[United States]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotti, Peter}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American extortionists]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Gambino crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Gambino crime family]]
[[Category:Incarcerated mobsters]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-04-05T14:25:05Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Run-up to prosecution */

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In the meantime, the FBI also targeted other members of the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-04-05T14:22:06Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* External links */ rmv arson cat - he probably didn't do it himself

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration soon afterward. The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to go after Massino with a rear-guard action. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 647-648.</ref> In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-04-04T00:10:17Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Turning state's evidence */ ref work

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration soon afterward. The Bonanno squad's chief, Jack Stubing, was well aware of the measures Massino had taken to avoid scrutiny. He therefore decided to use a flanking maneuver. He convinced his bosses to lend him a pair of [[forensic accounting|forensic accountants]] normally used in fraud investigations, believing that they could easily pinpoint conspirators in the family's money laundering schemes. He believed that they could easily be induced to turn informer, and thus make it easier to trace how the money flowed to Massino.<ref> Raab, p. 739-740.</ref> In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since [[Lepke Buchalter]] was executed in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title='Last don' faces execution|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/13/usa|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2004-11-13|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

In hopes of saving his life, Massino decided to break his blood oath and turn informer. Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-rats-fed-death-trap-article-1.558171|accessdate=2013-04-03|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2013-03-31T22:13:06Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* The family regroups */ ref work

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> He told Vitale that in his view, "Joe Bonanno disrespected the family by ratting."<ref name="ff639"/> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed. Due to numerous successful prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail. The Bonanno family was now reckoned as the most powerful crime family in New York and the nation.<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref><ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> As the only full-fledged boss in New York who was still on the streets, Massino was in a position to make general policies for the Five Families. Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, the Bonannos had been the only family in the modern history of the New York Mafia (i. e., since the [[Castellammarese War]]) to have never had a made man turn informer. Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by acting underboss [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Salvatore Vitale

2013-03-29T04:02:29Z

Lenin and McCarthy: rewrite something too close to the source - actually a really big cleanup

{{Infobox person
| name=Salvatore Vitale
| image= Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg
| caption=FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|9|22|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Maspeth, Queens]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Former [[underboss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family]]
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

{{More footnotes|date=October 2011}}
'''Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale''' (born September 22, 1947 [[Maspeth, Queens]]) was a [[New York City]] caterer and former underboss of the [[Bonanno crime family]] of the [[American Mafia]] before becoming a government informant.<ref>[http://www.mafianj.com/sci89/bonanno.shtml The Mafia in New Jersey – La Cosa Nostra – State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation 1989 Report – The Bonanno/Rastelli/Vitale Family]</ref>

==Biography==
Salvatore Vitale was born on September 22, 1947 in [[Maspeth, Queens]] in [[New York City]]. He was the son of Giuseppe and Lilli Vitale, who had emigrated from the village of [[San Giuseppe Jato]] in [[Sicily]] after [[World War II]]; the couple had already had three daughters, but Salvatore was their only son to survive childbirth. Salvatore was described by his family as emotionally distant as a child.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 41-42</ref>

When Joseph Massino dropped out of seventh grade and began earning a reputation as a mob associate, he caught the attention of Salvatore Vitale's eldest sister Josephine, who was seven months younger than Massino. She had been voted best looking in her eighth grade class. Massino and Josephine began dating in 1956, married in 1960, and had a daughter, Adeline.

===Legitimate career===
In 1968 he served a short tour of duty in the [[U.S. Marines]], as a [[paratrooper]]. He tried being legitimate and spent two years serving as what he would later say was a job as a "narcotics correction officer" with the [[New York City Sheriff's Office]]. He fathered four sons, including Anthony Vitale, who would later become a small-time criminal. [[Joseph Massino]] often pressured the fathers in his crime family to recruit their boys, but Vitale wanted a better life for them.

He and Diana moved to [[Long Island]], a safe distance from mob-entrenched [[Maspeth, Queens]], to have a better life for themselves. Salvatore managed his own social club in Maspeth, Queens not far from Joseph Massino's CasaBlanca Restaurant and Catering Service where he would meet with his underlings. His son Anthony would later work for mob associate [[Robert Perrino]] at ''[[The New York Post]]'' after he dropped out of college.

===Criminal career===
When he quit that job, Vitale approached Joseph Massino for criminal work. He soon became involved in burglaries and transport truck hijacking. His first real piece of work was helping dispose of [[Paul Castellano]]'s son-in-law Frank Amato in 1975. He was given a no-show job as a food consultant for King Caterer's. He suffered from poor health, and had his first heart attack at the age of 38 and another in 2001. Vitale was one of the gunmen who killed three Bonanno captains; [[Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera]] and [[Philip Giaccone]].

Vitale was put under [[house arrest]] in 2001, and was allowed to go to work at his no-show job at King Caterers in [[Farmingdale, Long Island]] as a "food consultant" and owner, but had to be home by 6pm. He was allowed to take his wife out to dinner three times a week. The probation officer just required Vitale to fax over the name of the restaurant. He would later be involved directly in murdering four individuals with Gerlando Sciascia, loansharking, bookmaking, extortion and illegal gambling. By that time, the stress of home detention and his ensuing legal problems aggravated the already strained marriage.

He became a second father to his niece Joanna Massino, when her father became a wanted fugitive during her freshman year at high school. He arranged her 16th birthday party in the absence of Joseph and danced with his niece. His niece Adeline, who would become a psychology major in college, did not trust Vitale, and thought he seemed full of himself. With Joseph he was disrespected and belittled as underboss of the Bonanno crime family, which caused Vitale to resent Massino for many years. He was a close friend and business associate of Bonanno crime family capo James Tartaglione. His vanity was a well-known subject of gossip. He relished in the aura of being a mob boss. His favorite cologne was Gray Flanel.

===Joseph Massino===
Although Vitale was underboss of the Bonanno crime family, he chafed at the paltry power Massino had given him, going so far as to forbid him from speaking to the capos under his leadership in the family. Massino did not assign any captains to work for Vitale and was not even given Christmas gifts from the family. It was thought by many of his fellow capos that he was power hungry and greedy and knew too much intimate criminal knowledge to be trusted by others. Some wished that he was dead and thought Massino's judgement in promoting him to underboss was clouded because he was married to Vitale's sister.

He was a successful business man and co-owner and manager of the successful J & S Catering Social Club and Casablanca Restaurant, both in Maspeth where he grew up. When Sal Vitale was arrested he was informed by the FBI that Massino was plotting to kill him. After learning this information he decided to turn on Massino and have the last laugh.

===Informant===
In January 2004, a secret recording by capo James Tartaglione showed that Diana Vitale had been so frightened of Massino that Salvatore stayed away from him during the time leading up to his arrest. He had not aged well, his face was puffy and his hair had gone mostly gray. In 2003, Vitale and Joseph Massino were arrested by the FBI and charged with racketeering and murder. Vitale was also indicted for another murder. Soon after Vitale's arrest, prosecutors found out that Massino suspected Vitale of turning informer and wanted him killed. When the FBI informed Vitale of this, he agreed to testify against Massino in exchange for sentencing leniency.

Vitale's testimony centered around a series of murders allegedly orchestrated by Massino and [[John Gotti]]. Vitale told the FBI about both his and Massino's involvement in over 10 murders, including: Indelicato, Trinchera, Giaccone, [[Dominick Napolitano]], [[Anthony Mirra]], [[Cesare Bonventre]], [[Gerlando Sciascia]], Gabriel Infante, Joseph Pastore, [[John Favara]] and Vito Borelli. This information helped lead to the conviction of Massino.

As of 2010, Vitale had testified against 51 organized crime figures.<ref>{{cite news|title=Betrayed by a Mafia Underboss|url=http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/10/28/us/mafia.html?ref=nyregion|accessdate=June 27, 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 28, 2010}}</ref> On October 29, 2010 Vitale was sentenced by Judge Nicholos Garufis to time served for 11 murders and other crimes. After leaving the courtroom he entered the federal [[Witness Protection Program]]. Vitale returned to the stand again in March 2012 to testify against [[Thomas Gioeli]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Rosenberg|first=Noah|title=Former Underboss Offers Primer on Mob Life|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/nyregion/salvatore-vitale-ex-underboss-testifies-at-murder-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2012-03-20}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Italian American mobsters]]
*[[List of crime bosses convicted in the 21st century]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinncle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
*Crittle, Simon, ''The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino'' Berkley (March 7, 2006) ISBN 0-425-20939-3
*Pistone, Joseph D.; & Woodley, Richard (1999) ''[[Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia]]'', Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-66637-4.
*Pistone, Joseph D.; & Brandt, Charles (2007). ''Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business'', Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-2707-8.
*Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8

==External links==
* http://www.ipsn.org/court_cases/united_states_v_massino.htm
*http://www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=-214427771

{{s-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Joseph Massino|Joseph "Big Joe" Massino]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1991–2004}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nicholas Santora|Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora]]}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME =Vitale, Salvatore
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American mobster
| DATE OF BIRTH =September 22, 1947
| PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Maspeth, Queens]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitale, Salvatore}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Sicilian descent]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program]]

Joseph Massino

2013-03-23T03:03:16Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Bonanno crime family */ minor ref work

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone; Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe; Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five-year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. While the FBI suspected Vitale was a mafioso, he had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was 48 years old by this time, and knew that he potentially had a long reign ahead of him. With this in mind, he was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
By the time Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family had been in decline for the better part of the last quarter century since Joseph Bonanno's ouster, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-30T01:57:27Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* 1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal */ looks like Sal was the triggerman to anyone who doesn't know anyone involved is charged with murder. clarifying regarding Infanti

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale organized the murder of Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-24T19:40:43Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* 2004 conviction */ rmv pic - crop already in use, ref work

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/top-bonanno-charged-81-mobster-rubout-article-1.664832|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-mull-whacking-mobster-article-1.528153|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/feds-bite-mobbed-up-cafe-article-1.525126|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-slaying-bust-new-whacking-charge-reputed-boss-article-1.662789|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-betrayal-cuts-deep-article-1.601168|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/massino-boss-hits-att-article-1.574634|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-24T19:20:35Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Run-up to prosecution */ nydn ref fixes

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/gambino-bigfoot-toe-woes-article-1.681928|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/metropolitan-report-judge-nixes-gag-order-louima-trial-article-1.488518|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/s-wiseguy-grins-bear-jail-article-1.497573|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rise-fall-new-york-don-pale-bloated-shuffling-article-1.583721|accessdate=2012-12-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Joseph Massino.jpg|250px|thumb|right|FBI mugshot of Joe Massino on January 9, 2003]]

[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-01-10/news/18229390_1_bonanno-crime-family-donnie-brasco|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-08-21/news/18249526_1_bonanno-death-penalty-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-01/news/18237704_1_crime-family-death-penalty-bonanno-crime|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-31/news/18227685_1_bonanno-pistone-napolitano|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-29/news/18264386_1_vitale-joseph-massino-crime-family|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-07-23/news/18285164_1_bonanno-captain-joseph-massino-s-turncoat|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-21T22:38:18Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Relations with other families */ fix one ref - commission story still broken when searching on the site

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bonanno-chief-gotti-talky-article-1.548944|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1995-05-03/news/17970330_1_corrao-federal-prison-judge-glasser|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-04-16/news/18196391_1_gag-order-charles-schwarz-juries|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-12-24/news/18203435_1_graziano-bladder-cancer-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-04-10/news/18303000_1_bonanno-crime-family-joseph-massino-carmine-galante|accessdate=2012-04-06|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Joseph Massino.jpg|250px|thumb|right|FBI mugshot of Joe Massino on January 9, 2003]]

[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-01-10/news/18229390_1_bonanno-crime-family-donnie-brasco|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-08-21/news/18249526_1_bonanno-death-penalty-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-01/news/18237704_1_crime-family-death-penalty-bonanno-crime|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-31/news/18227685_1_bonanno-pistone-napolitano|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-29/news/18264386_1_vitale-joseph-massino-crime-family|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-07-23/news/18285164_1_bonanno-captain-joseph-massino-s-turncoat|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-21T20:35:54Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* The family regroups */ nydn ref fixes

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Mob Boss A Sole Survivor: Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-boss-sole-survivor-reputed-bonanno-leader-profile-article-1.882983|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/yes-bonannos-mob-family-change-names-40-years-call-em-massinos-article-1.520861|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-30/news/18258575_1_john-gotti-philip-rastelli-racketeering|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1995-05-03/news/17970330_1_corrao-federal-prison-judge-glasser|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-04-16/news/18196391_1_gag-order-charles-schwarz-juries|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-12-24/news/18203435_1_graziano-bladder-cancer-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-04-10/news/18303000_1_bonanno-crime-family-joseph-massino-carmine-galante|accessdate=2012-04-06|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Joseph Massino.jpg|250px|thumb|right|FBI mugshot of Joe Massino on January 9, 2003]]

[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-01-10/news/18229390_1_bonanno-crime-family-donnie-brasco|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-08-21/news/18249526_1_bonanno-death-penalty-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-01/news/18237704_1_crime-family-death-penalty-bonanno-crime|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-31/news/18227685_1_bonanno-pistone-napolitano|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-29/news/18264386_1_vitale-joseph-massino-crime-family|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-07-23/news/18285164_1_bonanno-captain-joseph-massino-s-turncoat|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-21T20:24:55Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Three capos and Napolitano murders */ fix NYDN refs

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bloody B'klyn Rubout - Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/bloody-b-klyn-rubout-massino-okd-81-mob-hit-article-1.657391|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-09-17/news/18160646_1_crime-boss-crime-family-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-20/news/18241331_1_joe-bananas-crime-family-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-30/news/18258575_1_john-gotti-philip-rastelli-racketeering|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1995-05-03/news/17970330_1_corrao-federal-prison-judge-glasser|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-04-16/news/18196391_1_gag-order-charles-schwarz-juries|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-12-24/news/18203435_1_graziano-bladder-cancer-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-04-10/news/18303000_1_bonanno-crime-family-joseph-massino-carmine-galante|accessdate=2012-04-06|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Joseph Massino.jpg|250px|thumb|right|FBI mugshot of Joe Massino on January 9, 2003]]

[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-01-10/news/18229390_1_bonanno-crime-family-donnie-brasco|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-08-21/news/18249526_1_bonanno-death-penalty-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-01/news/18237704_1_crime-family-death-penalty-bonanno-crime|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-31/news/18227685_1_bonanno-pistone-napolitano|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-29/news/18264386_1_vitale-joseph-massino-crime-family|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-07-23/news/18285164_1_bonanno-captain-joseph-massino-s-turncoat|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-21T20:21:40Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Early years */ why do you have to do this to me NYDN? starting to fix refs

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/jail-mobster-steamed-article-1.595846|accessdate=2012-12-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-30/news/18264209_1_bonanno-social-club-captains|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-09-17/news/18160646_1_crime-boss-crime-family-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-20/news/18241331_1_joe-bananas-crime-family-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-30/news/18258575_1_john-gotti-philip-rastelli-racketeering|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1995-05-03/news/17970330_1_corrao-federal-prison-judge-glasser|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-04-16/news/18196391_1_gag-order-charles-schwarz-juries|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-12-24/news/18203435_1_graziano-bladder-cancer-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-04-10/news/18303000_1_bonanno-crime-family-joseph-massino-carmine-galante|accessdate=2012-04-06|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Joseph Massino.jpg|250px|thumb|right|FBI mugshot of Joe Massino on January 9, 2003]]

[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-01-10/news/18229390_1_bonanno-crime-family-donnie-brasco|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-08-21/news/18249526_1_bonanno-death-penalty-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-01/news/18237704_1_crime-family-death-penalty-bonanno-crime|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-31/news/18227685_1_bonanno-pistone-napolitano|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-29/news/18264386_1_vitale-joseph-massino-crime-family|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-07-23/news/18285164_1_bonanno-captain-joseph-massino-s-turncoat|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]

Joseph Massino

2012-12-21T07:17:07Z

Lenin and McCarthy: /* Relations with other families */

{{good article}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Joseph Charles Massino
| image = Joeymassinocrop.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = 2003 FBI mugshot
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| resting_place =
| alias = Big Joey, The Ear
| allegiance = [[Bonanno crime family]]
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005)
| conviction_status = Turned state's evidence
| occupation = Mobster, food services
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}

'''Joseph Charles Massino''' (born January 10, 1943), is a former American [[Gangster|mobster]]. He was a member of the [[American Mafia]] ([[Sicilian_Mafia#Etymology|Cosa Nostra]]) and was the [[Crime boss|boss]] of the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno]] [[crime family]] from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the [[Five Families]] in New York City to [[turn state's evidence]].

Massino was a protégé of [[Philip Rastelli]], who took control of the troubled Bonanno family after the assassination of [[Carmine Galante]]. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival [[Dominick Napolitano]]. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor [[racketeering]] conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year he reorganized the Bonannos as one of the strongest of the New York families. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only New York boss of his time who was out of prison.

In July 2004 Massino was convicted in a murder and racketeering indictment based on the testimony of several cooperating [[made man|made men]], including Massino's disgruntled [[underboss]] and brother-in-law [[Salvatore Vitale]]. He was also facing the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]] if convicted of a second murder indictment, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. He testified for the first time in the 2011 murder trial of his acting boss [[Vincent Basciano]], helping win a conviction against him.

==Early years==
Joseph Massino was born on January 10, 1943 in New York City.<ref name="lat">{{cite news|last=Getlin|first=Josh|title=A Simple Queens Caterer, or 'Big Joey' the Mob Killer?|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/03/nation/na-mafia3|accessdate=2012-05-22|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2004-05-03}}</ref> He was one of three sons of the [[Italian American|Neapolitan-American]] Anthony and Adeline Massino.<ref name="king42">DeStefano, pp. 42–43</ref> Raised in [[Maspeth, Queens]],<ref name="king42"/> Massino would admit to being a [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]] by the age of 12 and would claim at 14 he ran away from home to Florida.<ref name="Joey sees the light">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=A Mafia Boss Breaks a Code in Telling All|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/nyregion/13mob.html?_r=1|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-12}}</ref> He dropped out of [[Grover Cleveland High School (New York City)|Grover Cleveland High School]] in tenth grade.<ref>Raab, p. 604</ref>

Massino first met his future wife Josephine Vitale in 1956,<ref name="king42"/> and married her in 1960.<ref name="tlg49">Crittle, pp. 49–51</ref> The couple had three daughters.<ref>Crittle, p. 211</ref> Massino also befriended Josephine's brother, [[Salvatore Vitale]], who, after briefly serving in the Army, would become one of Massino's most trusted allies.<ref>Crittle, pp. 136–137</ref> While athletic in youth<ref name="king42"/> Massino, an avid cook,<ref>Crittle, p. 10</ref> would become overweight in adulthood. His weight gained him the nickname "Big Joey" and during a 1987 racketeering trial, when he asked [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent [[Joseph D. Pistone|Joseph Pistone]] who was to play him in a [[Donnie Brasco (film)|film adaptation of his undercover work]], Pistone joked that they could not find anyone fat enough.<ref name="time magazine">{{cite journal|coauthors=Simon Crittle|title=The Last Don|journal=Time|date=2004-03-29|volume=163|issue=13|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993685,00.html|accessdate=2012-09-14|author=Richard Corliss}}</ref> By 2004, Massino was suffering from [[diabetes]] and [[high blood pressure]] as well.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Jail's Got Mobster Steamed Up|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-12-28/news/18270685_1_shower-lockdown-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-12-28}}</ref>

After he turned state's evidence, Massino claimed his first murder victim was a [[Bonanno crime family]] associate named Tommy Zummo, who he shot dead some time in the 1960s. The killing gained the ire of a Maspeth-based Bonanno [[caporegime]] (captain, abbreviated capo), [[Philip Rastelli]], but he remained unaware of Massino's participation,<ref name="AMD's site">{{cite web|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=Bonanno Crime Family|url=http://tonydestefano.com/id3.html|publisher=tonydestefano.com|accessdate=2012-03-25}}</ref> and a nephew of Rastelli ultimately helped Massino become his protégé.<ref name="ff 605">Raab, p. 605</ref> Rastelli would set Massino up as a lunch wagon operator as part of his "Workmen's Mobile Lunch Association", an effective [[protection racket]]; after paying a kickback to Rastelli in the form of membership dues, Massino was assured no competition where he operated.<ref name="king 58-59">DeStefano, pp. 58–59</ref>

==Bonanno crime family==

===Rise to power===
By the late 1960s Massino was a Bonanno associate.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 60–61</ref> He led a successful [[truck hijacking]] crew, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale and carjacker Duane Leisenheimer, while [[Fence (criminal)|fencing]] the stolen goods and running [[Numbers game|numbers]] using the lunch wagon as a front.<ref name="ff 605"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 63–64, 68</ref> He also befriended another mob hijacker, the future [[Gambino crime family]] boss [[John Gotti]].<ref>Raab, p. 606</ref> Increasingly prosperous, Massino opened his own catering company, J&J Catering, which became another front for his activities.<ref name="tlg49"/> Massino's mentor Rastelli was expected to become Bonanno boss upon the 1973 death of [[Natale Evola]], but he had been convicted the previous year of [[Loan shark|loansharking]] and then of extortion in 1976, leaving him imprisoned.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 65, 67, 70</ref>

In 1975, Massino and Vitale participated in the murder of Vito Borelli, who Massino claimed was primarily executed by Gotti, at the behest of [[Paul Castellano]] of the Gambino crime family.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nomerta_mafia_boss_squealer_cxVn2NPO0V7oN9poESI90J/0|newspaper= New York Post|date= 2011-04-13|accessdate=2011-04-15}}</ref> The Borelli [[Contract killing|hit]] was significant for Massino "making his bones" – proving his loyalty to the Mafia by killing on its behalf – putting him close to becoming a [[made man]], a full member, in the Bonanno family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 74</ref> Massino also arranged the murder of one of his hijackers, Joseph Pastore, in 1976 after having Vitale borrow $9,000 from him on his behalf. While later acquitted of the crime,<ref name="king 187">DeStefano, pp. 187–188</ref> both Vitale and Massino would admit to participation after turning state's evidence.<ref name="AMD's site"/><ref>DeStefano, pp. 75–77</ref>

In March 1975, Massino was arrested at the scene of the arrest of one of his hijackers, [[Raymond Wean]], and charged with conspiracy to receive stolen goods.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 79–82</ref> Massino was scheduled to go on trial in 1977, but the charges were dropped after he successfully argued that he had not been properly [[Miranda warning|mirandized]], disqualifying statements Massino gave to police from being used in trial.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 84–86</ref>

On June 14, 1977, Massino was inducted into the Bonanno family along with [[Anthony Spero]], Joseph Chilli, Jr. and a group of other men in a ceremony conducted by [[Carmine Galante]], then acting boss of the Bonanno family.<ref name="AMD's site"/> He worked as a soldier in James Galante's crew, and later worked in [[Philip Giaccone|Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone]]'s crew.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 87</ref> Massino nevertheless remained loyal to Rastelli, then vying to oust Galante despite his imprisonment. Fearing Galante wanted him dead for insubordination, Massino delivered a request to the [[The Commission (mafia)|Commission]], the governing body of the American Mafia, on Rastelli's behalf to have Galante killed. The hit was approved and executed on July 12, 1979; Rastelli subsequently took full control of the family and rewarded Massino's loyalty by promoting him to capo.<ref>Raab, pp. 607–608</ref>

By the beginning of the 1980s Massino ran his crew from the J&S Cake [[social club]], a property just behind J&J Catering.<ref name="tlg49"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 104</ref>

===Three capos and Napolitano murders===
[[File:Bonannos and Rizzuto.jpg|thumb|right|200px|From left to right: [[Gerlando Sciascia]], [[Vito Rizzuto]], an unidentified man and Massino in 1981.]]
Following the Galante hit, Massino began jockeying for power with [[Dominick Napolitano|Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano]], another Rastelli loyalist capo. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos [[Alphonse Indelicato|Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato]], [[Dominick Trinchera|Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera]] and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on [[automatic weapons]] and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to [[Colombo crime family]] boss [[Carmine Persico]] and Gambino boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

Massino, Napolitano and [[Gerlando Sciascia]], a Sicilian-born capo linked to the [[Montreal]] [[Rizzuto crime family]], arranged a meeting at a Brooklyn social club with the three capos for May 5, 1981. The three had four gunmen, including Vitale and Bonanno-affiliated Montreal boss [[Vito Rizzuto]], hiding in a closet to ambush them.<ref name="FF 610">Raab, pp. 610–613</ref> When Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato arrived with [[Frank Lino]] to meet Massino they were shot to death, with Massino himself stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta"/><ref name="FF 610"/> Lino escaped unscathed by running out the door.<ref name="FF 610"/> The hit further improved Massino's prestige, but was marred by both Lino's escape and the discovery of Indelicato's body on May 20.<ref>Crittle, pp. 86, 92</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 114–115</ref>

Massino quickly won Lino over to his side,<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> but Indelicato's son [[Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato]] vowed revenge.<ref name="king112">DeStefano, pp. 112, 117</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a [[made man]], to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112"/> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named [[Joseph Pistone]]; shortly after the hit was ordered Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano, pp. 118–120</ref>

Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco",<ref name="King 118"/> Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity.<ref>Crittle, pp. 98–99</ref> Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-30/news/18264209_1_bonanno-social-club-captains|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref> On August 17 the former renegade Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the house of Ronald Filocomo, a Bonanno family associate, for a meeting. Napolitano was greeted by captain [[Frank Coppa]], then thrown down the stairs to the house's basement by Lino and shot to death.<ref name="FF617">Raab, pp. 617–620</ref> While Napolitano's body was prepared for disposal, Lino went outside to a nearby van and told the occupants that Napolitano was dead. One of the men in the car was Massino.<ref>DeStefano, p. 127</ref> Napolitano's body was discovered the following year.<ref>Crittle, pp. 102–104</ref>

[[Benjamin Ruggiero|Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero]], who helped Pistone formally become a Bonanno associate, was also targeted, but was arrested en route to the meeting where he was expected to be murdered. On February 18, 1982, [[Anthony Mirra]], the soldier who first 'discovered' Pistone, was assassinated on Massino's orders. Mirra had gone into hiding upon Pistone's exposure but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his protégé and cousin [[Joseph D'Amico]].<ref name="FF617"/>

===Fugitive and Bonventre murder===
On November 23, 1981, based on information gained by Pistone's infiltration, six Bonanno mobsters, including the then-missing Napolitano, were indicted on racketeering charges and conspiracy in the three capos hit.<ref>DeStefano, p. 136</ref>

In March 1982, Massino was tipped off by a Colombo-associated FBI insider that he was about to be indicted and went into hiding in Pennsylvania with Leisenheimer.<ref name="Joey sees the light"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Hays|first=Tom|title=Joseph Massino, Ex Mob Boss: FBI Agent Told Us About Arrests|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/15/joseph-massino-ex-mob-bos_n_849595.html|accessdate=2012-03-20|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2011-04-14}}</ref><ref name="king140">DeStefano, pp. 140–142</ref> On March 25, 1982, Massino was also charged with conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera and truck hijacking.<ref name="king140"/> In hiding, Massino was able to see the prosecution's strategy and better plan his defense as well as eventually face trial without association with other mobsters.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 122</ref><ref>DeStefano, p. 167</ref> Pistone later speculated Massino also feared retaliation upon the revelation that his associate Raymond Wean had turned state's evidence.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, pp. 103–104</ref> Massino was visited by many fellow mobsters, including Gotti,<ref>Crittle, p. 114</ref> and Vitale would secretly deliver cash to support him.<ref name="king140"/>

In 1984, Rastelli was released from prison,<ref name="king 160">DeStefano, pp. 160–163</ref> and he and Massino ordered the murder of Bonanno soldier [[Cesare Bonventre]].<ref name="ff626">Raab, pp. 626–627</ref> Still a fugitive, Massino summoned Vitale, [[Louis Attanasio]] and James Tartaglione to his hideout and gave them the order.<ref name="king 160"/> By this time, Massino was considered by most mobsters to be the boss in all but name, even though Rastelli was still officially head of the family,<ref name="ff626"/> as well as heir apparent for the title itself.<ref>Pistone, Brandt, p. 317</ref> According to Vitale, Massino had Bonventre killed for giving him no support when he was in hiding.<ref>Lamothe, Humphreys, p. 150</ref>

Bonventre was called to a meeting with Rastelli in [[Queens]]. He was picked up by Vitale and Attanasio and driven to a garage. En route, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head but only wounded him; he would kill Bonventre with two more shots when they reached their destination.<ref name="king 160"/> The task of disposing of Bonventre's corpse was handed to Gabriel Infanti. Infanti promised Vitale that Bonventre's remains would disappear forever. However, after a tipoff, the remains were discovered on April 16, 1984, in a warehouse in [[Garfield, New Jersey]], stuffed into two 55-gallon glue drums.<ref name="king 160"/>

For his part in the hit, Massino had Vitale initiated into the Bonanno family.<ref name="ff626"/>

===1986 conviction and 1987 acquittal===
[[File:Bonannosurveillance2.jpg|200px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Joseph Massino, [[Salvatore Vitale]] and [[Frank Lino]]. The three men are headed to the wake of former [[Gambino crime family]] underboss [[Frank DeCicco]], in April 1986.]]
Through Gotti associate [[Angelo Ruggiero]], Massino was able to meet with defense attorney John Pollok in 1984 to negotiate his surrender. He finally turned himself in on July 7 and was released on $350,000 bail.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 164–168</ref> That year, Massino and Salvatore Vitale secured [[no-show job]]s with the [[Long Island]] based King Caterers in exchange for protecting them from [[Lucchese crime family|Lucchese]] extortion.<ref name="ff 642">Raab, pp. 642–643</ref>

In 1985 Massino was indicted twice more, first as a co-conspirator with Rastelli in a labor racketeering case for controlling the [[Teamsters]] Local 814, then with a conspiracy charge for the Pastore murder that was added to the original three capos indictment. The second indictment also charged Vitale as a co-conspirator in the hijacking cases.<ref name="king 174">DeStefano, pp. 174–176</ref><ref>Raab, pp. 628–629</ref>

The labor racketeering trial began in April 1986,<ref name="king 174"/> with Massino as one of twelve defendants including Rastelli and former underboss [[Nicholas Marangello]].<ref name="ff 630">Raab, pp. 630–631</ref> While Massino protested in confidence to other mobsters he never had the opportunity to profit from the racket, he was implicated by both Pistone and union official Anthony Gilberti, and on October 15, 1986 was found guilty of racketeering charges for accepting kickbacks on the Bonannos' behalf.<ref name="ff 630"/><ref name="king 178">DeStefano, pp. 178–179</ref> On January 16, 1987 Massino was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, his first prison term.<ref name="king 178"/> Rastelli, also convicted and in poor health during the trial, was sentenced to twelve.<ref name="king 178"/> Around this time Massino was believed to be the Bonanno family's official underboss.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buder|first=Leonard|title=Civil Suit Is Filed By U.S. to Curb A Crime Family|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/27/nyregion/civil-suit-is-filed-by-us-to-curb-a-crime-family.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-03-22|date=1987-08-27|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

On April 1987, Massino and Vitale went on trial for truck hijacking and conspiracy to commit the triple murder, defended by Samuel H. Dawson and [[Bruce Cutler]] respectively. Prosecutor [[Michael Chertoff]], describing Massino's rise in his opening statements, would characterize him as the "[[Horatio Alger myth|Horatio Alger]] of the mob."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=Defendant Linked to Mob Murder Plot|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/nyregion/defendant-linked-to-mob-murder-plot.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-04-30}}</ref> Raymond Wean and Joseph Pistone testified against Massino, but both proved unable to conclusively link Massino with any of the murder charges.<ref name="king 187"/> On June 3, while both men were convicted on hijacking charges they were cleared of the murder conspiracy charges. Further, the only proven criminal acts took place outside the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO act's]] five year [[statute of limitations]]; without evidence that the "criminal enterprise" was still active in this timeframe the jury returned a [[special verdict]] clearing Massino and Vitale of these charges as well.<ref name="king 187"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold|title=2 Win Unusual Acquittals In Mafia Racketeering Trial|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/nyregion/2-win-unusual-acquittals-in-mafia-racketeering-trial.html|accessdate=2012-03-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-06-04}}</ref>

During Massino's imprisonment at [[Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega|Talladega Federal Prison]] for his 1986 conviction Vitale functioned as his messenger, effectively becoming co-acting boss alongside consigliere [[Anthony Spero]].<ref name="ff 634">Raab, pp. 633–635, 637</ref> On Massino's orders, Vitale would murder Gabriel Infanti, who had also botched a 1982 hit on Anthony Gilberti and was suspected of being an informant.<ref name="ff 634"/>

==Bonanno boss==

===The family regroups===
In the summer of 1991, Massino had ordered Vitale to "make me boss" as soon as Rastelli died.<ref name="ff 634"/> Rastelli died later that year, and Massino was the only obvious candidate. Spero subsequently called a meeting of the family's capos, and Massino was elected unopposed as boss.<ref name="ff 634"/> Upon his release on November 13, 1992 Massino retained Vitale as his messenger during his probation and promoted him to underboss. He could not associate with convicted mafiosi during his probation. However, Vitale had never been convicted of a crime, and the FBI would have no reason to be suspicious of him associating with Massino since they were brothers-in-law.<ref>Crittle, p. 156</ref><ref>Raab, p. 638</ref> He returned to his job at King Caterers,<ref name="ff 642"/> and in 1996 became co-owner of Casablanca, a well-reviewed Maspeth Italian restaurant.<ref>Raab, p. 646</ref><ref name="nydn 2000 overview">{{cite news|last=McPhee|first=Michele|title=Reputed Bonanno leader keeps low profile|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-09-17/news/18160646_1_crime-boss-crime-family-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2000-09-17}}</ref>

Massino was determined to avoid the pitfalls that landed other Mafia bosses in prison. Inspired by Genovese boss [[Vincent Gigante]], Massino forbade his men from saying his name out loud due to FBI surveillance. Instead, they were to touch their ears when referring to him. Massino gained the nickname "The Ear" because of this.<ref name="ff639">Raab, pp. 639–640</ref> Massino took a great number of precautions in regards to security and the possibility of anything incriminating being picked up on a wiretap. He closed the long-standing social clubs of the Bonanno family.<ref name="TLG 164">Crittle, pp. 164–165</ref> He also arranged family meetings to be conducted in remote locations within the United States and in some instances a foreign country.<ref>Sifakis, p. 306</ref> Remembering how Pistone's infiltration had damaged the family, he also decreed that all prospective made men had to have a working relationship with an incumbent member for at least eight years before becoming made, in hopes of ensuring new mafiosi were as reliable as possible.<ref name="ff639"/> Unusually for bosses of his era, he actively encouraged his men to have their sons made as well. In Massino's view, this would make it less likely that a capo would turn informer, since if that happened the defector's son would face almost certain death.<ref name="ff639"/>

To minimize the damage from informants or undercover investigations Massino introduced a [[clandestine cell system]] for his crews, forbidding them from contacting one another and avoiding meeting their capos.<ref name="TLG 164"/><ref name="TLG 166">Crittle, pp. 166–167</ref> He would instead create a new committee that would relay his orders to the crews.<ref name="TLG 166"/> In contrast to his contemporaries, particularly the publicity-friendly John Gotti and the conspicuous feigned [[Insanity defense|insanity]] of Vincent Gigante, Massino himself was also able to operate with a relatively low public profile;<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/> both Pistone and mob writer [[Jerry Capeci]] would consequently refer to Massino as the "last of the old-time gangsters."<ref name="lat"/><ref name="time magazine"/>

A side effect of these reforms was the reduction of Vitale, in his own words, to "a figurehead."<ref>Crittle, p. 179</ref> By the time of Massino's release the Bonanno family had grown tired of Vitale, regarding him as greedy and overstepping his authority.<ref name="TLG 175">Crittle, pp. 175–176</ref> In the new structure of the family, Vitale lost the underboss's usual role as a go-between for the boss, and Massino made it clear to Vitale his unpopularity was a factor in these changes.<ref name="TLG 175"/><ref name="FF 654">Raab, pp. 654–655</ref> Vitale remained loyal,<ref name="FF 654"/> however, and helped Massino organize the March 18, 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia. Sciascia had accused fellow Massino-confidant capo [[Anthony Graziano]] of using cocaine, and Massino ultimately sided with Graziano in their feud.<ref>Raab, pp. 650–651</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Huge turnout for funeral of alleged Montreal Mafia don|url=http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=3829608|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=2010-11-15|author=Paul Cherry|author2=Andy Riga}}</ref>

Shortly after becoming boss, Massino announced that his men should no longer consider themselves as part of the Bonanno family. Instead, he renamed it the Massino family, after himself. Like many mafiosi, he was angered at family namesake [[Joseph Bonanno]]'s tell-all autobiography, ''A Man of Honor'', and regarded it as a violation of the code of [[omertà]].<ref name="tlg168">Crittle, p. 168</ref><ref>DeStefano, pp. 17, 177</ref> The new name was first disclosed after Massino was indicted in 2003 and did not catch on outside the Mafia.<ref name="tlg168"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Yes, we have no Bonannos First mob family to change names in 40 years! They call 'em the Massinos now|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-20/news/18241331_1_joe-bananas-crime-family-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-20}}</ref>

===Relations with other families===
When Massino took over the Bonanno family, his relationship with Gotti had declined. Gotti, who at one point tried to get Massino a seat on the Commission as Bonanno acting boss,<ref>Raab, p. 409</ref> was reportedly infuriated that Massino had been formally appointed without him being consulted.<ref name="nydn 2000 overview"/> Massino would later testify he believed Gotti conspired with Vitale to kill him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gotti's plan to whack me|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotti_plan_to_whack_me_blD8E1NTNwH8ZxZZwNHZyN|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=New York Post|date=2011-04-19|author=Mitchel Maddux|author2=Jeremy Olshan}}</ref> Gotti, however, was marginalized by his 1992 racketeering and murder conviction and consequent life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/03/nyregion/with-gotti-away-the-genoveses-succeed-the-leaderless-gambinos.html?scp=6&sq=Carmine%20Persico&st=cse|accessdate=2012-03-26|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-09-03}}</ref> Massino, for his own part, was angered at Gotti's high public profile, as well as his unsanctioned hit on his predecessor Paul Castellano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Chief: Gotti Too Talky|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-30/news/18258575_1_john-gotti-philip-rastelli-racketeering|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-06-30}}</ref>

The Bonanno family's influence had diminished following the 1966 ousting of Joseph Bonanno, and it was kicked off the Commission altogether following Pistone's infiltration.<ref>Raab, p. 602</ref> By the late 1990s the situation was reversed; Massino was the only New York Mafia boss who was not in jail,<ref>Raab, p. 645</ref> and his family was considered one of the most powerful in New York.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref name="NYT second wind">{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/29/nyregion/mafia-family-s-second-wind-authorities-say-bonannos-all-but-written-off-are-back.html?src=pm|accessdate=2012-08-04|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2000-04-29}}</ref> As it turned out, being thrown off the Commission actually worked in the Bonannos' favor; they were the only family whose leadership wasn't decimated in the [[Mafia Commission Trial]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 22</ref> Wary of surveillance, Massino generally avoided meeting with members of other Mafia families<ref name="ff639"/> and encouraged his crews to operate independently as well.<ref name="TLG 164"/> In January 2000, however, Massino did preside over an informal Commission meeting with the acting bosses of the other four families.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Boss rat Joseph Massino admits to court that Mafia Commission hasn't met in 25 years|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-16/news/29453013_1_joe-waverly-gambino-boss-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-28|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-16}}</ref> Under his direction, the Commission tightened qualifications to become a made man, requiring candidates have full Italian descent (previously having an Italian-American father was the minimum requirement) and imposed restrictions on initiating associates convicted on drug charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 169–170</ref>

According to Capeci, the murder of Sciascia soured relations between the Bonanno and Rizzuto families.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010">{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Mob Murder In Montreal Could Trigger Bloodshed In New York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/mob-murder-in-montreal-co_b_417688.html|accessdate=2012-03-29|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=2010-01-11}}</ref> Originally considered merely a Canadian Bonanno crew,<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea">{{cite news|title=Canada's top mob boss gets 10 years in New York court|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=27393b0b-ac97-4258-80b8-2ab74f8c4cf5&k=84466|accessdate=2012-03-24|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> the Rizzutos responded by taking even less heed from New York.<ref name="Capeci canada 2010"/>

===Run-up to prosecution===
[[File:AnthonyGraziano Massino.jpg|300px|thumb|right|FBI surveillance photograph of Massino and Anthony Graziano]]

At the beginning of his reign as boss, Massino enjoyed the benefit of limited FBI attention. In 1987, with the Bonannos weakened, the FBI merged its Bonanno squad with its Colombo family squad,<ref>Crittle, p. 135</ref> and this squad was initially preoccupied with the Colombos' [[Colombo crime family#Third Colombo War (1991-1993)|third internal war]].<ref>DeStefano, p. 192</ref> Another dedicated Bonanno squad would be established in 1996.<ref>Raab, p. 603</ref>

The FBI began to target the Bonanno administration. In 1995, consigliere Anthony Spero was sentenced to two years imprisonment after being convicted of loansharking,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Gambino Bigfoot's Toe Woes|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1995-05-03/news/17970330_1_corrao-federal-prison-judge-glasser|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=1995-05-03}}</ref> then to life imprisonment in 2002 for murder.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Metropolitan Report Judge Nixes Gag Order In Louima Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-04-16/news/18196391_1_gag-order-charles-schwarz-juries|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-04-16}}</ref> Graziano would assume Spero's duties, but he too plead guilty to racketeering charges in December 2002 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|title=S.i. Wiseguy Grins & Will Bear It In Jail|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-12-24/news/18203435_1_graziano-bladder-cancer-joseph-massino|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2002-12-24|author=John Marzulli|author2=Leo Standora}}</ref> Vitale would also plead guilty to loansharking in June 2002,<ref>{{cite news|last=Lambert|first=Bruce|title=Four Admit Using Bank to Launder Money|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/nyregion/four-admit-using-bank-to-launder-money.html|accessdate=2012-03-31|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-15}}</ref> and was put under house arrest awaiting sentencing.<ref name="FF 654"/>

Until 2002, no made member of the Bonannos had turned state's evidence, and Massino used this as a point of pride to rally his crime family.<ref name=Donfall>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=The Rise & Fall Of New York's Last Don. Pale. Bloated. Shuffling.|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-04-10/news/18303000_1_bonanno-crime-family-joseph-massino-carmine-galante|accessdate=2012-04-06|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-04-10}}</ref> That year Frank Coppa, convicted on fraud and facing further charges, became the first to flip.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 204–206</ref> He was followed shortly by [[Richard Cantarella]], a participant in the Mirra murder,<ref name="FF617"/> who was facing racketeering and murder charges.<ref>Crittle, pp. 234–235</ref> A third, Joseph D'Amico, subsequently turned state's evidence with the knowledge that Cantarella could implicate him for murder as well.<ref>Raab, p. 677</ref> All of these defections helped leave Massino, at last, vulnerable to serious charges.<ref>DeStefano, p. 207</ref>

==2004 conviction==
[[File:Joseph Massino.jpg|250px|thumb|right|FBI mugshot of Joe Massino on January 9, 2003]]

[[File:Salvatore Vitale FBI.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Salvatore Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law and underboss, turned state's evidence in 2003.]]

On January 9, 2003, Massino was arrested and indicted, alongside Vitale, Frank Lino and capo Daniel Mongelli, in a comprehensive racketeering indictment. The charges against Massino himself included ordering the 1981 murder of Napolitano.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=Reputed Boss Of Mob Family Is Indicted|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/10/nyregion/reputed-boss-of-mob-family-is-indicted.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2003-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Top Bonanno Charged In '81 Mobster Rubout|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-01-10/news/18229390_1_bonanno-crime-family-donnie-brasco|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-01-10}}</ref> Massino was denied bail,<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Feds Mull Whacking Mobster|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-08-21/news/18249526_1_bonanno-death-penalty-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-08-21}}</ref> and [[Vincent Basciano]] took over as acting boss in his absence.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robbins|first=Liz|title=Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-mob-boss-joseph-massino-details-a-few-murders.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss|accessdate=2012-04-18|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Massino hired David Breitbart, an attorney he had originally wanted to represent him in his 1987 trial, for his defense.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 220–221</ref>

Three more Bonanno made men would choose to cooperate before Massino came to trial. The first was James Tartaglione; anticipating he would shortly be indicted as well he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire while he remained free.<ref name="KotG 230">DeStefano, pp. 230–232</ref> The second was Salvatore Vitale. Prior to their arrests Massino had contemplated killing Vitale, suspecting he had turned state's evidence after his 2002 guilty plea, and in custody he again put out the word, to a receptive Bonanno family, that he wanted Vitale killed.<ref name="FF674">Raab, pp. 674–675</ref> After learning of the first plot from Coppa and Cantarella, prosecutors informed Vitale.<ref name="FF674"/> Vitale was already dissatisfied by the lack of support he and his family received from Massino after his arrest,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Rat: Boss is Kin, But He Don Me Wrong|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/mob-rat-boss-kin-don-wrong-article-1.550042|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-02}}</ref> and, by the end of February, indeed decided to testify.<ref name="FF674"/><ref>DeStefano, p. 222</ref> He was followed in short order by Lino, knowing Vitale could implicate him in murder as well.<ref name="KotG 230"/> Also flipping was longtime Bonanno associate Duane Leisenheimer, concerned for his safety after an investigator for Massino's defense team visited to find out if he intended to flip.<ref>Raab, pp. 678–679</ref>

With these defections, Massino was implicated and charged with seven more murders: the three capos (this time for participation in the murder itself rather than conspiracy),<ref>{{cite news|title=Feds Bite Mobbed-up Cafe|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-10-01/news/18237704_1_crime-family-death-penalty-bonanno-crime|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-10-01|author=Derek Rose|author2=John Marzulli}}</ref> Mirra,<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Bonanno Slaying Bust New Whacking Charge Vs. Reputed Boss|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-31/news/18227685_1_bonanno-pistone-napolitano|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2003-05-31}}</ref> Bonventre, Infanti and Sciascia.<ref name="Feds Mull Whacking Mobster"/> Of particular interest was the Sciascia hit, which took place after a 1994 amendment to racketeering laws that allowed the death penalty for murder in aid of racketeering.<ref>Crittle, p. 34</ref>

Massino's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge [[Nicholas Garaufis]] presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Grisly Crimes Described by Prosecutors as Mob Trial Opens|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/nyregion/25mob.html|accessdate=2012-04-20|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-25}}</ref> He now faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to a technicality, the Sciascia case was severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering.<ref>Raab, p. 679</ref> By this time, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' Magazine]] had dubbed Massino as "the Last Don", in reference to his status as the only New York boss not serving a prison sentence at that point.<ref name="time magazine"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/nyregion/23mob.html?pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-05-23}}</ref> The name stuck.<ref name="NYT verdict">{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Career of a Crime Boss Ends With Sweeping Convictions|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/31/nyregion/career-of-a-crime-boss-ends-with-sweeping-convictions.html?ref=josephcmassino|accessdate=2012-04-16|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Daly|first=Michael|title=Smoking Out the Real Killers|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/smoking-real-killers-article-1.643989|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Leonard|first=Tom|title=New York's mafia under threat as 'code of silence' is broken|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4948532/New-Yorks-mafia-under-threat-as-code-of-silence-is-broken.html|accessdate=2012-05-23|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2009-03-06}}</ref>

Despite a weak start, with opening witness Anthony Gilberti unable to recognize Massino in the courtroom,<ref>DeStefano, pp. 258–259</ref> the prosecution would establish its case to link Massino with the charges in the indictment through an unprecedented seven major turncoats,<ref>Raab, p. 681</ref> including the six turned made men.<ref name="NYT verdict"/> Salvatore Vitale, the last of the six to take the stand, was of particular significance as his closeness to his brother in law allowed him to cover Massino's entire criminal history in his testimony.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Betrayal Cuts Deep|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-06-29/news/18264386_1_vitale-joseph-massino-crime-family|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-29}}</ref> Brietbart's defense rested primarily on [[cross-examination]] of the prosecution witnesses, with his only witness being an FBI agent to challenge Vitale's reliability.<ref>Raab, p. 684</ref> His defense was also unusual in that he made no attempt to contest that Massino was the Bonanno boss, instead stressing the murders in the case took place before he took over and that Massino himself "showed a love of life...because the murders ceased."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Not Boss During Hits: Att'y|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2004-07-23/news/18285164_1_bonanno-captain-joseph-massino-s-turncoat|accessdate=2012-05-02|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2004-07-23}}</ref>

After deliberating for five days the jury found Massino guilty of all eleven counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a [[life imprisonment|life sentence]].<ref name="NYT verdict"/> The jury also approved the prosecutors' recommended $10 million [[Asset forfeiture|forfeiture]] of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict.<ref>DeStefano, p. 312</ref>

==Turning state's evidence==
Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate.<ref name="KotG 314">DeStefano, pp. 314–315</ref> He was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder – indeed, one of [[John Ashcroft]]'s final acts as Attorney General was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaberson|first=William|title=Judge Objects to Ashcroft Bid for a Mobster's Execution|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/nyregion/13mob.html?ref=roslynnrmauskopf&pagewanted=print&position=|accessdate=2012-04-21|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2004-11-13}}</ref> However, Massino subsequently claimed he decided to turn informer due to the prospect of his wife and mother having to forfeit their houses to the government.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN">{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Joseph Massino, ex-Bonanno crime boss turned mob rat, gave feds $7 million he hid in his attic|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29449145_1_dominick-trinchera-philip-giaccone-mob-rat|accessdate=2012-04-23|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref> Mob authors and journalists Anthony D. DeStefano and [[Selwyn Raab]] both consider the turning of so many made men as a factor in disillusioning Massino with Cosa Nostra,<ref name="KotG 314"/><ref>Raab, p. 687</ref> the former also assuming Massino had decided to flip "long before the verdict".<ref name="KotG 314"/> Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so <ref name="ff 688">Raab, p. 688.</ref> ([[Philadelphia crime family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges<ref>{{cite news|last=Braun|first=Stephen|title=This Mob Shot Its Brains Out|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/04/news/mn-59280|accessdate=2012-05-05|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2001-05-04}}</ref>). It also marked the second time in a little more than a year that a New York boss had reached a plea bargain; Gigante had pleaded guilty to [[obstruction of justice]] charges in 2003 after prosecutors unmasked his long charade of feigning insanity.<ref>Raab, pp. 596–597</ref>

At his advice, that October the FBI revisited the Queens mob graveyard where Alphonse Indelicato's body was found, and unearthed the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone as well.<ref>DeStefano, pp. 316–317</ref> They also hoped to find the body of [[John Favara]], who accidentally killed Gotti's son, and the body of [[Tommy DeSimone]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Feds Search 'Mafia Graveyard' in New York|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134529,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|accessdate=2012-03-21|date=2004-10-05}}</ref> Massino also reported that Vincent Basciano, arrested in November, had conspired to kill prosecutor Greg Andres, but after failing a [[polygraph]] test regarding the discussion he agreed to wear a wire when meeting the acting boss in jail.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres">{{cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|title=Ex-Mob Boss Says Deputy Sought to Kill Prosecutor|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/nyregion/massino-returns-to-stand-to-testify-against-basciano.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-05-25}}</ref> While Massino was unable to extract an unambiguous confession regarding Andres, he did record Basciano freely admit to ordering the murder of associate Randolph Pizzolo.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno Mafia boss Joseph Massino was scared of his wife, recordings reveal|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-14/news/29445261_1_basciano-randolph-pizzolo-vinny-gorgeous|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-04-14}}</ref>

By the end of January 2005, when Basciano was indicted for the Pizzolo murder, Massino was identified by news sources as the then-anonymous fellow mobster who secretly recorded his confession,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sources: Mafia Boss Spills Beans to FBI|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145677,00.html|work=Foxnews.com|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=2012-04-26|date=2005-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Mob Boss A Rat Say Massino Wore Wire To Bust Chief In Rubout Plot|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-01-28/news/18291457_1_basciano-joseph-massino-bonanno|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-01-28}}</ref> to the public disgust of Massino's family.<ref>DeStefano, p. 320</ref> Further confirmation of Massino's defection came in February as he was identified as the source for the graveyard,<ref>{{cite news|last=Capeci|first=Jerry|title=Massino's Tips Lead the FBI To Dig Deep|url=http://www.nysun.com/new-york/massinos-tips-lead-the-fbi-to-dig-deep/8656/|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Sun|date=2005-02-03}}</ref> then in May when the Justice Department dropped the threat of the death penalty regarding the Sciascia case.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Rats His Way Out Of Fed Death Trap|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-05-07/news/18292406_1_penalty-basciano-gerlando-sciascia|accessdate=2012-04-26|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2005-05-07}}</ref> In a hearing on June 23, 2005, Massino finalized his deal and plead guilty to ordering the Sciascia murder. For this and his 2004 conviction he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, with a possible reduction depending on his service as a witness.<ref name="KotG 321">DeStefano, pp. 321–325</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Worth|first=Robert|title=Bonanno Crime Boss Is Sentenced to 2 Life Terms|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html|accessdate=2012-03-30|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-06-24}}</ref> That same day Josephine Massino negotiated a settlement to satisfy the forfeiture claim, keeping the homes of herself and Massino's mother as well as some rental properties while turning over, among other assets, a cache of $7 million and hundreds of [[gold bar]]s, and the Casablanca restaurant.<ref name="forfeiture NYDN"/><ref name="KotG 321"/>

Massino was conspicuously absent from the prosecution witnesses at the 2006 racketeering trial of Basciano, the prosecution deciding he was not yet needed;<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Massino Won't Sing At Mob Trial|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-03-01/news/18332652_1_mob-trial-racketeering-indictment-bonanno|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2006-03-01}}</ref> he was also expected to testify against Vito Rizzuto regarding his role in the three capos murder, but the Montreal boss accepted a plea bargain in May 2007.<ref name="Don Vito Cops Plea"/> He finally made his debut as a witness at Basciano's trial for the murder of Randolph Pizzolo in April 2011;<ref name="nomnomnom">{{cite news|last=Rashbaum|first=William|title=At a Mob Trial, Testimony Focuses on the Knife and Fork|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/nyregion/at-a-mob-trial-testimony-focuses-on-the-knife-and-fork.html|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2011-04-18}}</ref> Massino's testified both during the trial itself and, after Basciano was convicted, on behalf of the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to impose the death penalty.<ref name="Vinny vs Andres"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano dodges death penalty, sentenced to life in prison|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-06-01/news/29627505_1_basciano-vinny-gorgeous-randolph-pizzolo|accessdate=2012-03-25|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2011-06-01|author=John Marzulli|author2=Larry McShane}}</ref> During his testimony Massino noted, as a result of his cooperation, "I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Joey sees the light"/>

Massino testified again in the 2012 extortion trial of Genovese capo Anthony Romanello, primarily to provide background as an expert on the American Mafia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marzulli|first=John|title=Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino takes witness stand for only second time since becoming mob rat|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mob-rat-joseph-massino-takes-witness-stand-article-1.1208419|accessdate=2012-11-27|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2012-11-26}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Crittle|first=Simon|title=The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino|year=2006|publisher=Berkley|location=New York|isbn=0-425-20939-3}}
* {{cite book|last=DeStefano|first=Anthony|title=King of the Godfathers: "Big Joey" Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family|year=2006|publisher=Pinnacle Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7860-1893-2|edition=2007 paperback}}
* {{cite book|title=The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Mississauga|isbn=978-0-470-15445-8|author=Lamothe, Lee|coauthors=Humphreys, Adrian}}
* {{cite book|title=Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7624-2707-9|author=Pistone, Joseph|coauthors=Brandt, Charles}}
* {{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2005|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|edition=2006 revised}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|year=1987|publisher=Infobase Publishing|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|edition=2005}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.biography.com/people/joseph-massino-17142974?page=1 Joseph Massino] – [[The Biography Channel|Biography.com]]
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/bonanno/1.html The Bonanno Family] – [[TruTV]] [[Crime Library]]

{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{S-bef|before=Salvatore "Sal" Catalano}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Underboss|years=1987–1991}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Salvatore Vitale|Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Rastelli]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bonanno crime family]] Boss|years=1991–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Vincent Basciano]]|as=acting boss}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Vincent Gigante]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Capo di tutti capi]] Head of the commission|years=2000–2004}}
{{S-aft|after=None}}
{{end}}

{{Bonanno crime family}} {{American Mafia}}

{{Authority control|VIAF=28964070}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Massino, Joseph
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 10, 1943
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[New York City]], United States
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massino, Joseph}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:American arsonists]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American mobsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:American money launderers]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Bosses of the Bonanno crime family]]
[[Category:Capi di tutti capi]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mobsters sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of racketeering]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:People from Queens]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]

[[bg:Джо Масино]]
[[lt:Joseph Massino]]
[[nl:Joseph Massino]]
[[ro:Joseph Massino]]