Charles Joye "Cherry Nose" Gioe (February 6, 1904 – August 18, 1954) was a lieutenant in the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

criminal organization and a partner in the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

extortion scandals of the 1940s.

Biography

Charles Joey Gioe was born on February 6, 1904. He became a high-ranking lieutenant for the Chicago Outfit, specializing in

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

and

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

, under

Frank Nitti Frank Ralph Nitto (born Francesco Raffaele Nitto, ; January 27, 1886 – March 19, 1943), known as Frank Nitti, was an Italian-American organized crime figure based in Chicago. The bodyguard of Al Capone, Nitti was in charge of all money flowing ...

after

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

's 1931

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

conviction. In 1936, Gioe went to

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

to expand syndicate operations. He eventually returned to Chicago, leaving

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

Louis "Cock-Eyed Louie" Fratto in control of the Des Moines operations. During the mid-1930s, Gioe, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca and Louis "Little New York" Campagna, began financially supporting extortion operations by Willie Morris Bioff and

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

against

movie studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; howe ...

s. In exchange for annual payoffs to the Outfit, the mob-controlled projectionist unions would refrain from labor strikes and disruptions. In the late 1930s, the extortion racket was busted by law enforcement. On March 18, 1943 Gioe, Ricca, and Campagna were indicted for extortion; Bioff and Browne agreed to testify against them. On December 31, 1943, Gioe was convicted of extortion and sentenced to ten years in prison. Gioe was later paroled (along with the other syndicate members) in 1947, despite protests from Senator

Estes Kefauver Carey Estes Kefauver ( ; July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the U.S. Senate from 1949 until h ...

. Upon his release, Gioe became second to Ricca and Campagna as the top Chicago syndicate leader. On August 18, 1954, Charles Gioe was shot to death by mafia soldiers controlled by Joseph "Joey" Glimco after he accidentally interfered in a dispute Glimco was having with a contractor building a

Howard Johnson's Howard Johnson by Wyndham, still commonly referred to as Howard Johnson's, is an American hotel brand with over 200 hotels in 15 countries. It was also formerly a Chain store, restaurant chain, which at one time was the largest in the U.S., wit ...

restaurant.May, Allan. "The Guileless Gangster." ''Crime Magazine.'' April 2000
Smith, Sandy. "Glimco Sought for Quizzing in Gioe's Slaying." ''Chicago Daily Tribune.'' August 20, 1954.

Notes

External links

Crime Magazine: The Guileless Gangster
by Allan May

by Allen May
Find a Grave Memorial for Charles Gioe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gioe, Charles 1954 deaths Chicago Outfit mobsters Mafia extortionists Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent Murdered Chicago Outfit members People murdered in Chicago Deaths by firearm in Illinois 1904 births People murdered in 1954

Biography

See also

Notes

External links