Joseph Biondo (born Giuseppe Biondo, ; April 16, 1897, Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Italy – June 10, 1966,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; pronounced "bee-ON-doh") also known as "JB", "Joe Bandy", "Joe the Blonde", and "Little Rabbit", was a New York City mobster with the

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

who was heavily involved in gambling activities. Biondo was also the family

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 ...

for approximately eight years.

Career

Born in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Biondo emigrated to

. He lived on New York's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

, where he became involved with future top

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of local protect ...

members. Biondo lived in the

Jackson Heights Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, and today northern Astoria ( Ditm ...

section of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

and owned a stately summer cottage in

Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront city in Nassau County, New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the 2020 ...

. He was married to Louise Volpe. Biondo's early criminal record included arrests for

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 ...

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

, and illegal

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

possession. He was known to be a soldier in the Salvatore D'Aquila mafia family and was a bootlegging confederate of Umberto Valenti. In 1919, Biondo was convicted on a

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

charge. In August 1922, Biondo was indicted on murder charges from a gang fight in which another gangster died, but the charge was later dismissed. In 1930, he was convicted of possessing a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

and received a sentence of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

. During the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

, Biondo became involved in bootlegging. Biondo became close associates with bootlegger

Dutch Schultz Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer; August 6, 1901October 24, 1935) was an American mobster based in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. He made his fortune in organized crime-related activities, including bootlegging and the n ...

and mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano, and frequently served as an intermediary between them. In 1931, Biondo assisted Luciano in the assassination of Cosa Nostra boss

Salvatore Maranzano Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931), nicknamed Little Caesar, was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno cr ...

. With the repeal of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, Biondo moved into labor

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

in the taxi cab industry. During the 1930s, Biondo was close to the top, but stayed away from top position. Biondo owned a shipping business in

, a real estate office in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, and an

automobile dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

. In early 1938, Biondo was indicted on charges of extorting payments from taxicab companies. On July 13, 1938, a

New York Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

(NYPD) detective arrested Biondo in Queens after observing him driving with a female companion. Biondo cooperated in the arrest and was sent to jail. On June 24, 1942, a judge dismissed Biondo's 1938 indictment because none of the indicted men had been brought to trial. In 1957, Biondo and underboss

Carlo Gambino Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was a Sicilian crime boss who was the leader and namesake of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Following the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese i ...

conspired to assassinate family boss

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; né Anastasio ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, In ...

in a

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

barber shop. When Gambino took over after Anastasia's death, he appointed Biondo as underboss. In 1965, Gambino became dissatisfied with Biondo's independence and replaced him as underboss with capo Aniello Dellacroce. Working with mobster Sam DeCavalcante of the

DeCavalcante crime family The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey crime family or the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian American Mafia crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York and ...

, Biondo had gained a share of revenues from a sanitation landfill in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. However, Biondo had hid this new revenue from Gambino to avoid sharing it with the family. DeCavalcante later revealed the deception to Gambino, who then removed Biondo from power.

Death

Joseph Biondo died in New York of natural causes on June 10, 1966. He is buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Queens.

Family

Joseph Biondo married Louise Vope in 1934. They never had any children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biondo, Joseph 1897 births 1966 deaths People from Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto Italian emigrants to the United States Gangsters from the Metropolitan City of Messina Gambino crime family Gangsters from New York City