Joseph DeLuca (March 17, 1893 – March 20, 1952) was an Italian-American mobster who controlled the smuggling and distribution of
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 ...
with his brother
Frank DeLuca in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
, for almost four decades.
Born Giuseppe DeLuca, DeLuca emigrated with his brother Frank from their native
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. ...
and eventually found his way to Kansas City, where they became major figures in Kansas City's underworld. Although having several arrests for federal narcotics violations since the 1930s, DeLuca ran a major drug ring operation for mobster
Joseph DiGiovanni until his arrest and eventually conviction in 1942, along with seven other members (his girlfriend would be convicted of
jury tampering
Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial. The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensure ...
the following year). In 1952, DeLuca and his brother were named two of the "Five Iron Men" of Kansas City by the
US Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
Kefauver Committee
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 hi ...
.
Further reading
*United States. Congress. Senate. Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce. ''Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce''. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1951
*United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations Committee. ''Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics''. 1964
References
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.
External links
The Five Iron Men Of Kansas Cityby Allan May
by Allan May
by Jane Ann Morrison
by Carri Geer
1893 births
1952 deaths
American gangsters of Italian descent
People of Sicilian descent
Kansas City crime family
Italian emigrants to the United States
{{crime-bio-stub