Giuseppe "Joseph" Ida (; 6 November 1890 − 1970s) was the head of the Philadelphia Mafia during the 1940s and 1950s, following the death of Giuseppe Dovi in 1946. Ida retired and returned to Italy in 1959, leaving the title of boss of the Philadelphia crime family to Angelo Bruno.

Early life

Giuseppe Ida was born on 6 November 1890 in Fiumara, a municipality in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

, Italy. In 1919 Ida came to America, settled in

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...

and was naturalized. There he met the head

Salvatore Sabella Salvatore Sabella (; July 7, 1891 – 1962) was an Italian-born crime boss of the Philadelphia crime family in the 1920s. Early life Sabella was born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, on July 7, 1891, and became a butcher's apprentice as a young ...

, the sub-boss John "Nazzone" Avena and the

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

Giuseppe "Joe Bruno" Dovi of the local organization. In 1927, Ida, Sabella and three other gangsters were charged with the murder of two of their rivals, but none of the accused was convicted.

Rise to power

Sabella retired in 1931 and John Avena headed the organization until he was murdered in a drive-by shoot in the summer of 1936, and Giuseppe Dovi became the new boss. Ida was named the new underboss by Dovi. In 1946, Dovi died of natural causes in a hospital in

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 ...

and Ida was appointed new head by the so-called Mafia Commission. Under his leadership, the family gained far more power; he had driven the Jewish mobsters out of their territories, putting an end to the

Jewish mob Jewish-American organized crime initially emerged within the American Jewish community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In media and popular culture, it has variously been referred to as the Jewish Mob, the Jewish Mafia, the Kos ...

in Philadelphia and

South Jersey South Jersey, also known as Southern New Jersey, comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located between Pennsylvania and the lower Delaware River to its west, the Atlantic Ocean to its east, Delaware to its south, ...

. Ida and his organization were heavily influenced by the bosses of the five families; the Luciano crime family in particular sought to influence the activities of other families. As the Philadelphia family gained more power in Atlantic City and southern Jersey, it was already seen as a larger faction of the Luciano family, under the influence of Underboss

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American ''American Mafia, mafioso'' and the leader of the Genovese crime family in New York City. A childhood friend and criminal associate of Lucky Luciano, Genovese ...

. Ida and his under boss Dominick "Big Dom" Oliveto were among the around 100 mafia members who took part in the legendary Apalachin meeting in 1957; a gathering of almost all the bosses of the American Cosa Nostra in November 1957, which took place in the community of Apalachin in the State of New York and was stormed by the local police. A total of 62 people were briefly arrested and identified; including Ida and Oliveto. Oliveto withdrew and shortly after Ida was charged with drug trafficking and fled to Italy in 1958. During his absence, Oliveto's successor Antonio Pollina appointed acting boss; however, was deposed by the commission in 1959 and Angelo "The Gentle Don" Bruno was appointed new boss of the family.National Crime Syndicate - ''How Did Angelo Bruno Get Killed? – Death Photos''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ida, Joseph 1890 births Year of death missing People from the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria Italian emigrants to the United States Italian crime bosses