JOE "Big Joey" MASSINO

In 1993, Joseph C. "Big Joey" Massino was released from prison and came back into the work force. According to law enforcement authorities, he allegedly runs the Bonanno family, supported by his brother-in-law, acting as his underboss. In the number three position as his consigliere, at least up until this year, is Anthony Spero, 71, the man who made the pilgrimages to Carmine Galante, all those years ago when he was in Lewisburg Prison. Along with Joseph Massino, Spero had been one of those arrested back in 1987, when federal prosecutors had filed their first ever civil racketeering suit against a Mob family, the Bonannos, seeking to seize its assets and force it out of business. RICO provisions had been used in the past to prosecute the Mafia, but this was the first time ever a civil action was brought to bear naming a Mob family as the targeted corrupt organization.

The suit sought forfeiture of three properties owned by family members, used in multi-million dollar gambling operations and their interests in four other business that were claimed to have been purchased with money derived from the family's racketeering enterprises and it was at this point the Bonanno crime family seemed really on the rack. Until that is the when Joe Massino came in and completely turned around the organization. Law enforcement attributes the metamorphosis to Joseph Massino who assumed power over the family on his return from prison in November 1992. The director of the FBI's New York Office, Lewis D. Schiliro, said, " he is undisputed leader of the family, a low-key guy who avoids the spotlight, who has brought back discipline and order." His success in rebuilding the Bonanno crime family has earned him the nickname "The Ear," attesting to his ability to keeping his ear to the ground to detect potential dangers. He is also apparently, an electronics wizard, aware of the advance electronic devices used by law enforcement in their fight against the Mob. The FBI believes that the Bonannos are now the second most powerful crime family in New York, second only to the Genovese.

Massino is 5 feet 10 inches and weighs about 200 pounds. He lives with his wife, Josephine, in a modest house in the Queen's borough of Howard Beach, just around the corner from the family home of John Gotti, who was one of his best friends. He operates a business called King Caterers at 60 Smith Street in Farmingdale, Long Island, and a restaurant called Casablanca on Sixtieth Lane in Maspeth, Queens. According to investigators, Massino works through a small group of trusted aides, including his brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale of Dix Hills, Long Island. He has taken two major steps to re-establish the family's prominence as an income producing enterprise. He has clamped down on the "cowboy" element that committed violent crimes related to drug trafficking and armed robbery, bringing down heat and pressure from the law, and he has closed down the social clubs operated by the family, as they provide easy surveillance sites.

Joe Massino furthered his influence when he set up the first commission meeting of the new millennium in mid 2000. Although Massino may have the look of a Tony Soprano type street boss, but in truth Massino has already proved that he is a shrewd individual. To say that the FBI in the mid 80's had predicted that the extinction of the Bonanno family wouldn't be long, following their mountain of troubles ranging from the infiltration of FBI agent Joe Pistone to having their seat revoked on the Commission, Joe Massino can be very pleased with his efforts in turning the Bonanno family into one of the more prominent families in New York today and for the first time I have the pleasure of saying that Joe Massino is still active as the undisputed boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York city.

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