Joseph Massino | |
|---|---|
 Massino's 2003 FBI mugshot | |
| Born | Joseph Charles Massino January 10, 1943 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 14, 2023 (aged 80) Glen Cove, New York, U.S. |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation | Crime boss |
| Predecessor | Philip Rastelli |
| Successor | Vincent Basciano |
| Spouse |
Josephine Vitale Massino
(m. 1960) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Salvatore Vitale (brother-in-law) |
| Allegiance | Bonanno crime family |
| Conviction(s) | Labor racketeering (1986) Murder (2004, 2005) Arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, money laundering (2004) |
| Criminal penalty | 10 years' imprisonment (1987) Life imprisonment (2005) |
Joseph Charles Massino (January 10, 1943 – September 14, 2023) was an American mobster. He was a member of the Mafia and boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the Five Families in New York City to turn state's evidence.
Massino was a protégé of Philip Rastelli, who took control of the Bonanno family in 1973. Rastelli spent most of his reign in and out of prison, but was able to get the assassination of Carmine Galante, a mobster vying for power, approved in 1979. Originally a truck hijacker, Massino secured his own power after arranging two 1981 gang murders, first a triple murder of three rebel captains, then his rival Dominick Napolitano. In 1991, while Massino was in prison for a 1986 labor racketeering conviction, Rastelli died and Massino succeeded him. Upon his release the following year, he set about rebuilding a family that had been in turmoil for almost a quarter of a century. By the dawn of the new millennium, he was reckoned as the most powerful Mafia leader in the nation. Massino became known as "The Last Don", the only full-fledged New York boss of his time who was not in prison.
In July 2004, Massino was convicted in a RICO case based on the testimony of several cooperating made men, including Massino's disgruntled underboss and brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale. He was also facing the death penalty if convicted in a separate murder trial due to be held later that year, but after agreeing to testify against his former associates, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for both indictments in 2005. Massino testified twice for the government, helping to win a murder conviction against his acting boss Vincent Basciano in 2011, and was resentenced to time served in 2013.