Joseph Massino

Joseph Massino was an American mobster who led the Bonanno crime family and became the first New York Mafia boss to testify for the government.

Bonanno crime family: A New York Mafia organization founded by Joseph Bonanno and one of the Five Families. Massino led this family during its late-twentieth-century revival and subsequent prosecutions.
Five Families: The five Italian-American Mafia organizations that dominate organized crime in New York City. The Bonanno family was one of these five, and Massino became its boss.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act: A United States federal law that allows prosecution of ongoing criminal enterprises through patterns of racketeering activity. RICO prosecutions gave investigators a way to target Massino’s organization and its leadership.
Mafia informant: A member or associate of a Mafia organization who provides information to law enforcement. Massino’s cooperation was exceptional because he had led a New York family as its boss.
Joseph Bonanno: A Sicilian-born American mobster who founded and led the Bonanno crime family. Massino inherited leadership of the family Bonanno founded.
Commission (Mafia): A governing body formed by major American Mafia families to settle disputes and coordinate decisions. Massino’s standing as boss depended on relations with the other New York families and the Commission.
Mafia Commission Trial: A federal trial that convicted leading members of New York’s Mafia Commission under RICO in 1986. Its convictions demonstrated how federal prosecutors could dismantle Mafia leadership through enterprise cases.
Omertà: A code of silence associated with the Sicilian Mafia that forbids cooperation with authorities. Massino’s testimony publicly broke the silence expected of a Mafia boss.
Salvatore Vitale: An American mobster who served as underboss of the Bonanno crime family and became a government witness. Massino’s brother-in-law and closest deputy, Vitale’s testimony helped convict him.
Carmine Galante: A Bonanno crime family boss assassinated in 1979 amid a struggle over the family’s leadership. Galante’s murder preceded the succession turmoil from which Massino eventually emerged.

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