Joseph Iannuzzi

Joseph Iannuzzi the Second (Port Chester, New York c.a. 1931), was a Gambino crime family mob associate and turncoat whose repercussions led to the 1985 Mafia Commission Trial.

Biography

Joseph Iannuzi the Second, also known as "Joe Diner" and "Joe Dogs", is the son and namesake of a prominent New York bookmaker and "policy game" runner Joseph Iannuzzi III . He is the first cousin of restaurateur Oswaldo (Ozzie) Iannuzzi who owned a fine Italian restaurant called "Alfredo's" located in Boynton Beach. Every Saturday his father would take Joseph along with him to make his weekly collections. He is the only son and had several sisters. His father had several prominent clients including the actor Eddie Anderson, who was a co-star of Jack Benny on "The Jack Benny Show" and western cowboy star Tom Mix who would give Joseph a silver dollar on every visit. He was first arrested in 1945 at the age of fourteen years old as a member of a crew of burglars called "Night Raiders." His mother divorced his father by 1945 and married an Irishman named Edward. He joined the U.S. Army and became a U.S. Marine champion boxer. He became a decorated soldier from fighting in Korea and received an honorable discharge after he was stabbed in the thigh by a bayonet. He had a troubled marital life going through two failed marriages and fathering two daughters from his first wife. He then married a woman named Bunny and had another daughter before settling down and fathering Sheryl, Debra and Stephanie with her and later a son Joseph Iannuzzi III who was born on November 26, 1967. He moved to Yonkers, New York but was run out by rival bookmakers and loan sharks before settling in Glen Cove, Long Island where he worked as a bookmaker. He is the godson to Michael "Midge" Belvedere, a Colombo crime family associate and bookmaker from West Babylon, New York and his wife named Anne. Joseph was a horrible pinochle player who always lost. He moved from New York City to Florida in 1968 and achieved work as a dry wall installer and was eventually given a no-show position as a shop steward. He was later married to a woman named "Bunny." He became a close friend of Gambino crime family capos Nicholas Esposito and Thomas Agro. He was promoted over senior Gambino crime family associate Robert DeSimone in the early 1970s and became the top enforcer for Thomas Agro in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was involved in loansharking, rigging horse races, labor racketeering, drug trafficking, extortion and robbery.

Military career

Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Marines and served in the Korean War. While enlisted, he became involved in the boxing team and learned how to fist fight. He received two Purple Hearts for demonstrating acts of bravery and having his thigh stabbed with a bayonet. He received an honorable discharge and immediately became involved in organized crime once again. He

References

* "Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobster" by Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi