June 16, 1923 - Joseph Colombo
Colombo's ascent within organized crime followed an unconventional path — he gained leadership of one of New York's five families not through violence or seniority, but by betraying an assassination plot against Commission members, a move that earned him the family as a reward. His tenure was marked by an unusual public dimension: he founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League and staged large demonstrations, activities that drew attention unwelcome to his peers in organized crime. That visibility may have contributed to his undoing — he was shot at one of his own rallies in 1971 and spent his remaining years in a diminished state.
From Wikipedia
Joseph Anthony Colombo Sr. (Italian: [koˈlombo]; June 16, 1923 – May 22, 1978) was an American mobster who rose to the position of boss of the Colombo crime family and founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League.
Colombo was born in New York City, where his father was an early member of what was then the Profaci crime family. In 1961, the First Colombo War unfolded, instigated by the kidnapping of four high-ranking members in the Profaci family by Joe Gallo. Later that year, Gallo was imprisoned, and in 1962, family leader Joe Profaci died of cancer. In 1963, Bonanno crime family boss, Joseph Bonanno made plans with Joseph Magliocco to assassinate several rivals on The Commission. Magliocco gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Colombo, who revealed the plot to its targets. The Commission spared Magliocco's life but forced him into retirement, while Bonanno fled to Canada. As a reward for turning on his boss, Colombo was awarded the Profaci family.
- Last updated on .