Editing Joe Adonis (Giuseppe Antonio Doto)

Early Life and Immigration

Joe Adonis, born Giuseppe Antonio Doto on November 22, 1902, in Montemarano, a small town in the Province of Avellino, Campania, Italy, was a prominent Italian-American mobster. Son of Michele Doto and Maria De Vito, he had three brothers: Antonio, Ettore, and Genesio. In 1909, at age seven, Adonis and his family immigrated to the United States, settling in Brooklyn, New York. As a young man, he supported himself through petty crimes, including stealing and pickpocketing, which introduced him to the criminal underworld. While working the streets, he befriended future mob boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano and mobster Settimo Accardi, forging alliances that shaped his career. Known for his vanity, Adonis adopted his nickname—reportedly inspired by the Greek god of beauty.

Criminal Career and Rise in the Mafia

Adonis’s criminal ascent began during Prohibition (1920–1933), when he, Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel formed a bootlegging operation in Brooklyn. Supplying alcohol to Manhattan’s Broadway theater elite, the operation grossed $12 million at its peak, employing 100 workers. Adonis, styling himself as a “gentleman bootlegger,” mingled with actors and producers, enhancing his social clout. He operated from Joe’s Italian Kitchen, a Brooklyn restaurant that served as his criminal headquarters.

In the 1920s, Adonis worked as an enforcer for Frankie Yale, a Brooklyn racketeer, briefly meeting future Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone. Meanwhile, Luciano served Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria, a powerful Mafia leader. By 1930, Adonis joined Masseria’s faction during the Castellammarese War, a bloody conflict against rival Salvatore Maranzano. As Masseria’s fortunes waned, Luciano secretly negotiated with Maranzano to switch sides. When Masseria planned to kill Luciano, Adonis warned his friend, cementing their loyalty. On April 15, 1931, Adonis allegedly joined Luciano, Siegel, Vito Genovese, and Albert Anastasia in assassinating Masseria at a Coney Island restaurant, securing Maranzano’s dominance.

Maranzano reorganized New York’s Italian gangs into the Five Families, declaring himself capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses). Dissatisfied with Maranzano’s autocratic rule, Luciano learned of a plot to kill him and struck first. On September 10, 1931, Maranzano was killed in his Manhattan office, allegedly with Adonis’s involvement. Luciano then established the National Crime Syndicate, a governing body for organized crime, and appointed Adonis to its “board of directors,” granting him control over Broadway and Midtown Manhattan rackets.

Criminal Empire and Influence

As a caporegime in the Luciano (later Genovese) crime family, Adonis expanded into gambling, cigarette distribution, and waterfront rackets in Brooklyn and New Jersey. He bought car dealerships in New Jersey, where salesmen coerced customers into purchasing “protection insurance.” Despite his wealth, Adonis masterminded jewelry thefts, reflecting his early street-crime roots, which amused his syndicate peers. He ran operations from Duke’s Bar and Grill in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, a mob meeting place likened to Broadway’s Lindy’s. Adonis bribed politicians and police, protecting Luciano, Genovese, Lansky, and Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, head of Murder, Inc., and may have assigned murder contracts as a syndicate board member.

In 1936, prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey convicted Luciano on pandering charges, sentencing him to 30 years. With Vito Genovese fleeing to Italy in 1937 to avoid a murder charge, Luciano left Adonis in charge of the Syndicate and Frank Costello to lead the Luciano family. In 1940, Adonis faced indictment in Brooklyn for kidnapping, extortion, and assault in the 1932 Juffe/Wapinsky case, but charges were dismissed in 1941 for lack of evidence.

During World War II, Adonis aided U.S. Navy intelligence by connecting them with Italian immigrants for Sicily invasion planning, via Lansky, demonstrating his strategic value. In 1946, Luciano was released and deported to Italy for wartime cooperation. Adonis attended a Havana meeting with Luciano and other mob leaders. The meeting, in October 1946, was requested by US intelligence agents. Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Meyer Lansky were the primary players. They were there to discuss Paul Helliwell's plan. Helliwell's plan entailed using the Luciano network in the US to distribute the heroin that the CIA had controlled using the KMT, Chiang Kai Shek network in southeast Asia.

According to Paul Williams' Operation Gladio: "The Helliwell plan also required Vito Genovese's return to the United States for the creation of a system of heroin distribution to the nightclubs of Harlem. This posed a problem, since Genovese was a fugitive wanted for the murder of Ferdinand Boccia, a fellow mobster. Measures had to be taken to ensure Vito's freedom. On June 2, 1945, the day after his arrival in New York harbor, Genovese was arraigned in court and pled not guilty. One week later, Peter LaTempa, a key witness for the prosecution, took some medicine for his gall stones and was found dead in his solitary cell, where he had been placed for protection. An autopsy later revealed enough poison in his system "to kill eight horses." On June 10, Jerry Esposito, the second witness, was found shot to death beside a road in Norwood, New Jersey. All charges against Genovese were dropped. In a memo date June 30, 1945, Brigadier General Carter W. Clarke wrote that the records regarding Genovese from military intelligence were so 'hot' that they should be 'filed and no action taken.'

Joe Adonis, along with Mike Miranda, Joseph Magliocco, Tommyu Lucchese, Joe Profaci, Willie Moretti, the Fischetti brothers (hearis to Al Capone) and Santo Trafficante were all present at this planning meeting. The conference was held at the Hotel Nacional where Frank Sinatra made his Havana singing debut in honor of Luciano. The discussions to target, specifically, the black neighborhoods in Harlem took place at this meeting.

Legal Troubles and Deportation

The 1950–1951 Kefauver Committee hearings on organized crime spotlighted Adonis, who refused to testify, leading to a contempt indictment. In 1951, he pleaded guilty to violating New Jersey gambling laws, serving a two-year sentence. In 1954, investigations revealed Adonis’s Italian birth, contradicting his sworn claims of being born in Passaic, New Jersey. Facing perjury charges and a New York gambling indictment, he accepted deportation to avoid further prosecution. On August 6, 1953, the U.S. Department of Justice ordered his deportation, finalized in 1956 when he sailed to Naples on the Conte Biancamano, leaving his wife, Joan, and four children—Joseph Jr., Dolores, Anna, and Elizabeth—in New Jersey.

Life in Exile and Death

In Italy, Adonis lived in a luxurious Milan villa, reportedly maintaining underworld ties. In June 1971, Italian authorities, suspecting Mafia involvement after the assassination of Palermo’s public prosecutor, exiled Adonis and 115 suspected mobsters to Serra de’ Conti, a small town near Ancona. Under police surveillance, he protested, claiming to be a “poor old man.” In November 1971, during intense questioning, Adonis suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to Ancona’s general hospital, where he died of heart failure and pulmonary complications on November 26, 1971, at age 69. His wife arranged for his body to be returned to the U.S., and he was buried at Madonna Cemetery in Fort Lee, New Jersey, on December 6, 1971, after a modest funeral.

Personal Life

Adonis married Joan and had four children. Known for his charm and vanity, he spent hours grooming, earning Luciano’s playful comparison to Rudolph Valentino. Despite his criminality, he cultivated a polished image, socializing with Broadway elites and maintaining a disciplined operation. A 1922 arrest for assault and battery, and allegations of rape (not prosecuted), suggest a darker side.

Legacy and Critical Perspective

Joe Adonis was a key figure in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra and the National Crime Syndicate, wielding influence over New York and New Jersey rackets. His loyalty to Luciano and strategic role in the Castellammarese War’s assassinations cemented his power, while his political connections protected the syndicate. Historians like Robert Lacey argue Adonis was primarily a gaming entrepreneur whose crimes supported his gambling empire, though his involvement in murder and extortion is undeniable.

Establishment sources, like Encyclopædia Britannica and The New York Times, focus on his criminal prominence and deportation, often framing him as a charismatic but dangerous figure. Alternative narratives. Primary sources, like Kefauver Committee transcripts and deportation records, confirm his gambling convictions and illegal alien status but lack detail on his WWII contributions or Italian activities. Discrepancies in his birth year (1901 vs. 1902) and immigration details (1909 vs. 1915) across sources like IMDb and Find a Grave reflect incomplete records. The absence of Italian police files or U.S. intelligence reports limits clarity on his later years.