Joseph Galizia
Encyclopedia
Joseph "Joe Glitz" Galizia (born July 24, 1941, died 1998) was a New York
mobster who became a high-ranking soldier in the Genovese crime family
, and ran a large gasoline bootlegging operation.
" in the Genovese family by killing Genovese mobster Carlo "Collie" DiPietro. DiPietro had been a partner of both Galizia and future Gambino boss John Gotti
, in a Queens
flea market. During this time, Galizia earned a reputation as a huge money maker, by moving his family into the extremely lucrative gasoline bootlegging rackets. While never attaining a position within the administration, Galizia became a very influential and wealthy mafioso who occasionally answered directly to Vincent Gigante
and his uppermost family members, often going over his captain's head. Galizia maintained interests in several Queens
and Long Island
produce companies as well.
Galizia and his brother Larry ran construction schemes, loansharking
, and extortion
rackets in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island. In the early 1980s, Larry went to federal prison for supervising a credit card fraud scheme. The Galizias also engaged in criminal activities with Genovese gangsters Rosario Gangi
, Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone
and Rudolph "Rudy Cueball" Izzi.
to continue their business. Galizia's operation was run by Russian mob boss Marat Balagula
and his associates Igor Roizman, Igor Porotsky, and Sheldon Levine. The mobsters would set up shell companies to distribute gasoline at a price fraudulently represented as including federal, state and local excise taxes. Naturally, the mobsters would in fact pay no tax on such sales. Should the operation be uncovered by the authorities, the shell companies would simply be closed, and others opened.
Another major figure in the gasoline racket scene was Colombo crime family
capo Michael Franzese
, a friend of Galizia.
An investigation by the New York State Governor's office reported that the New York Five Families bootlegging scheme avoided taxes on one out of every ten gallons of gasoline brought into the metropolitan area. The report stated that gasoline bootlegging had become the mob's most profitable scheme.
and families had the rights to which companies and profits. Other wiseguys involved in the operation included Genovese soldier Daniel "Danny" Pagano
(based in the Bronx and East Harlem), Gambino captain Anthony "Fat Tony" Morelli
(based in Staten Island), Gambino soldier Genaro "Jimmy Sweats" Dellamonica (Morelli Staten Island crew), Lucchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
(who testified before Congress about the Mob's involvement with the Russians), Colombo capo Victor Orena, Jr. (son of the family's former acting boss), Colombo soldiers Frank "Frankie the Bug" Sciortino and Joseph Audino (both Orena crew members)
Former Gambino underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano testified that at Galizia's son's wedding in the early-1990s, a sitdown was held between Gambino boss John Gotti
and Patriarca crime family
captain Junior Russo to avoid a shooting war with the family's new boss, Raymond Patriarca, Jr.
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
mobster who became a high-ranking soldier in the Genovese crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
, and ran a large gasoline bootlegging operation.
Becoming a family member
In the mid-1970s, Galizia became a "made manMade man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
" in the Genovese family by killing Genovese mobster Carlo "Collie" DiPietro. DiPietro had been a partner of both Galizia and future Gambino boss John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, in a Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
flea market. During this time, Galizia earned a reputation as a huge money maker, by moving his family into the extremely lucrative gasoline bootlegging rackets. While never attaining a position within the administration, Galizia became a very influential and wealthy mafioso who occasionally answered directly to Vincent Gigante
Vincent Gigante
Vincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful...
and his uppermost family members, often going over his captain's head. Galizia maintained interests in several Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
produce companies as well.
Galizia and his brother Larry ran construction schemes, loansharking
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
, and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
rackets in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island. In the early 1980s, Larry went to federal prison for supervising a credit card fraud scheme. The Galizias also engaged in criminal activities with Genovese gangsters Rosario Gangi
Rosario Gangi
Rosario "Ross" Gangi is a New York City mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family who became involved in labor racketeering and white collar crime.-Biography:...
, Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone
Alphonse Malangone
Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone is a New York City mobster and caporegime in the Genovese crime family. Malangone controlled a good portion of the Genovese interests in the Fulton Fish Market, while dabbling in pump and dump stock scams on Wall Street and controlling Brooklyn's garbage hauling...
and Rudolph "Rudy Cueball" Izzi.
Gasoline bootlegging partnership with the Russians
The gasoline bootlegging rackets were originally conceived by Russian mobsters; however, the Russians needed the cooperation of the New York Mafia Five FamiliesFive Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
to continue their business. Galizia's operation was run by Russian mob boss Marat Balagula
Marat Balagula
Marat Balagula is a Russian - Ukrainian Jewish immigrant, former mob boss, and associate of the Lucchese crime family. He has often been referred to as "the Russian Tony Soprano."-Early life:...
and his associates Igor Roizman, Igor Porotsky, and Sheldon Levine. The mobsters would set up shell companies to distribute gasoline at a price fraudulently represented as including federal, state and local excise taxes. Naturally, the mobsters would in fact pay no tax on such sales. Should the operation be uncovered by the authorities, the shell companies would simply be closed, and others opened.
Another major figure in the gasoline racket scene was Colombo crime family
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
capo Michael Franzese
Michael Franzese
Michael Franzese , is a former New York mobster with the Colombo crime family who was heavily involved in the gasoline tax rackets in the 1980s...
, a friend of Galizia.
Federal indictments
In 1986, Galizia, Franzese and their Russian partners were charged with evading over $5 million in taxes in just a few months. All the defendants were eventually convicted or plead guilty, and all went to federal prison. In 1989, while in prison, Galizia was suspected by federal investigators of ordering the murder of Michael Markowitz, a Russian gangster. Markowitz was shot dead in Brooklyn by Joseph Reisch. Galizia would be indicted again on similar charges in 1991.An investigation by the New York State Governor's office reported that the New York Five Families bootlegging scheme avoided taxes on one out of every ten gallons of gasoline brought into the metropolitan area. The report stated that gasoline bootlegging had become the mob's most profitable scheme.
LCN group running the gasoline rackets
In being one of the Genovese family's first point-men in the gasoline bootlegging racket, Galizia was involved in the setting up of a council of mobsters that decided which wiseguysMade man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
and families had the rights to which companies and profits. Other wiseguys involved in the operation included Genovese soldier Daniel "Danny" Pagano
Daniel Pagano
Daniel Pagano is a New York mobster and a caporegime in the Genovese crime family who was involved in a famous gasoline bootlegging racket of the 1980s....
(based in the Bronx and East Harlem), Gambino captain Anthony "Fat Tony" Morelli
Anthony Morelli
Anthony Michael Morelli is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2008...
(based in Staten Island), Gambino soldier Genaro "Jimmy Sweats" Dellamonica (Morelli Staten Island crew), Lucchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Anthony Casso
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso is a former New York City mobster who served as underboss and acting boss of the Lucchese crime family until he was arrested in 1993, becoming a cooperating witness for the Federal Government...
(who testified before Congress about the Mob's involvement with the Russians), Colombo capo Victor Orena, Jr. (son of the family's former acting boss), Colombo soldiers Frank "Frankie the Bug" Sciortino and Joseph Audino (both Orena crew members)
Family ties
Galizia was the brother of Genovese soldier Lawrence "Larry Glitz" Galizia. Galizia's son Lawrence Galizia is a Genovese soldier who was arrested in 2001 on federal loan sharking charges.Former Gambino underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano testified that at Galizia's son's wedding in the early-1990s, a sitdown was held between Gambino boss John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
and Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
captain Junior Russo to avoid a shooting war with the family's new boss, Raymond Patriarca, Jr.
Raymond Patriarca, Jr.
Raymond J. Patriarca Jr. a.k.a. "Ray Junior" a.k.a. "Junior" is a Providence, Rhode Island, mobster who succeeded his father, Raymond Patriarca Sr., as head of the Patriarca crime family in 1984....
.
Further reading
- Friedman, Robert I., Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America (2000).
- Gallagher, Mike, "Gas Tax Scam Plea", Newsday, January 7, 1992.
- Taylor, Letta, "5 Charged in Tax Scam", Newsday, January 31, 1991.