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Joseph “Joe Bandy” Biondo saw and participated in almost everything concerning Cosa Nostra’s first half century of existence. Cutting his teeth in organized crime during Prohibition, helping plot one of the most publicized executions in history, and serving as underboss to the legendary Carlo Gambino. This impressive list of acitivies accurately shows how much respect and influence Biondo came to command. So it is astonishing to realize that the once powerful gangster would die quietly, a forgotten and shamed figure. Biondo, who was born in Sicily before coming to New York, developed valuable contacts in his bootlegging days, becoming very close with both Lucky Luciano and Carlo Gambino. In the 1930s Biondo was such a close associate of Luciano that he was among the group that traveled with him to Cleveland to meet with leaders such as Moe Dalitz, John Scalise and Santo Trafficante to discuss the eventual elimination of Salvatore Maranzano. Known to be heavily involved in loansharking, labor racketeering and extortion schemes, Biondo was also a major player in heroin trafficking. Biondo frequently made trips to Italy to meet with Luciano, both carrying him his cut from operations in the US and occasionally making contacts for narcotics deals. His other powerful friend, Carlo Gambino, brought him into a leadership role of the family he was a member of in 1957. Biondo conspired with Gambino in the latter’s plot to eliminate family boss Albert Anastasia. Once Anastasia was gunned down in the barbershop of the Sheraton Hotel, Gambino assumed control of the family, inserting Biondo as his underboss. Biondo was given considerable autonomy in his position, personally overseeing many crews in the Gambino Family. This independence would eventually prove to be his undoing as an attempted business takeover that wasn’t cleared by Don Carlo resulted in “Joe Bandy” being “broken down,” or demoted. The details of the fiasco were revealed through an illegal wiretap of DeCavalcante boss Simone “Sam the Plumber” DeCavalcante. During the many recordings it was revealed that Biondo had muscled in on a garbage dump in New Jersey without the go-ahead from Gambino. It can also be assumed that since he had no knowledge of the take over, Gambino would have been upset that he wasn’t receiving any of the profits from the newly acquired property. Rather than murder the well-known Biondo and risk possible dissension in the organization, Gambino decided to simply replace him as underboss. Aniello Dellacroce was made the new underboss in 1965 as Biondo was demoted to the rank of soldier. Biondo passed away in 1973, both forgotten and virtually blacklisted from the organization he once helped lead. |