The Rise and Fall of Joe Colombo: From Head of the Family to Public Enemy

Joe Colombo, not born into power, became the head of the Profaci family, later known as the Colombo family, due to his loyalty during an internal conflict. His bold leadership style brought him into the public eye, which eventually led to his assassination at a public rally. This story is shared by a former member of the Colombo family, who also discusses his personal experiences with Colombo and the impact of his death. The narrative also delves into Colombo’s early life, his rise to power, and the influence of his Italian heritage on his leadership style.
This text talks about a man named Joey who, despite his early exposure to crime, tried to lead a legitimate life. He served in World War II and learned valuable skills that he later applied in his life. He also used a platform called Ground News to understand media bias and control his information intake. Despite his efforts to stay legitimate, Joey was involved in loan sharking and gambling operations, and eventually became a part of the Profaci family, a mafia group.
The text discusses the life of Joe Colombo, a man who successfully ran legitimate businesses while also being involved in illegal activities. Colombo was known for his strategic thinking and ability to balance power, which led to his rise in the mafia world. Despite some questioning his loyalty, he became the youngest crime boss in the nation and expanded the family’s operations significantly. However, his attempts to cooperate with law enforcement and resentment from older members may have contributed to his downfall.
Joe Colombo, an Italian American, publicly protested against the FBI’s harassment of his community. He organized rallies and formed the Italian American Civil Rights League, which achieved significant results, including pressuring the FBI to stop using derogatory terms for Italians and helping the community with loans, housing, and scholarships. However, his public activities drew unwanted attention to both legal and illegal operations, violating the traditional secrecy of organized crime. Despite this, Colombo’s influence extended to Hollywood, where he successfully negotiated changes to the portrayal of Italian Americans in the film “The Godfather.”
Colombo, an unofficial consultant for the film “The Godfather,” used his diplomatic skills to turn a potential conflict into a collaboration that benefited his community and the film. Despite fighting against Italian American stereotypes, the film’s success ironically reinforced these stereotypes. Colombo’s approach showed how activism can achieve results through dialogue, not just confrontation. However, his involvement in the film also glamorized the lifestyle he claimed to fight against, showing the complex nature of compromise and unintended consequences.
Joey, a mob boss, lived a complex life, fighting against discrimination and stereotypes while also dealing with the consequences of his criminal activities. Despite his controversial methods, he made significant changes in how Italian Americans were portrayed in media and treated by law enforcement. However, his actions led to instability and conflict within his family and the mob. His story serves as a reminder that our choices not only shape our future but also the future of those around us.

The Mafia thrives on tradition. Power is meant to be earned or inherited. It’s not handed over. The five families in New York were set in stone, and the Profaci family had its rightful heirs. But Joe Colombo, he rewrote the script. He wasn’t born into power. He wasn’t even the next in line to become boss. But when an internal coup threatened the old order, Joe Colombo made one move that changed everything. Stayed loyal. As a reward for his loyalty, the Commission did something unheard of. They didn’t just hand him control of a family, they let him put his name on it.

To the Colombo family. Salut. There’s a cost to making history. As Colombo built his reputation, he broke the Mafia’s tradition of living in the shadows. And he stepped into the spotlight. His bold leadership made him powerful, but also made him a target. Because one day, in front of thousands of people at a public rally, Colombo’s fate was sealed. And I was there that day. I was 12 steps away from him when it happened, and it was a shock. A man walked up and pulled the trigger. Was this the price of his war with the FBI? Or did the Mafia decide he was never meant to have this power in the first place? As a former capo to the Colombo family, let me take you inside the rise and the very sad and shocking fall of Joe Colombo.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to another sit down with Michael Francis. Hope everybody is doing well. All is very good, very blessed on this end. As always, my friends, I give all the praise, honor, glory and thanksgiving to our God for that. Well, you’ve been enjoying this series we’re doing on the 50 most significant mafia Cosa Nostra bosses or people. I would say they’re not all bosses in the last hundred years in this country. And we did Tony Accardo last. People loved that, enjoyed that. We know that by the comments and messages that we got. We did Carlo Gambino.

Really? We got a million views on that so far. So people are really enjoying it. And I told you, we’re going to do all 50. We’re going to do two a month until we run out. There’s two on there that you’re very familiar with. My dad, Sonny Francis, myself, Michael Francis, the artist, put us on there. I didn’t expect that, but we’re there. You’re certainly not going to hear more about me, that I promise. Maybe on my father, there’s a little more insight to him than you might be aware of. But today we’re going to do somebody that’s very close to me.

He was a mentor of mine, somebody that I really loved and was very close to until the tragic ending that many of you know about. And, of course, his name is Joe Colombo. And I really cared for the guy. When my dad went to prison, he was my mentor. I knew him just about all my life. My dad was his underboss. I knew his family, wonderful people. And it was really hurtful and disappointing and a shock to me because it was probably the. Well, not probably, definitely the second attack, I would say, that really opened my eyes about that life.

Now, did I continue and become part of it? Yes, I did. But it was certainly something that had an real impact on me, people. And we’ll get into that, but I want to talk about it. My friend Joe Colombo, My former friend Joe Colombo, I’m still. I was very friendly with his sons. They’re both gone now. Anthony and Joey Jr. And his son Christopher, now and I are friends. Good guy, you know, really good guy. And, you know, I just want to do it justice. And, you know, here’s the thing, people, you know, some people say, michael, why are you glorifying the mob? I’m not glorifying the mob life.

I left the life. I’ve talked about it plenty. But there were guys in there that I really loved, I really cared for, and they weren’t all bad guys. You know, again, age old question. Why do good people do bad things? Well, there’s reasons for that. I’m not going to get into all that, you know, ideology again, all the, you know, stuff that goes with it. But I really cared for these guys, and I love them. I talk about them as honestly as I possibly can, especially the ones that I knew. I’ll never forget the day, one day when I was on the Italian American civil rights line that we were picketing in front of the FBI building.

I got into a scuffle with a cop. I threw a punch at him, and a bunch of cops jumped on me. And they were hitting me with the, you know, the billy clubs, and they were really giving me a beating. And they picked me up and brought me across the street, Third Avenue, busy, busy street, Manhattan. And they threw me into the paddy wagon. Well, Joe Colombo was there, and he had the entire line, you know, thousands of people surround the paddy wagon. He wouldn’t let them take me away. And for about two hours he negotiated with the cops.

And finally he looked into the paddy wagon. I was handcuffed. And he said, don’t worry about it. Go to the police station with them. I got it handled. And I went to the station with them, they booked me. But within, you know, a short period of time, Barry Slotnick, who was the attorney for the League and for Joe Colombo, he came in, got me out with no bail, and later on the case was dismissed. So Joe Colombo, really one of my major arrests at that time. He was the champion for me, and I’ll never forget that day.

I really mean that. And I love the guy, like I said. So we’re going to get into it. It’s a fascinating story, really, but something I think you’re really going to enjoy and understand something. Again, this is number three of 50 and we’re going to do it every two weeks, like I said. So you need subscribe not to miss it, you know, subscribe to the channel. We have many people jumping on mainly for this series. I would say a lot of people are, but hopefully, because you have enjoyed what I’ve done for the last couple of years also.

So go watch the other two previous ones. I want your feedback. We would love it. Let’s get into it. My. My subject of the day, Joe Colombo. You know, growing up in Brooklyn myself, I understand how the streets can really shape a man. Joe Colombo was born on June 16, 1923, in Brooklyn to Italian immigrant parents. His father, Anthony Colombo, wasn’t just any man. He was connected to what we called the life. The family lived in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn at 186 Columbia St. A tough neighborhood that would later become a stronghold for what we would be known as the Colombo crime family.

And as you know, I was very much a part of that. Red hook in the 1920s was a maze of dockyards, warehouses and tenement buildings. The smell of salt water mixed with cooking from Italian kitchens and the sounds of longshoremen working the docks, they filled the air. The Colombo family’s apartment was above a small grocery store owned by Joe’s mother’s family, typical of the immigrant experience where families lived and worked together just to survive at that time. Anthony Colombo had immigrated from the town of Potenza in southern Italy in 1908, bringing with him old world traditions and connections.

Joe’s mother, Catherine Colombo DeGioia, she came from Naples, like me, Napoli, in their marriage in 1920, united two families with very deep ties to their Italian heritage. This heritage would later play a crucial role in Joe’s approach to community leadership. The young Joe grew up during Prohibition watching his father navigate both the legitimate and shadowy sides of life. Anthony Colombo worked as a milkman, but he was also involved in bootlegging Operations. And that was a common path for many Italian immigrants that were trying to make it in America during those. The family wasn’t wealthy, but they weren’t struggling like many others during the Depression, thanks to Anthony’s various enterprises that he had.

In 1938, when Joe was just. I think it was 15 years old, his father was found murdered in his car on President street in Brooklyn. And obviously a very tragic event for Joey. This wasn’t a random killing. In our world, it never is. The murder remained unsolved, but those in the know understood it was connected to a dispute over a gambling territory. This moment, this single event, would shape Joe’s entire future. You see, in our world, you know, losing a father like that, it changes you. I’m sure that’s the same in every world. But in our world, you know, seeing your father get murdered, it’s tough.

I mean, me just seeing my father go to prison, it shaped, you know, the future of my thoughts, of the things that I would do. It caused me to drop out of school. And, you know, it hardens you to a degree. It really does. Even at a young age, Joe showed some remarkable loyalty to family and an understanding of the importance of taking care of those close to him. You know, the early exposure to violence and criminal elements. It shaped a worldview that would later make it impossible for him to fully escape that life. Even when he tried to legitimize himself, and he really did.

Joey was different than a lot of the guys on the street. He really was. He was innovative in that regard. My friends, I know something about having power, whether it’s on the streets or in the media. It’s all about who controls the narrative. And right now, the mainstream media is trying to control yours, whether you realize it or not. I’ve been using this platform called ground news, and it’s completely changed how I look at the news. Let me show you exactly what I mean. Remember the Hunter Biden pardon story? How can we forget it? It was everywhere.

Well, over a thousand news sources covered that same story. But watch what happens when we compare headlines from the different outlets. You see how each one spins it differently. That’s what makes ground news different. They’re the only platform that lets you see exactly how the media machine works. And yes, it is a machine. They break down the political bias of every source. They show you which stories are being buried by different sides. And this is crucial. They expose who actually owns these news organizations. And that makes a difference, a big difference in how it’s reported in today’s World, you can’t afford to be in the dark.

Ground News gives you something invaluable, and that is the ability to see through the smoke and mirrors and the gaslighting of mainstream media. Right now, you can get the same tools I use for half price. Just go to ground news MF or scan this QR code where you’ll get 40% off their premium vantage plan. Come on. That’s less than a cup of coffee for the same tools I use to stay informed. You know, with everything that’s happening in our country right now, so much going on, you need to see the full picture, not just what they want you to see.

So don’t wait on this. Take control of your information today. You want to be in the know the right way. Get to Ground News. It’s an offer that you shouldn’t refuse. Before Joe Colombo became who you know him as, he served his country in World War II. And I want you to understand that guys in that life were very patriotic. They may not have liked the Department of Justice, but they defended our country. Many guys got medals of honor. Many guys had tattoos of what they accomplished in the war. They were very patriotic. They didn’t like cops, and they didn’t like the Department of Justice and the FBI and all of that, but they loved the country.

And I thought may be hard for some of you to understand, hey, right now, I love this country. I really do. I’m concerned with politics because I’m concerned about the direction of the country for my kids and my grandkids. That’s what it’s all about. But Joey enlisted in the United States army in 1942. His service number, 325-88-4471. And he was assigned to the 11th Airborne Division. He was stationed in the Pacific theater, specifically in the Philippines, where he served as a supply sergeant, a position that, you know what? Later on it would. It would prove valuable in understanding logistics and organization.

Joey was a smart guy. Those who served with him described him as a natural leader, a person that can get things done even when the official channel failed. During his service, Colombo earned several commendations. I want you to listen to that. You know, like a lot of other guys, he served honorably, including the Asian Pacific Campaign Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal. His time in the service, particularly in supply management, taught him some very valuable lessons about moving goods efficiently and maintaining precise records. But let me tell you something about coming back from war. It changes your perspective.

The skills you learn, the brotherhood, the organization, these things stick with you. Don’t think they Just go away. You know, former military suffer from ptsd. It’s what you bring back. There’s a lot of negatives that you can bring back. Also a lot of positives. The New York key returned to in 1944 was booming with post war opportunity. The GI Bill offered veterans like Colombo chances for education and business loans. Though he would choose a different path. The city was experiencing some massive economic growth with construction projects everywhere and unions gaining unprecedented power. Spheres of influence that would later become crucial to Joe Colombo’s operations, as well as many of us, you know, who also got involved in unions and union control.

After returning home in 1945, Joe started working various jobs. He got into the milk delivery business, following in his father’s legitimate footsteps. But it wasn’t just about milk. During this time, he was building connections. And these connections went throughout Brooklyn, particularly in Bensonhurst and Red Hook. And, you know, these were mob strongholds at the time. He married Lucille Faello in 1944 and they had five children together. And I knew Lucille personally. What a wonderful, wonderful woman she was. I mean, it, you know, good wife, great, great mother to her children. Just an all around good person.

I mean, I really loved her, cared for her very much. Family meant everything to Joe and providing for them was his primary motivation. And I really believe that, you know, he wanted to provide for his family. That came first. It was before everything. Many of us felt the same way, Nate for sure. By 1946, he was also running a small gambling operation operation and working as a collector for local loan sharks. His reputation for efficiency and when necessary, toughness. He was a tough guy. It started growing. What set him apart was his business acumen. He understood that intimidation alone wasn’t sustainable.

You needed to be smart about money and people. Let me tell you something. In the Colombo family back then we had 115 made guys, guys that took the oath. Out of 115, 20 of us were earners. 20 of us really understood it wasn’t all about violence. It was about knowing how to use the life to benefit us in business. But it wasn’t a lot of us that were able to do that. Those that could, you know, racketeers, we called them those that couldn’t, more gangsters. But I always said this, if you were a racketeer, you had to be a gangster also, because you’re going to be called upon to do certain things.

You had to have both skills. But the gangsters, they weren’t really qualified. They didn’t understand how to use the life to benefit them. And Business. And Joe Colombo was one guy that did. You know, he showed remarkable entrepreneurial skills, understanding the importance of legitimate business facades and building real community connections. He was really good at that. You know, my father always said, you know, go legit, Mike. That’s where it is. My father didn’t really understand it that well because my father was more of a street tough guy. But he always said, it’s all about legitimacy, Mike.

That’s where you got to go. But his involvement in loan sharking and gambling operations often led to violence, even though he tried to present the more sophisticated image. But, you know, you’re in that business, sometimes you got to do the things that you’re called upon to do. There’s no getting away from it. Let me be clear about something. In our thing, nothing happens by accident. Colombo didn’t just stumble into the life. By the early 1950s, he was working with the Profaci family. And that was the family before Joe Colombo took it over. And Joe Profaci, he was very proficient boss, too.

He controlled his territory since the end of a war we had back in 1931. And he saw something in young Colombo. He saw something that he viewed as being very valuable. He saw leadership, potential, strategic thinking, and most important, again, we’re going to say it. Loyalty. Colombo officially became a made man. He took the oath in 1952. He was sponsored by his copper regime. Charles Charlie Lemons Mineo. And this was a time of significant change in the New York underworld. You know, we call it Mafia, Cosa Nostra. The Kefauver hearings had brought unwanted attention to our activities.

And smart operators like Colombo understood the need to be more sophisticated in how we conducted business. You know, anytime you have an organization, it can’t go just by violence and street thugs and all that stuff alone. You had to run it like an operation, like an organization. Organization. You know, Luciano, we’re going to get into him. He was the one that put the commission together, that made us understand this isn’t all about violence. We gotta, you know, we gotta get ourselves into the fabric of society. We gotta have political connections. You gotta have legitimate business. You gotta, you know, be in control of certain things, politics.

If you wanted to survive as an organization, you had to do that. And Joe Colombo understood it. By 1953, he had established several legitimate businesses, and I was familiar with them, including, he had construction companies, he had restaurants. One of his most successful ventures was a real estate firm that actually operated legally, at least most of the time. In this approach, mixing legitimate business with other activities would become his trademark. He was great at that. I’ll tell you this, and I know this from personal experience, earning your button, becoming a made man, it’s not just about being tough.

It’s about being smart, being reliable, and understanding the delicate balance of power. Colombo, he had excelled at all three, no doubt. He showed remarkable ability to establish and maintain legitimate businesses providing real jobs and opportunities in the community. He was always a community guy. He always cared about his neighborhood, like many of us did, like all of us did. That’s why I said there was no crime in our neighborhoods. You know, we took care of people, we took care of the businesses. Believe me when I tell you we did. You know, Ms. 13, they come into our neighborhood, forget about it.

They’re dead, they’re gone. This Trent de Agua, whatever, gone, no crime in our neighborhood. You wouldn’t have to worry about it. They’d be gone. As tough as you think they are, trust me, we would have gotten rid of them, you know, These legitimate businesses often served as fronts for more sinister operations, of course, including. Sometimes extortion was involved, Sometimes money laundering was part of what we did. You know, we didn’t respect always what the government said we had to do. That was it. We didn’t always respect. You know, I got to tell you something. Everything that’s illegal is not always immoral.

Just because the government says you can’t do it doesn’t mean that it’s immoral all the time. Let me tell you. And I’m not talking about extortion, but gambling operations. You know, we used to go to jail for gambling. Now what? The government is involved in gambling, Pro sports is involved in gambling. We went to jail because why? We didn’t pay taxes. They claimed we used to beat people up. You know how rare that was? It was so rare. Trust me when I tell you that. You know, but, you know, so again, we didn’t respect a lot of what the government said we had to do.

That was the bottom line. By the late 1950s, Colombo was proving himself in ways that made people really take notice. He became involved in union activities, particularly in the construction industry, where he showed a real talent for negotiation. Though, to be honest, these negotiations, they would involve more than just talk, you know, that’s the way it went in that life. Not outside of the life, but in the life. The period between 1959 and 1961 was very crucial. The Profaci family was facing internal strife. The Gallo brothers, Joey, Albert and Larry, they were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Joe Profaci’s leadership.

Everybody thought Joe Profaci was, was a selfish guy. They felt he was demanding too much money and tribute while giving too little in return. And this conflict eventually would evolve into what we call the Profaci Gala War. I’m intimately aware of that. My father was very much involved in that. I told a story about how my dad left us at my grandmother’s house. He was gone for, you know, weeks during the war. He didn’t want to come home and possibly bring any heat to the family. I relate some incidents. I won’t get into it now, but I really remember that war.

Here’s where Colombo showed his strategic genius. Initially, he appeared to be on the side of the gallows, even participating in the kidnapping of several Papachi loyalists. But in a very surprised move, he switched sides. He warned Papachi of an attempt on his life. This decision would prove later to be very crucial to his rise in power. During this time, Colombo expanded his influence into new territories. He established connections in Manhattan’s garment history. Very important. He gained interest in several unions. He developed a relationship with political figures that would prove very valuable later on. Some of them I was very aware of.

You know, Colombo demonstrated exceptional strategic thinking. And he had a real ability to navigate complex situations within the family. Very important. You got to be, if you’re going to be a good boss, you got to know how to navigate complex situations within the family, because they always come up. But, you know, his betrayal of the gallows, while strategically was very sound, it was the right move. It did cause some in the family to question his loyalty later on. Now, you know, 1962 really marked a turning point for Joe Colombo. With Joe Profaci’s death from cancer, there was a power vacuum in the family.

And initially, Joseph Mayoko took over as boss with Colombo as his right hand man. When Mayoko and Bonanno, Joe Bonanno, they plotted to kill Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese. And they needed somebody to handle it. So they gave the contract to Joe Colombo. And people, when you get a contract, you don’t get paid for it. In that life, this is your duty, this is your obligation. You become a made man, part of the deal. You’re given a contract, there’s no payment involved in that. You got to do what you’re told to do. But Joey was smart in this regard.

Instead of carrying out the order, Colombo did something that was really unprecedented at the time. He went directly to Gambino and he exposed the plot. This move led to Mayoko’s forced Retirement and Bonanno. Eventually, he ran away. He came back later on, and the commission allowed him to live because he was a boss. But they said, you’re out of here. And that’s when he moved to Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to save his life. He stays in New York, he’s a dead man. And as a reward for all of this, at just 41 years old, Colombo was appointed the head of what would become known as the Colombo crime family, making him the youngest crime boss in the nation at that time.

You know, under his leadership, the family’s operations, they expanded significantly. He moved into new territories, including Staten island and Florida. He understood the importance of diversification. He pushed the family into legitimate businesses while maintaining the traditional rackets. And he was masterful at this. One of his most significant innovations was his approach to law enforcement. Unlike many of his predecessors, he believed in strategic cooperation when it served his purposes. Now, don’t get this wrong. He wasn’t cooperating with the government and putting people in trouble. These were strategic cooperations. In other words, hey, let me tell you where this gambling operation is.

You know, so you lay off of all the others. But he alerted the gambling operation. Or maybe it was a rival player. You know, he wasn’t. I don’t want you to start calling him rats. Everybody loves to throw that term around. Rat. But you know what? We did work strategically at times with law enforcement to benefit us. Not to benefit an individual, but to benefit families the same way we did with politicians. So don’t start saying the wrong thing about Joe Colombo. He wasn’t a snitch. He wasn’t a rat. He didn’t do anything like that. He was smart.

He developed a relationship with certain public officials, and he understood the value of appearing cooperative, even while maintaining the family’s criminal enterprises. So I would say his leadership brought stability to the family after many years of internal conflict. And his business acumen led to significant prosperity for many guys. His youth and his rapid rise did create resentment. Man, in that life, when you’re one of the young guys, I know this from experience, you got a lot of resentment. Guys that have been there a long time, oh, you know, how come this guy Johnny come lately, and all of a sudden he’s the boss.

All of a sudden he’s a capo. All of a sudden he’s making all of this money. I had to deal with that a lot. And Joe Colombo, as the youngest boss, he had to deal with it, but he knew how to navigate it. But there was resentment among the older members for sure. And his attempts to play both sides of the law might have eventually contributed to his downfall. I think so. Because some people might have looked at it the wrong way. We’ll get into that. Now this. This is where Joe Colombo really broke the mold.

And, man, I’m so familiar. This was my era. I’m so familiar with this, you know, so I can. I can justify everything that I’m saying here with, you know, sound evidence. In April 1970, he founded the Italian American Civil Rights League. The catalyst was the arrest by the FBI of his son, Joey Jr. On a federal charge. A BS federal charge. And people, I remember this day. I’m in my house. My dad had just gone to prison not too long before that. And I got a phone call from Joey Brancado, one of my dad’s guys, and he said, mike, get down to 3rd Avenue and 69th Street.

We’re going to be picketing the FBI. What? Joe Colombo, Joey Jr. Who I knew well, was indicted on some BS charge, he told me, and we’re going to be picketing the FBI. We’re not going to let the FBI harass Italian Americans anymore. So, Joey, instead of handling it the old way, Colombo did something unprecedented. He went public. He himself went public. And you don’t do that. You know, who does that in that life? You’re not supposed to do that. All right, John Gotti, you think about it, you know, Al Capone, you think about it. But this wasn’t good at that time.

You know, you tried to stay in the shadows. He didn’t care. He had enough. He said, you know what? The FBI is defaming us. They’re harassing us. They’re going after our families. And they were. Who is a better victim than my family? What they did to my father during that time in the 60s, forget about it. They had seven agencies following us 24 hours a day. I got into scuffles with them. We couldn’t even go eat in peace. My father getting arrested every other day, going to trial three times, following me to the baseball field, all this kind of stuff.

They were harassing us. There’s no question about it. So he organized protests outside the FBI offices claiming Italian Americans were being harassed, and rightfully so. And stereotyped. The league’s first rally at Columbus Circle to an estimated 50,000 people. Straight scoop. I was there. 50,000 people, at least. There might have been more. And this wasn’t just fellow connected guys. These were legitimate businessmen. They were politicians. And they were everyday Italian Americans that were tired of being accosted or associated, I should say, with crime and discrimination. Many legit Italians, they were upset. You had a vowel at the end of your name, you are Mafia.

You know how many times we heard that you’re Italian. Vowel at the end of your name, you’re Mafia. And people didn’t like it. So they were jumping on board this league in record numbers. The league achieved real results. They pressured the FBI to stop using the terms Mafia and La Cosa Nostradamus in official communications. They stopped him. They got the producers of the Godfather, you know this, to agree not to use these terms in the film. I was there throughout all of this, man. And yes, he did some things that were just amazing. Joe Colombo, they even managed to get Frank Sinatra to headline a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.

And Sammy Davis Jr. Also, they were all there. They came to support Joe Colombo and the Italian American Civil Rights League. But here’s what many don’t know. The league also did legitimate community work, real legitimate community work. They helped small business get loans. They assisted elderly Italian Americans with housing issues, and they provided scholarships to Italian American students. And they even had camps, day camps for kids. At its peak, they had offices in multiple cities and they had over 45,000 dues paying members. And people wanted to belong to this. It was a great league. I loved it.

I saw it as a way to help my dad. I was on that picket line every day. I told you, I got arrested off the line. The first and only guy I think, to get arrested off the line. No doubt about it. I was into it a thousand percent. I believed in it. I had lived throughout the harassment. And I wanted this league to help my father. And I love Joe Colombo because he organized this. I have to say this Colombo showed genuine leadership and fighting discrimination. And he brought real benefits to the Italian American community.

No doubt people loved him. But, you know, there’s always a flip side. His high profile activities and the media attention brought unwanted scrutiny to both legitimate and illegitimate operations, violating one of the fundamental rules of Cosa Nostra. And that is staying out of the spotlight. You know, people, I have to tell you, there were a lot of guys made guys on the line that were picketing because Joe Colombo wanted them there. They were upset, you know, guys that might have been unknown. They became known by being on the line. The FBI was recording everything, taking photographs.

You know how upset the FBI was. They would throw water balloons down on us, eggs down on us, you know, when we were picketing on the line, I’m telling you, they were upset about this. So did they want to get revenge at some point? You bet they did. And eventually, unfortunately, they did. And this is where things really got interesting. Joe Colombo became more than just the boss. He became a celebrity of sorts. He appeared on television shows like the Joe Franklin Show, a very popular show, late night show at that time. He gave interviews to major newspapers.

In 1971, he even went before the New York state legislature and testified about civil rights, almost unheard of. Behind the scenes, though, the family’s criminal enterprises, they continued. They controlled the unions. We did. We ran gambling operations. We maintained our interest in construction and waste management. Colombo developed a very sophisticated system of buffers between himself and these activities. He used multiple layers of intermediaries. It was smart. We had to do that. During this period, he also expanded the family’s legitimate holdings. They owned restaurants, we had construction companies. We even had a chain of jewelry stores. And when I say we, I wasn’t a maid guy at that time.

I was just becoming a recruit shortly after that. But, you know, it was they at the time. And then it became we. Some of these businesses were actually profitable on their own marriage, just by being a legitimate business. And that showed Colombo’s genuine business talent. But this dual life, it created a lot of tension. Law enforcement, they increased their surveillance on many of us. And some of the other families became concerned because there was a lot of attention that he was drawing. Carlo Gambino in particular, I think he warned Joey about the dangers of his high profile.

And he didn’t warn him or tell him, you know, you’re going to get hit, like some people are saying. He just sat down with him and say, joey, you know, this may not be good for you, because remember, Carlo Gambino, he operated in the shadows. He never wanted anybody to know who he was. He. He ruled his family for 20 years and died in his home. Never even did prison time. He wanted to stay in the background. But, you know, Joe Colombo, he just approached it differently. You know, his media savvy and his public speaking abilities brought a lot of attention to legitimate issues facing Italian Americans at that time, you know, but also his very public profile violated traditional organized crime principles of operating in the shadows.

And it brought a lot of unwanted heat, you know, mainly on himself. You know, in 1971, that marked a very pivotal moment when Joe Colombo’s influence extended all the way to Hollywood. Paramount Pictures was preparing to film the Godfather. And I think I’ve told this story before, and this caught the league’s attention right away. We thought it was going to be another bad movie, you know, depicting us as bad people and, you know, slandering legitimate Italian Americans. So let me tell you something about this situation that most people don’t know. It wasn’t just about the movie.

It was about power, respect, and changing how Italian Americans were portrayed in entertainment. The initial conflict started when word got out about the film’s production. The League immediately began applying pressure, organizing boycotts. I remember I was demonstrating. We were demonstrating at Paramount’s New York offices. Joe Colombo ordered us all there. And they were concerned, and rightfully so, from their perspective, about another Hollywood production, stereotyping Italian Americans. We had every right to think that they were stereotyping us as criminals. And then what happens? Al Ruddy comes in, the producer of the Godfather. This is where things really got interesting.

Instead of hiding behind studio walls, Ruddy did something very unexpected. He reached out directly to Joe Colombo. They arranged a meeting at the Park Sheridan Hotel. The Park Sheridan is where we had all the meetings for the Italian American Civil Rights League. We used to have one a week. And that was the same place where Albert Anastasia had been killed years earlier. You know, that story. The symbolism wasn’t lost on anyone at the time. Colombo and Ruddy’s negotiations were fascinating. Colombo didn’t demand that the movie be stopped. He was smarter than that. Instead, he had specific requests.

Demands, I would say, remove the words Mafia and Cosa Nostra from the script. It was originally in the script. Both of those words ensure that the film portrayed Italian American family values positively and higher League members, members as extras and technical advisors. Now, you have to say one thing. The family was shown in a good light. Everybody said, wow, the family values there, you know, the integrity that. That Don Corleone had later. Michael Corleone, yes, it was a mob family. We get to all of that. But you gotta admit, that film was romanticized in a great degree.

And it was because of Joe Colombo’s efforts. Rudy agreed to these terms, and something remarkable, really remarkable happened. Colombo became actually an unofficial consultant to the film, and the League supported it. We even held a benefit premiere of the movie. I remember that all the proceeds went to funding a hospital fund that we had. This was Colombo at his diplomatic best, turning a potential real confrontation into a collaboration that served his community’s interest and really served our purpose as well. People loved the Godfather. I remember mob guys, when the movie came out, they walked differently down the street.

They dressed differently. They had. They held their heads differently. It really had an impact even on the guys on the street, you know, But Italian Americans, they, they enjoyed it. It was one of the greatest films of all time, let’s face it. What many people didn’t realize was that this intervention actually helped the film. The attention brought publicity and the authenticity added by having real Italian Americans involved enhanced the movie’s credibility. We had some guys, Lenny Montana, he was one of us. He played Luca Bradi. Couple of the guys, you know, they were one of us, but they were authentic.

The Godfather went on to become one of the greatest films ever made. And ironically, its success helped cement many of the very stereotypes that Colombo had fought against. It did. It had a, you know, a reverse effect in many ways. But you got to admit Columbo showed remarkable diplomatic skills, transforming potential conflict into mutual benefit through negotiation rather than force. Colombo’s approach demonstrated how activism could achieve practical results through dialogue rather than just confrontation. What was he going to do? Threaten Paramount? Threaten the studios? Close it down would have been huge. It would have been a mess.

He knew there was only one way to handle it and he handled it the right way. Modern leaders can really learn from his ability to find a win win solution in seemingly adversarial situation. Use influence constructively rather than destructively. Transform opposition into collaboration. Protect your community interests while allowing progress. This is what you got to know how to do. The agreement, though, you know, it has bad points too. It ultimately contributed to glamorizing and mythologizing the very lifestyle Colombo claimed to be fighting against against. It did that come on, you know, it romanticized our life in a big way, you know, and this highlights the complex nature, think about it, of compromise and unintended consequences.

When you’re trying to balance, you know, legitimate and illegitimate, it’s, it’s a tough compromise at times. Lessons that you can learn from this. Understanding the long term impact of short term victories, recognizing how success can sometimes undermine success, the dangers of compromising principles for practical gains, and how public perception can be influenced in unexpected ways. The Godfather controversy showed both Colombo’s diplomatic genius. It also showed the contradictions that are inherent in his position. When you’re a boss, you got a lot of contradictions in how you have to deal with things. You got to navigate the legitimate world, the political world, the street life.

It’s tough. It’s not an easy job. I think if I was offered that position, I wouldn’t have taken it. It was tough. And it’s a full time job and you’re really on front street whether you like it or not. Especially after the days of Rico. That was it. He was a Man fighting against Italian American stereotypes while embodying aspects of those very stereotypes. He was a complexity that would define much of his public life. And then came a really, you know, fateful day, I would have to say, a day that I’ll never forget. That was June 28, 1971.

It was the second Italian Unity day, Italian American Civil Rights Day at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. The temperature was in the mid-70s. I remember the crowd was. Was estimated over 50,000. I can say it was much more than that. The moon. We were ecstatic. It was celebratory. Everybody was happy that day, but nobody knew then. But this would be Joe Colombo’s last public appearance. As he made his way through the crowd, a young black man named Jerome Johnson approached him. And Johnson had credentials as a photographer from a publication. I think they called it the Negro News.

What happened next changed everything. Three shots rang out. It hit Colombo in the head and in the neck. And people, I gotta tell you, I was just with him on the stage. We had to walk up on the stage, and he had called me over, and when I got there, he gave me some brochures, and he said, I want you to go by Central park and hand them out to everybody. And they were printed brochures about what we were doing there at the league. He says, hand them out to everybody. And I said, okay, Joe. And I was a captain in a league.

It wasn’t a captain in a family, a captain in a league. I had earned my button because I was working tirelessly. I thought I was going to help my father, you know, to that point, I was a little disappointed because I felt they weren’t doing enough for my dad. But I was patient. I knew time would come. I saw the league was growing, and I said, you know what? There will be powers in numbers. And maybe as this league grew more powerful, it would really be a help to my dad. And then as I turned to walk away, Joey grabbed me for a second and he said, this league is going to help your father get out of prison.

And, man, I was ecstatic. It was like, wow, Joey. I said, thank you, Joey. This was what I wanted to hear. And I started walking to the steps that led down, back into, you know, the street. And boom. I heard the shots ring out. And then I heard somebody yell out, joey’s been hit. Joey was been hit. And I turned around. It was just chaos. And I was concerned because my girlfriend was there and my sister was there that day. And I was running around looking for them. I said, where are they? I Lost them in the crowd.

I couldn’t find them. And it was just chaos. It took me hours before I was able to find them, because we didn’t have cell phones or anything, any way to, you know, communicate at that point. And I was just looking, running. People were wondering, more shots were gonna. It was chaos. And in the chaos that followed, Johnson himself was killed. They shot him that day. To this day, questions remain about who really ordered the hit. Some blamed Joey Gallo, others suggested Carlo Gambino. No, it wasn’t Carlo Gambino. They said he finally lost patience with Colombo’s high profile activities.

Never would Carlo Gambino have done that in that setting. He would have called Joey into a room and shot him there. Why are you going to make a scene like that? That was ridiculous. It was crazy. It would never have been Carlo Gambino. So that’s preposterous, even on its face. It’s not the way he would do something like that. And if he did something like that, he would be, you know, dumbing his nose in the face of Italian Americans who were celebrating a day that day. Absolutely not Carlo Gambino. And I don’t believe it was Joey Gallo either.

I believe it was the FBI. They just had it. You know, how did this guy get a press pass like that? It didn’t make sense. They might have paid. This guy thought he would get a lot of money, he would get locked up, and eventually they let him go free, put him in the program, whatever, give him a new identity. It points to the FBI and people remember, CIA had involvement with the Mafia. CIA involved in what? Killing jfk. I think that’s pretty clear at this point. So don’t think the government would stoop to that, you know, level.

But believe me, they would. You know, in the shooting, unfortunately left Joey paralyzed, semi conscious. He never fully recovered. He spent, I think, the next seven, close to eight years and pretty much a vegetative state. He had an estate in Blooming Grove, New York. They still have that. It was sad, man. I was. I was like everybody else, man. I was just devastated. I really was. And it was for me, the second real shift show of violence that I had seen on somebody that was very close to me. There was one person before that, but Joey, who I really loved and respected, very close to me.

And that was just a horrible day. Until the very end, I would say he stood by his principles. He fought for Italian American rights regardless of the personal risk. And he knew he had risk. There’s no question about it. He was told he knew he was facing risks. You know, kind of like President Trump. You know, he knows that anything could happen, but he has principle. Whether you like it or not, he says, hey, I’m gonna do this. Joe Colombo was the same way. He was kind of stubborn in that regard, maintaining such a high profile despite, you know, warnings that would ultimately lead to his downfall.

And when I say warnings, people probably said, joey, you’re getting too out there. This isn’t good. You know, you’re a mob boss. This is gonna come back and haunt you. Maybe he didn’t think in a way that it happened. Maybe he just figured, hey, you know, they’re gonna try to indict me on this. But I have the League behind me. It’s strong enough to help me, you know, like I said, he lived for another seven years after the shooting, never regained consciousness. He passed away May 22, 1978. He was at St. Luke’s Hospital in Newberg, New York.

In the League, he eventually. He found it eventually dissolved. But the question he raised about discrimination and stereotyping, it’s still relevant today, that didn’t go away. His family continued to face challenges. I know that, you know, Anthony and Joey Jr. His two sons, they faced challenges. Christopher, his son, that I’m close with now, they face challenges. Unfortunately, this stuff goes on to the family. Joey Jr. Would later be convicted on racketeering charges. The Colombo family would go through periods of violent internal conflict in the decades that followed his death. I know I was part of that.

But his impact on both the organized crime and Italian American civil rights, it can’t be denied. He was the first to publicly challenge the FBI’s targeting of Italian Americans. And many of the changes he fought for in terms of ethnic stereotyping, they did take hold. There’s no doubt. You see, Joe Colombo was more than just another boss. He represented a turning point, the moment when the old world tried to step into the light. For better or for worse, his story shows both the possibilities and the limitations of trying to bridge two very different worlds. I said, that’s very difficult, no matter who you are.

Very difficult. Joey did it to the best, probably to the best that anybody could do it, but it’s very difficult. You know, his efforts led to lasting changes in how Italian Americans were portrayed in media and treated by law enforcement. No doubt about that. But the violent aftermath of his shooting led to. We had a lot of years of instability and conflict within the family that he worked so hard to build. I know people. I was part of that. We had three Wars. During my lifetime in the Colombo family, we had a lot of internal strife.

We were known as a violent family just the way it was. And it. It intensified after Joe Colombo was. Was shot. You know, let me share some wisdom that we can take from Joe Colombo’s story. At least that I believe is wisdom. And it’s both the good and the cautionary, some positive lessons that I believe we can all get. Stand up for your beliefs. Columbo showed that, you know, fighting discrimination and stereotypes takes courage. Whether you agree with his methods or not, standing up for your community is admirable. It really is. And let me tell you something, people.

The sin of omission is just as serious as the sin of commission, and sometimes even worse. When you know there’s a wrong being done and you’re doing nothing and you’re in a position to do something about it, well, that’s sinful, that’s bad, that’s wrong. That’s cowardice, in my view. And it’s just as bad or even worse when you have a platform that can effectuate good and positive change and you do nothing and you just let things go, that’s cowardice, and it’s just as bad as the sin of commission, committing a bad act. So remember that the power of unity.

You know, the League demonstrated how organizing and bringing people together can create real change and people. That’s what I’m trying to do in my community. Yeah, I’m going to keep talking, talking about it, because I want to bring back a sense of community, you know, I really do. That’s what’s lacking in our country, a sense of community, bringing people together, people working together, people helping one another, neighborhoods getting together like it was in my day when I grew up. It’s important. Michaelfrancie.com Family again. Go in and take a look. I think it could benefit you, no doubt.

You know, education matters. Colombo understood that knowledge and strategy were as important as strength. You know, it’s not always about violence. Family first. Despite everything, he always emphasized the importance of family. He was a good family man, and he was great in his community. You know, business innovation, his ability to see opportunities in legitimate business. What did that show? It showed the importance of diversification and adaptation. You got to know how to diversify, and you got to know how to adapt. Community involvement. The League’s community service programs, they demonstrated the positive impact one guy can have through organized civic action.

No doubt. Now, there’s some other lessons that you should learn, too. Pride. It can be very dangerous sometimes stepping too Far into the spotlight have severe consequences. I think we load we learned that by what happened with Joann. Balance is very crucial. Walking between different worlds requires really careful consideration. You got to know what you’re doing and you got to know how to navigate it because you’re going to be faced with a lot of issues. Changes take time. Fighting stereotypes and discriminations, it’s a long term battle and it requires patience and persistence. A lot of patience and persistence.

A lot of people don’t have consider the cost. Always think about what are the ramifications. Success in one area might come at a very heavy price in another. Are you willing to face that, take that risk, take that chance? It’s a consideration. You gotta have trust carefully in any endeavor. Know who your real allies are and who your real enemies are. And people. Legacy matters. Your actions affect not just you, remember that, but future generations of your family and your community. Your legacy matters. Joe Colombo’s story is a reminder that life isn’t black and white. It’s filled with contradictions.

It’s filled with choices and consequences. He was a man who tried to change the narrative. He tried to fight stereotypes, but he couldn’t escape the very world that defined him. As someone who walked away from that life myself, I can tell you Joe Colombo’s story teaches us that every choice we make, it shapes not just our future, but the future of those around us. You know, what we do affects the people that we love and people that we care about. There’s no question about that. My choice to leave that life was really to have a life with my family.

That’s what it was all about. You know, And Joey’s legacy reminds us that change is possible. But the path we choose to create that change, that’s what truly matters. And believe me, I really thought hard about that in my own life. When I decided to walk away from that life, I knew there was going to be consequences. And I had to say to myself, either I can face these consequences or and succeed in what I’m doing or I can’t. And if I thought I couldn’t, there would have been a different outcome to this. I probably wouldn’t have walked away, but I thought I could.

And that’s what happened. So again, Joe Colombo was somebody very dear to me. I hope you enjoy this and I hope you put it in right perspective. Yeah, he was a mob guy. Yes, he was a criminal like me and like all the others. But there’s a good side to almost everybody in life. If I had to judge Joe Colombo, I would say he was a good man. Again, why do good people do bad things? Age old question. But I hope you enjoyed this people. It was something very dear to me. I wanted to get it out in the beginning and stay tuned for the next one.

The next one is going to be somebody that you’re going to really like. Very well known. But he played a major, major part in putting organized crime, Mafia, Cosa Nostra together in this country. I think I might have given it away. But stay tuned. And people, how do I always leave you the same way? Never going to change. Okay. Be safe, be what? Healthy, of course. And yes, God bless each and every one of you. God bless your families, your friends, your neighborhoods and communities. God bless this country that we all love. God bless America. And yes people, I’ll see you next time.

Take good care. Sa.
[tr:tra].