:Joe Esposito (politician)
{{Short description|Chicago mobster and politician (1871–1928)}}
{{About|the corrupt Chicago politician|other people|Joe Esposito (disambiguation){{!}}Joe Esposito}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Joe Esposito
| birth_name = Giuseppe Esposito
| office = Chicago, Illinois, Nineteenth Ward, Alderman
| term_start = 1920
| term_end = 1928
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|10|6}}
| birth_place = Acerra, Campania, Italy
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1928|3|21|1871|11|6}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| nationality = American
| nickname = Diamond Joe
| party = Republican
| occupation = Politician, racketeer, bootlegger}}
Joseph Esposito (born Giuseppe Esposito, {{IPA|it|dʒuˈzɛppe eˈspɔːzito}}, October 6, 1871[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9396-7RQN-Q?i=188&wc=M615-CZS%3A50794101&cc=1482817 Birth certificate] – March 21, 1928) was an American politician best known for his involvement in bootlegging, extortion, prostitution, and labor racketeering in Chicago, Illinois, during the Prohibition era.{{Cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl |title=The encyclopedia of American crime |date=2001 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=0-8160-4040-0 |edition=2nd |location=New York |oclc=42882761}}{{Citation |last=Mahan |first=Sue |title=Organized Crime—United States |entry=Organized Crime—United States |doi=10.4135/9781412950664.n293 |editor=David Levinson |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment |year=2002 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-0-7619-2258-2}}
Early life
Esposito was born on October 6, 1871, in Acerra, Campania, Italy. He immigrated to Illinois and joined one of the street gangs terrorizing Chicago's Little Italy during the early 1900s. When the Volstead Act was enacted and Prohibition in the United States began, Esposito's organization, the 42 Gang, which included Sam "Momo" Giancana and Paul "The Waiter" Ricca, entered into bootlegging. Esposito's early success with the Genna Brothers may have been a factor in the 1920 murder of rival James "Big Jim" Colosimo, a long time racketeer who had been hesitant to begin his own bootlegging operations.
Rise to power and politics
By the early 1920s, Esposito earned another nickname, Diamond Joe, due to his frequent wearing of diamond cufflinks, diamond rings, and other jewelry. Esposito had become a Republican ward boss of the Nineteenth Ward in Chicago. He was one of the earliest Italian Americans elected as aldermen.{{Cite web|title=Part II: Chicago's Unione Siciliana 1920 - A Decade of Slaughter Crime Magazine|url=http://crimemagazine.com/part-ii-chicagos-unione-siciliana-1920-decade-slaughter|access-date=2021-03-21|website=crimemagazine.com}} Esposito provided political protection to the bootlegging gangs of Chicago's Italian communities, including the South Side gang of mob boss Johnny Torrio and the Genna brothers. In May 1921, Esposito famously attended the funeral of his political protégé Antonio D'Andrea. Several years later, Esposito also attended the funeral of another criminal ally, Angelo Genna murdered on May 25, 1925.
Rivalry with Al Capone and death
After Torrio retired, Esposito was a rival of his old gang, now led by Al Capone and known as the Chicago Outfit, and on March 21, 1928, Esposito was attacked and killed in a drive-by shooting on his front steps, with his two nieces right inside the house.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Allswang, John Myers. The Political Behavior of Chicago's Ethnic Groups, 1918-1932. Ayer Publishing, 1980. {{ISBN|0-405-13400-2}}
- Chiocca, Olindo Romeo. Mobsters and Thugs: Quotes from the Underworld. Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2000. {{ISBN|1-55071-104-0}}
- Lashly, Arthur V. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q30EAAAAMAAJ&q=Diamond+Joe+Esposito Illinois Crime Survey]. Chicago: Illinois Association for Criminal Justice and the Chicago Crime Commission, 1929.
- Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter. The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-306-80821-8}}
- Merrinier, James L. Grafters and Goo Goos: Corruption and Reform in Chicago, 1833-2003. Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8093-2571-3}}
- Reppetto, Thomas A. American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2004. {{ISBN|0-8050-7798-7}}
External links
- [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Esposito+&GSfn=Joseph+&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=9504473& Joseph "Diamond Joe" Esposito] at Find A Grave
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Category:American political bosses from Illinois
Category:Politicians from Chicago
Category:American gangsters of Italian descent
Category:People murdered in Chicago
Category:Deaths by firearm in Illinois