Giuseppe “Uno-Punzone” Nicholas Gallo, Jr. also known as Joseph Nicholas Gallo (January 8, 1912 – September 1, 1995) was a New York mobster, who allegedly became consigliere

Consigliere

Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...

 of the Gambino crime family

Gambino crime family

The Gambino 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 group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...

.

Biography

He was born on January 8, 1912. He became consigliere

Consigliere

Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...

 of the Gambino crime family

Gambino crime family

The Gambino 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 group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...

 during the reigns of Carlo Gambino

Carlo Gambino

"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...

, Paul Castellano

Paul Castellano

Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...

 and for a short time, 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...

. He was the father of Gambino crime family associate Joseph C. Gallo. After Gotti took control of the family, he removed Gallo as consigliere and replaced him with Sammy "The Bull" Gravano

Sammy Gravano

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...

, who later became the underboss of the family and a government informant. Gallo was convicted of RICO

RICO

-Music:*Rico , a 2000 album by Matt Bianco*"Rico" , a 1998 song the Matthew Good Band from the album Underdogs*Rico International, a manufacturer of reeds, mouthpieces, and woodwind accessories...

 charges that included bribery in late 1987, along with Joseph Armone

Joseph Armone

Joseph "Piney" Armone was a gangster in the Gambino crime family from 1986 to 1990.-Biography:Born on the Upper East Side, Manhattan, Armone earned his nickname "Piney" in the 1930s by extorting money from Christmas tree vendors. He was the younger brother of mobster Stephen Armone, a Gambino...

, then the Gambino underboss

Underboss

Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...

.

In February 1988, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison

Federal prison

Federal prisons are run by national governments in countries where subdivisions of the country also operate prisons.In the United States federal prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In Canada the Correctional Service of Canada operates federal prisons. Prison sentences in these...

, and ordered to pay fines totaling $380,000. He became the oldest inmate in federal custody. He was released shortly before his death in 1995.

Gallo died of natural causes in Astoria

Astoria, Queens

Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...

, 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....

.

Further reading

• Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
• Maas, Peter. Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-06-093096-9
• Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
• Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
• Willis, Clint (ed.) Wise Guys: Stories of Mobsters from Jersey to Vegas. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003. ISBN 1-56025-498-X