Joseph Lanza
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Joseph Lanza | |
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NYPD mugshot of Joseph Lanza | |
Born | 1904 |
Died | October 11, 1968 (aged 63–64) |
Other names | Socks |
Allegiance | Genovese crime family |
Criminal charge | Labor racketeering (1938), extortion |
Penalty | Extortion (7.5 - 10 years imprisonment) |
Joseph A. "Socks" Lanza (1904 – October 11, 1968) was a New York labor
Biography
Born in Palermo, Sicily, Lanza immigrated to the United States and settled in New York working as a handler in Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market. Lanza soon became involved in labor union activity and, by 1923, had become an organizer for the United Seafood Workers union (USW). It was during this time that Lanza had become involved in organized crime, eventually becoming a member of the Luciano (and later the Genovese) crime family. As head of the Local 359 USW, Lanza threatened wholesalers with delays in loading and unloading perishable goods resulting in profits of $20 million from the Fulton Fish Market alone. He is the father of Colombo crime family mob associate Harry Lanza born May 4, 1950, who died in 2007 in Hyde Park, New York.
Although convicted of labor racketeering in 1938, Lanza became an important figure in safeguarding
Although Lanza had helped secure the New York waterfront, he was convicted of extortion the following year and sentenced from 7½ to 10 years imprisonment. Upon his release in 1950, Lanza resumed his leadership role in the Fulton Fish Market and, despite a 1957 arrest for parole violation; he maintained control of the area until his death on October 11, 1968.
See also
Further reading
- Block, Alan A. "A Modern Marriage of Convenience: Organized Crime and U.S. Intelligence," in Organized Crime: A Global Perspective, ed. Robert J. Kelly, 1986.
References
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3