- Joseph Masella
Joseph "Joey O" Masella (d.
October 10 ,1998 ) was a soldier inNew Jersey 'sDeCavalcante crime family and a friend of known mobster Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo.Masella was reputedly a heavy gambler and owed a lot of money to many mobsters, including members of the
Gambino crime family . . Authorities have speculated Masella's possible involvement in the failedBrinks bank robbery of $1.6 million from theWorld Trade Center may have been a possible reason for his killing [http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_132.html] .In October, 1998, Masella received a call from a man named 'Steve'. Steve reportedly wanted to help Masella with his gambling debts and suggested they meet. When Masella arrived at the designated place, he was told instead go to a
golf course parking lot inBrooklyn . When he arrived at the golf course, he was shot several times. Joseph Masella died of his wounds in the hospital soon after that.At the end of 1999, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the DeCavalcante crime family headquarter. Agents were working off information obtained by wire from Ralph Guarino, a DeCavalcante associate. Had Masella lived, he probably would have been indicted on numerous counts ofracketeering . After the FBI raid, a DeCavalcante member was charged in relation to Masella's murder.References
*Smith, Greg B. "Made Men: The True Rise and Fall Story of a New Jersey Mob Family". Berkley, 2003. ISBN 0425185516
External links
* [http://archives.cnn.com/1999/US/12/03/mafia.sweep.01/index.html CNN.com - FBI nabs 40 mobsters in 4-state sweep]
* [http://www.ganglandnews.com/column184.htm This Week in Gang Land: Neither Borrower Nor Lender Be] by Jerry Capeci
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