Joseph Dippolito

Joseph Dippolito was born on December 28, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York, to Salvatore Charles and Angelina Dippolito. His father was well known as Charlie Dip. During Prohibition, Joseph Dippolito served a one-year prison sentence for illegally transporting liquor. After his release from prison, Joe Dippolito moved from New York to Fontana, near San Bernardino, California, where his parents had moved to. Eventually, after selling diamonds bought during the Great Depression at bargain prices from New York, in Ontario, California, Joe Dippolito and his father Charlie, and other family members, started and owned several successful businesses on Fourth Street, including a liquor and market store, a hotel, and extensive wine vineyards in what is now Rancho Cucamonga. The Dippolitos became prominent and powerful men in the Inland Empire. The Dippolitos were involved in many real estate land deals, and produced various grapes for winemakers in California.

Later, Joe Dippolito proved to be a competent Mafia killer. He was a big, muscular man who Jimmy Fratianno said was "built like a heavyweight wrestler". In September, 1949, Fratianno was ordered by Jack Dragna to set up and kill Mickey Cohen loyalist Frank Niccoli, who was free on bail. Jimmy invited Niccoli to his Westchester home over Labor Day 1949, for a beer. Fratianno initially tried to get Niccoli to end his long time loyalty to mob boss Mickey Cohen. When that effort did not work, Fratianno knew Niccoli would be killed. A few minutes later, "surprised" with a knock at his door, Jimmy answered it. Jimmy invited in his new guest, who was Joe Dip. Leaving the front door part way open, in a friendly voice, Jimmy asked Niccoli, "Have you ever met Joe Dip?" Niccolli said no, and rose up to shake Joe Dip's hand. Dippolito shook Niccoli's hand and then quickly wrapped him in a reverse bear hug. Fratianno and Sam Bruno, who had also rushed into the house, both placed a rope around Niccoli's neck and choked him to death. Afterwards, Fratianno said Dippolito took Niccoli's body, and buried it with a sack of lime in his large wine grape vineyard in what is now Rancho Cucamonga, California. These grape vineyards were a popular place for the L.A. Mafia to bury dead bodies. [1] This method of killing was termed by the Mafia the "Italian rope trick", and a few years later this move was repeated on Louis Strauss ("Russian Louie") in April 1953, with Dippolito holding Strauss in a bear hug, while Fratianno and Frank Bompensiero strangled Strauss with a rope.[2]

In 1952, Dippolito became a made man in the Los Angeles crime family, under L.A. mob boss Jack Dragna. The mob swearing-in ceremony took place at the Dippolito vineyard in Ontario. He was initially a soldier, working in Jimmy Fratianno’s crew. His father Charlie had been inducted into the L.A. family five years earlier. When Nick Licata became boss of the Los Angeles family in 1967, he promoted Dippolito to underboss.

On January 31, 1969, Joe Dippolito was indicted in a Los Angeles court on three counts of perjury for statements he made during a liquor license inquiry on May 16, 1968.[3] He was released on $10,000 bail and scheduled to be arraigned. On May 17, 1969, he was convicted on two of the three perjury charges. On June 10, 1969, Dippolito was sentenced to five years for each charge (10 years total).[4] A $10,000 bond allowed him to remain free pending appeal of his conviction. It was during this time that law enforcement recognized him as the underboss of the Los Angeles family. On April 16, 1971, his sentence was reduced from ten to five years by Judge Warren J. Ferguson, and he started serving his sentence. On December 13, 1971, Dippolito was paroled after serving eight months. Joe Dip was released after San Bernardino mayor Al C. Ballard, Police Chief Louis J. Fortuna, and California Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Katz vouched for Dippolito in glowing letters written in 1969 to a probation officer.[5]

Dippolito died on January 14, 1974, from a heart attack at his daughter Josephine's wedding. He had been in poor health and had been hospitalized about three months earlier because of a heart condition. He was interred at Bellevue Cemetery and Mausoleum in Ontario, California.[6][7]

• Demaris, Ovid (1981), The Last Mafioso: The Treacherous World of Jimmy Fratianno, Bantam Books, ISBN 0-553-20230-8
• Organized Crime: History and Control
• Equalization Board vs. the Estate of Joseph Dippolito, 1983