Joseph Massino

Former Bonanno crime family boss Joseph “Big Joey” Massino — the first head of one of New York’s five mob families to ever turn rat — died earlier this month after battling a short illness, He was 80. Massino, who ran the Bonanno family with an iron fist from 1991 to 2003, died at a rehab facility in the New York City area on Sept. 14, 2023. Massino broke the sacred vow of silence and began talking with the feds immediately after he was convicted in 2004. He had been handed a life sentence over the bloodshed, which included the slayings of three rival mob captains and the execution of a mobster who had vouched for FBI undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone, who used the name Donnie Brasco, in the 1980s. Massino, who was born and raised in Queens, entered the organized crime world in the 1970s when he became associated with mobster Philip Rastelli, who eventually became the boss of the Bonanno family. He was named boss of the Bonanno family in 1991 after his predecessor, Rastelli, died. Massino simultaneously ran legitimate businesses — including a Queens sandwich shop, catering companies and an Italian restaurant.