Joseph Armone
| Joseph Armone | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 13, 1917 New York City, USA |
| Died | February 23, 1992 (aged 74) New York City, New York, USA |
Joseph "Piney" Armone, also known as Shorty, (September 13, 1917 – February 23, 1992) was a gangster in the Gambino crime family who served as underboss.
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, an early member of the Mangano crime family, forerunner of the Gambino family. Armone married Josephine DiQuarto and was the father of two children. Josephine is a relative of Genovese crime family capo Dominick DiQuarto. He is an uncle to Gambino crime family capo Joseph (Joey The Blonde) Giordano. A devoted family man, Joseph Armone stayed away from mistresses and often took his wife out for dinner. Armone and his family lived in Brooklyn.
Armone wore thick glasses and had an arthritic limp in his leg from an ancient gunshot wound. Armone rarely cursed; his speech, while not grammatical, had a high-flown formality once described as "Mob Shakespearean". He believed in omerta, the Cosa Nostra code of silence, was straightforward and direct, and highly trusted in mob circles. Armone was also respectful and polite to any Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents he encountered. Armone's arrest record included robbery, felonious assault, homicide, and narcotics violations.
Armone followed his brother into the Mangano family. By the time Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia took over the family, he had become one of the family's major earners. In 1957, underboss Joseph Biondo allegedly picked Armone and two other family mobsters to kill Anastasia. However, before the attack could take place, Armone was arrested on a narcotics charge and sent to jail. Biondo allegedly replaced Armone with his brother Stephen and the hitmen killed Anastasia. However, other accounts suggest that Profaci crime family capo Joe Gallo and his crew members were responsible for the Anastasia murder.
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