Joseph Colombo

After receiving immunity, Colombo refused to answer questions from a Kings County grand jury. He was convicted of criminal contempt, sentenced to thirty days and fined $250, then indicted again for refusing to testify. In 1972, the US Supreme Court reversed the New York Court of Appeals' judgment and remanded the case for reconsideration of double jeopardy issues.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is a witness

After his son Joseph Jr. was arrested, Colombo launched the Italian-American Civil Rights League, organised pickets outside the FBI and denounced what he presented as persecution of Italian Americans. The campaign attracted tens of thousands of people and made Colombo an unusual media figure for an alleged Mafia boss.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Colombo's League campaigned against production of The Godfather amid location difficulties, union tensions and reported publicity harassment described by TIME. Producer Albert Ruddy negotiated with the organisation and agreed, notably, to exclude the expressions 'Mafia' and 'Cosa Nostra'; individuals associated with the League were also hired.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Colombo and the Italian-American Civil Rights League publicly announced an alliance with Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League. Kahane subsequently stated that Colombo had provided $45,000 bail after his federal indictment for a firearms law conspiracy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A jury found Colombo guilty of two counts of perjury involving false statements in his application for a property salesperson's licence. He received concurrent sentences of one to two-and-a-half years. The state then moved to revoke his licence, initiating administrative and judicial litigation.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Accused

A federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted Colombo and approximately thirty others for gambling-related violations, in an investigation described in the Congressional Record as relying on court-authorised wiretaps.

Attribution

Accused

At the time of his growing public prominence and the June 1971 shooting, Colombo also faced a federal tax fraud case. TIME described him as still awaiting trial on these allegations.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused

According to historical Mafia accounts, Colombo disclosed to the intended targets an assassination plot associated with Joseph Bonanno and Joseph Magliocco. Following Magliocco's fall, authorities identified Colombo as the new boss of the former Profaci family, which subsequently took his name.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

TIME reported that, before his national prominence, Colombo had been arrested at least twelve times and had already received three convictions for gambling offences. This history later became central to his perjury conviction involving a property licence application.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused