Editing Joseph Colombo (section)

{{Short description|Former American mob boss (1923–1978)}}
{{redirect|Joe Colombo|the Italian industrial designer with this name|Joe Colombo (designer)|other uses|Joe Colombo (disambiguation)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox criminal
|image=Josephcolombo.jpg
|caption=Colombo's March 6, 1970 mugshot
|birth_name=Joseph Anthony Colombo
|birth_date={{Birth date|1923|06|16|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[New York City]], U.S.<!--No boroughs/neighborhoods, just cities per format.-->
|death_date={{Death date and age|1978|5|22|1923|06|16|mf=y}}
|death_place=[[Newburgh, New York]], U.S.
|allegiance = [[Colombo crime family]]<br />[[Italian-American Civil Rights League]]
|resting_place=[[St. John's Cemetery, Queens]]
|occupation=[[Crime boss]]
|predecessor=[[Joseph Magliocco]]
|successor=[[Carmine Persico]]
|children=5
|spouse={{marriage|Lucille Faiello|1944}}
|conviction=[[Contempt of court]] (1966)
|penalty=30 days in prison
}}

'''Joseph Anthony Colombo Sr.''' ({{IPA|it|koˈlombo|lang}}; June 16, 1923 &ndash; May 22, 1978) was the boss of the [[Colombo crime family]], one of the [[Five Families]] of the [[American Mafia]] in New York City.

Colombo was born in New York City, where his father was an early member of what was then the Profaci crime family. In 1961, the First Colombo War unfolded, instigated by the kidnapping of four high-ranking members in the Profaci family by [[Joe Gallo]]. Later that year, Gallo was imprisoned, and in 1962, family leader [[Joe Profaci]] died of cancer. In 1963, [[Bonanno crime family]] boss, [[Joseph Bonanno]] made plans with [[Joseph Magliocco]] to assassinate several rivals on [[The Commission (mafia)|The Commission]]. Magliocco gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Colombo, who revealed the plot to its targets. The Commission spared Magliocco's life but forced him into retirement, while Bonanno fled to Canada. As a reward for turning on his boss, Colombo was awarded the Profaci family. His only prison term would come in 1966, when Colombo was sentenced to 30 days in prison for [[contempt of court]] by refusing to answer questions from a grand jury about his financial affairs.

In 1970, Colombo created the [[Italian-American Civil Rights League]]. Later that year, the first Italian Unity Day rally was held in [[Columbus Circle]] to protest the federal persecution of Italians. In 1971, Gallo was released from prison, and Colombo invited him to a peace meeting with an offering of $1,000, which Gallo refused, instigating the Second Colombo War. On June 28, 1971, Colombo was shot three times by Jerome Johnson at the second Italian Unity Day rally in Columbus Circle sponsored by the Italian-American Civil Rights League; Johnson was immediately killed by Colombo's bodyguards. Colombo was paralyzed from the shooting. On May 22, 1978, Colombo died of cardiac arrest that resulted from his injuries.