Joseph Ianuzzi

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Joseph "Joe Dogs" Ianuzzi (b. 1931) is a former Florida-based associate of the Gambino crime family. He is also a veteran of the Korean War and was honored with two Purple Hearts for his service.

Ianuzzi was a deceptive criminal who befriended mobster Robert DeSimone and pulled off cons and scams. He borrowed money from mobster Tommy Agro and loaned it again at a higher interest rate, thus pocketing the difference.

He went into hiding in Chicago, afraid that Agro would murder him because he wasn't repaying him and was having difficulty collecting from his own debtors. With his money gone, he decided, in 1981, to betray his criminal colleagues by becoming a paid FBI informant.

Agro arranged a meeting with Ianuzzi in Florida, where he and two of his henchmen assaulted and seriously injured Ianuzzi. He was hospitalized, while wiretaps that he helped to place on Agro's telephone conversations, aided the FBI in convicting and imprisoning Agro on charges of attempted murder.

[edit] Operation Home Run

Ianuzzi was being persuaded to open a gambling business using mafia funds, which would serve as a front for money laundering. Ianuzzi consulted the FBI, which agreed he could participate in this criminal enterprise, provided that he accepted an undercover FBI agent named John Bonino as his business partner. This led to the conviction of Robert DeSimone, the brother of Thomas DeSimone.

Bonino passed himself off as a drug dealer named Joe Marino. Although he was suspected of being a law enforcement officer by many mobsters, he was eventually inducted into the mafia and became a Capo in the Gambino crime family.

[edit] Witness Protection Program

After an 18-month surveillance operation, the FBI convicted 12 mobsters. Agro died of cancer in 1987 and Ianuzzi entered the Federal Witness Protection Program.

He appeared on a TV show with David Letterman and although it was cancelled, he was expelled from the Witness Protection Program.

Ianuzzi currently lives in hiding—he has published the book Joe Dogs:The Life and Times of a Mobster.