Joey Ippolito

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph "Joey" Ippolito, Jr. Born May 22, 1950 was a drug smuggler and distributor known for his connections to celebrities and organized crime figures like Anthony "the Animal" Fiato and Mike Rizzitello His father, Joseph Ippolito, Sr., was employed by Meyer Lansky and Sam “the Plumber” DeCalvacante. Joey has 8 brothers and sisters.

Joey Ippolito was a former world champion offshore powerboat racer. He lived in the same high-security subdivision as Meyer Lansky. In the early ‘80s, Joey and a dozen other marijuana smugglers were arrested in Long Island, caught with eight tons of cannabis. After completing a 40-month prison sentence, he moved to California in 1988. There he opened Cent’Anni, an Italian restaurant in Malibu, and distributed cocaine in Santa Monica and Brentwood. The restaurant folded in 1991. In 1992, bodybuilder Rod Columbo, one Ippolito’s cocaine distributors, was murdered with three shots to the back of the head in New Jersey. Al Cowlings was Ippolito’s bodyguard and chauffeur. Ippolito was close to Frankie Viserto, a terrorist and gun-runner of the Purple Gang. Ippolito was a regular at Turnberry Island.

Joey Ippolito and Ronnie Lorenzo were both sentenced to ten years in prison for distributing cocaine in Santa Monica and Brentwood. Ronnie Lorenzo was Ippolito’s roommate and a member of the Bonanno crime family. Many charges were filed against Lorenzo, including kidnapping and extortion. Actor James Caan (who had a cocaine habit and was a friend of Joey) offered his home as collateral toward the $2-million bail and appeared as a character witness for his “dear friend”. After eight years in prison, Joey broke parole to visit actor James Caan. Ippolito skirted sentencing, escaped, and became a fugitive in 1994.

Some believe Joey Ippolito hired a hitman who murdered Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, because: Ippolito sold cocaine in Brentwood; Nicole and Ron's friends were buying or selling cocaine (including Faye Resnick); A.C. Cowlings was Ippolito’s bodyguard; Ippolito escaped parole in Florida three weeks before the famous double murder and made numerous calls to O.J. Simpson.

Joseph Ippolito died December, 19 2006 he is survived by his wife, Nicole, and two children.

[edit] Further reading

• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Criminal Activities: south Florida and U.S. Penitentiary, Atlanta, Ga.. 1980. [1]
• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Organized Crime in America: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate. 1984. [2]