Joseph Rao

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Joseph "Tough Joey" Rao or Joseph Cangro (1901-) was a New York mobster involved in drug trafficking and an associate of mobster Dutch Schultz who became a policy bank operator and manager of his slot machines in Harlem. One of the early members of Schultz's organization, Rao's criminal records dates back to 1920 which included charges of burglary and felonious assault. A later inmate at Welfare Island during the 1930s, he and Edward Cleary reportedly controlled criminal activity such as smuggling in contraband and narcotics while an inmate [1].

He was the subject of a failed attempt on his life when five children were gunned down, one of which died from his wounds while two others were seriously wounded, as rival gunmen including Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and Frank Giordano shot at Rao leaving the Helmar Social Club on July 28, 1931 [2].

After Schultz's death, he eventually became a high ranking member of the Genovese crime family involved in criminal activities such as narcotics in East Harlem.

He and Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola were later suspects of the 1946 gangland slaying of Joseph Scottoriggio, a Republican election captain who was beaten to death in broad daylight in lower East Harlem, Rao was later placed under a $40,000 bond and held as a material witness.

In November 1950, he and his brother-in-law Joseph "Joe Stretch" Stracci were named during a state investigation into corruption and ties to organized crime, who was later charged by District Attorney Frank Hogan with attending a meeting with Tammany Hall officials in a campaign to remove Francis X. Mancuso, a former General Sessions Court Judge from his post as Democratic leader of the 16th Assembly District.

His son, Bobby Rao, would later become head of the HEREIU International Local 222 labor union.

[edit] Further reading

• Fairchild, Henry Pratt. Survey of Contemporary Sociology. T. Nelson and Sons, 1934.
• MacArthur, John R. The Selling of "Free Trade": NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of American Democracy. New York: Hill and Wang, 2000. ISBN 0-8090-8531-3
• Turkus, Burton B. and Sid Feder. Murder, Inc: The Story of "the Syndicate". New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81288-6
• Valentine, Douglas. The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs. New York: Verso, 2004. ISBN 1-85984-568-1