Charles Gioe

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Charles "Cherry Nose" Gioe (d. August 18, 1954) was a lieutenant in the Chicago Outfit criminal organization and a partner in the Hollywood extortion scandals of the 1930's.

Gioe became a high ranking lieutenant for the Outfit, specializing in extortion and blackmail, under Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti after Al Capone's 1931 tax evasion conviction. In 1936, Gioe went to Des Moines, Iowa to expand syndicate operations. He eventually returned to Chicago, leaving underboss Louis "Cock-Eyed Louie" Fratto in control of the Des Moines operations. During the mid-1930s, Gioe, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca and Louis "Little New York" Campagna, began financially supporting extortion operations by Willie Morris Bioff and George Browne against Hollywood movie studios. In exchange for annual payoffs to the Outfit, the mob-controlled projectionist unions would refrain from labor strikes and disruptions.

In the late 1930's, the extortion racket was busted by law enforcement. On March 18, 1943 Goie, Ricca, and Campagna were indicted for extortion; Bioff and Browne agreed to testify against them. On December 31, 1941, Gioe was convicted of extortion and sentenced to ten years in prison. Gioe was later paroled in 1947, despite protests from Senator Estes Kefauver, along with the other syndicate members where upon his release becoming, second to Ricca and Campagna, as the top Chicago syndicate leader. During the 1950s however, with the death of Campagna in 1952 and Ricca's retirement, Goie became involved in a power struggle with rivals Anthony Accardo and Sam "Momo" Giancana.

On August 18, 1954, Charles Goie was murdered by his former protegee Fratto, supposedly under orders from Giancana.