Joseph DiCarlo (Nov. 1, 1899, - Oct. 11, 1980)


Joseph DiCarlo was once known as "the Al Capone of Buffalo" and, in 1932, Buffalo Police Commission Austin Roche labeled him "Public Enemy No. 1."

He was born in Vallelunga Sicily in 1899 to Giuseppe and Vincenza Grasso DiCarlo. He and his family entered the U.S. in 1905-06, settling first in New York City before moving on to Buffalo. There his father was the region's first known Sicilian underworld boss from 1908 to his death in 1922.

DiCarlo, still young and irresponsible at the time of his father's death, was rejected as heir to his father's criminal empire. After spending troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo and his underlings wandered, seeking their fortunes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida.

DiCarlo returned home to advise and lead a Buffalo-based insurrection against Magaddino and establish an independent Buffalo Crime Family led by the DiCarlo-Pieri family.

After reigning as consigliere of that organization for more than a decade, DiCarlo died of natural causes in 1980.

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