JOEY A. (GIUSEPPE ANTONIO DOTO) ADONIS - CHECK ENDORSED 06/21/1939 - HFSID 256886

JOEY A. (GIUSEPPE ANTONIO DOTO) ADONIS
The mob leader is paid back the balance of a loan plus interest from a company he later owned.
Check endorsed: "Joseph Doto" on verso, 8¼x3. Cliffside Park, New Jersey, 1939 June 21. Check for $2,813.68 drawn on The Edgewater National Bank signed: "Paul Bonadio" for the "Automotive Conveying Co. of New Jersey". Noted at left: "Bal. Loan 2717.92. Int. to 6/21/39 95.76. (Total) 2813.68". Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in 1902. In 1927, with other underworld figures, he formed the Seven Group to control the illicit alcohol trade. Called the "Broadway Mob", they controlled the flow of bootleg liquor to the top clubs in Manhattan. In 1944, Joe Adonis relocated his activities to New Jersey and used as his headquarters Duke's Bar and Grill in Cliffside Park, Palisades, New Jersey. In the 1940s, Duke's restaurant was the meeting place for the Bosses, including Adonis, Albert Anastasia, Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky. Adonis was also involved in controlling gambling in sections of New York and New Jersey. Joe Adonis later became the owner of the Automotive Conveying Company of New Jersey in Cliffside Park. The company had more than 100 tractor trailer units hauling new cars from the Mahwah and Edgewater plants of the Ford Motor Co. to dealers in 14 states. One can only speculate how he became the owner; this check may be a clue. In 1951, he pleaded guilty to violating New Jersey's gambling laws and served a two-year prison term. Rather than encounter New York's indictment against him for violating its state gambling laws, as well as perjury charges brought against him by the U.S. Government concerning his citizenship, he accepted deportation to Milan, Italy, where he died of natural causes in 1972. Cancellation holes and bank stamping, not at signature. Lightly creased and soiled. Diagonal crease touches the "t" in Doto.