Giovanni Ignazio "John" Dioguardi ( , ; April 29, 1914 – January 12, 1979), known as Johnny Dio, was an American organized crime figure and a labor racketeer. He is known for being involved in the acid attack which led to the blinding of newspaper columnist Victor Riesel,Frankel, Max. "Johnny Dio and 4 Others Held As Masterminds in Riesel Attack." New York Times. August 29, 1956. and for his role in creating fake labor union locals to help Jimmy Hoffa become General President of the Teamsters.Sloane, Arthur A. Hoffa. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1991.
Childhood and early criminal career John Dioguardi was born on April 29, 1914, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, and brought up on Forsyth Street in Little Italy, to Giovanni B. Dioguardi and Rose Plumeri, both immigrants from Baucina, in the Province of Palermo, Sicily.Kihss, Peter. "John (Johnny Dio) Dioguardi, 64, A Leader In Organized Crime, Dies." New York Times. January 16, 1979. He was the eldest of three brothers, including Thomas (Tommy Dio) and Frank J. (Frankie Dio) Dioguardi.Lupsha, Peter A. "Individual Choice, Material Culture, and Organized Crime." Criminology. 19:1 (March 2006).Casillo, Robert. Gangster Priest: The Italian American Cinema of Martin Scorsese. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. "Stupefying Sam." Time. December 31, 1965; Kennedy, Robert F. The Enemy Within: The McClellan Committee's Crusade Against Jimmy Hoffa and Corrupt Labor Unions. Revised and reissued. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1994. ; Scott, Peter Dale. Deep Politics and the Death of JFK. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1996. ; "Dio Given Two-Year Term For Mortgage Kickback." New York Times. April 28, 1971. His father was murdered in August 1930 in what police called a mob-related execution."Murder in Brooklyn Is Laid to Gangsters." New York Times. August 5, 1930. Dioguardi's uncle, James "Jimmy Doyle" Plumeri, was a member of the gang run by Albert MarinelliMarinelli was the county clerk of New York County and an important leader in the Tammany Hall Democratic Party political machine. See: Block, Alan A. East Side, West Side: Organizing Crime in New York, 1930-1950. New York: Transaction Publishers, 1983. ; Walker, Stanley. Dewey - An American of This Century. Cookhill, Alcester, Warwickshire, England: Read Country Books, 2007. . and his patron, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, head of the rapidly forming Luciano Crime Family.Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. ; Nash, Robert Jay. World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1993. . Dioguardi was introduced to organized crime at the age of 15 by his uncle."Dewey to Tell How Thugs Went Scot-Free For Years." New York Times. October 8, 1937. At the time, labor racketeering in the garment district was controlled by Luciano and Tommaso "Tommy" Gagliano, head of the Gagliano Crime Family. Plumeri, John Dioguardi, and brother Tommy were working for both gangs.Fitch, Robert. Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America's Promise. New York: PublicAffairs, 2006. He also associated with hitmen and labor racketeers Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro."No Ordinary Hoodlum." New York Times. August 30, 1956.
With Plumeri and another gangster, Dominick Didato, Dioguardi established and ran a protection racket in New York City's garment district. He was arrested several times between 1926 and 1937, but never brought to trial."Trucking Racket Brings 3 Arrests." New York Times. May 11, 1933; "Stench Bomber Gets Jail Term." New York Times. June 18, 1935. For a time in 1934, Dioguardi was executive secretary of the Allied Truckmen's Mutual Association, an employer association, and represented the employers during a strike by 1,150 Teamsters in September 1934."1,150 Truck Drivers Go Out On Strike Here." New York Times. September 2, 1934. In March 1937, Dioguardi was arrested on charges of extortion, conspiracy, and racketeering, He pleaded guilty and received a three-year prison term in Sing Sing."2 Seized in Drive on Truck Racket." New York Times. March 20, 1937; "Truck Racket Case of 1933 Is Revived." New York Times. March 24, 1937; "Cloak Executive Seized in Racket." New York Times. April 17, 1937; "2 Reindicted in Racket." New York Times. May 5, 1937; "Two Go On Trial In Truck Racket." New York Times. June 3, 1937; "$500 A Month Paid to Protect Trucks." New York Times. June 9, 1937; "Truck Racketeers Admit All Charges." New York Times. June 11, 1937; "2 Sentenced in Truck Case." New York Times. July 29, 1937.
After his release from prison, Dioguardi moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he established a dress manufacturing plant. He later sold the plant (taking a $11,200 bribe to ensure that it remained non-union before he sold it),"Tax Evasion Laid to Union Official." New York Times. April 28, 1953. and set up a dress wholesaler operation in New York City. Dioguardi also dabbled in stock investing, real estate, and trucking.
Dioguardi later returned to New York to live again on Forsyth Street. He married Anne (; 1913–1989), and had two sons, Philip and Dominick, and a daughter, Rosemary, who died in infancy.Kwitny, Jonathan. "Steinman." In Shaking the Foundations: 200 Years of Investigative Journalism in America. Bruce Shapiro, ed. New York: Nation Books, 2003. Philip ("Fat Philly") and Dominick later became soldiers in the ColomboU.S. Attorney Southern District of New York. "Two Sons of Late Mafia Boss, Joseph Colombo, Sr., and 29 Others Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges." Press release. March 30, 2004. and Lucchese crime families, respectively.
Labor racketeering in the 1950s In 1950, Dioguardi returned to labor racketeering."Extortion Is Laid to Two Union Men." New York Times. July 12, 1952. He was appointed Regional Director of the United Auto Workers-AFL (UAW-AFL),The United Auto Workers-AFL should not be confused with the United Auto Workers. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) began organizing workers in the automobile manufacturing industry in large numbers into directly affiliated local unions after the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933. In May 1935, the AFL merged these unions and created a new, autonomous international union, the United Auto Workers (UAW). In November 1935, several AFL unions, including the UAW, formed the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO). The AFL denounced the CIO as a dual union, and ejected these unions (including the UAW) in September 1936. The AFL then created the UAW-AFL to compete with the UAW in organizing auto workers. Most of the UAW-AFL's organizing efforts, however, were in industries unrelated to automobile manufacturing. When the AFL and CIO merged in 1955, the UAW-AFL changed its name to the Allied Industrial Workers of America. See: Phelan, Craig. William Green: Biography of a Labor Leader. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1989. ; Barnard, John. American Vanguard: The United Auto Workers During the Reuther Years, 1935-1970. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2004. ; Lichtenstein, Nelson. The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit: Walter Reuther and the Fate of American Labor. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1995. ; Robert H. The CIO, 1935-1955. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. ; Franklin, Stephen. Three Strikes: Labor's Heartland Losses and What They Mean for Working Americans. New York: Guilford Press, 2002. . and received 12 charters for paper locals in the garment industry.A "paper local" is a local union, chartered by an international union or self-chartered, established for the purposes of fraud. It may have no members; the "members" may be relatives or individuals involved in organized crime rather than workers; or the union may claim to represent workers but in fact no relationship has been established. The holder of the charter for the paper local charter often enters into a sweetheart contract with an employer, or uses it as extortion (threatening to unionize the workers unless he receives a payoff). Paper locals are denounced by the AFL-CIO Code of Ethical Practices. See: Doherty, Robert Emmett. Industrial and Labor Relations Terms: A Glossary. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1989. ; "The Conglomerate of Crime." Time. August 22, 1969. Criminals formed the membership of the paper locals, and Dioguardi demanded money from employers who wished to remain union-free and extorted cash from unionized employers who wished to avoid strikes and other labor troubles. Dioguardi was arrested for extortion in July 1952."2 Union Men Held in Extortion Plot." New York Times. July 11, 1952; "A.F.L. Unit Hunts Union Racketeers." New York Times. July 15, 1952; Levey, Stanley. "A.F.L. Opens Drive to Bar Gangsters From Union Rolls." New York Times. August 16, 1952; Raskin, A.H. "A.F.L. Pushes Drive to Oust Gangsters." New York Times. September 15, 1952. Meanwhile, New York state officials charged Dioguardi with tax evasion (see below). Although Dioguardi was never convicted for this labor racketeering incident, he was removed from his post in February 1953 by the UAW-AFL and ejected from the union in April 1954."Officials Ousted in Union Scandal." New York Times. February 19, 1953; "Union to Wipe Out Local in Scandal." New York Times. February 21, 1953; "A.F.L. Auto Leaders Reinstate 4 Locals." New York Times. May 7, 1954; "Union Head Quits After 'Clearance'." New York Times. September 9, 1954.Levey, Stanley. "Jailed Union Boss Is Ousted By A.F.L." New York Times. April 24, 1954.
In the midst of the 1952-54 labor racketeering scandal, Dioguardi was charged with tax evasion. New York state tax officials charged that Dioguardi had taken a bribe when selling his Pennsylvania dress factory, and failed to report the bribe as income. Dioguardi denied the charge, but he was found guilty in March 1954 and sentenced to 60 days in prison."Johnnie Dio Denies Tax Guilt." New York Times. May 12, 1953; "Union Aide Sentenced." New York Times. March 27, 1954. This conviction, rather than the allegations of labor racketeering, was the basis used to remove him from his UAW-AFL position.
Teamsters paper locals scandal