| rdfs:comment | - Di Giorgio was an early (and possibly the first) Mafia boss of Los Angeles. Born to Filippo and Giuseppa Di Giorgio in Palermo, Sicily, in 1880, he came to the United States around 1904. After a brief stay in New York with his reported cousin, he moved to New Orleans. There, he married Maria Cristoforo April 23, 1909, and joined the community of organized criminals. He was acknowledged as a cousin and a friend to New York City Mafia boss Giuseppe Morello, and with this connection became a leading Black Hander. It is not known when he joined the Honored Society; he may have been a member in Sicily. Using the alias of Joseph Caronia, he was arrested in 1908 for extortion. He was the leader of a Black Hand group that sent an extortion letter demanding money from a leading Italian grocer. He s
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| abstract | - Di Giorgio was an early (and possibly the first) Mafia boss of Los Angeles. Born to Filippo and Giuseppa Di Giorgio in Palermo, Sicily, in 1880, he came to the United States around 1904. After a brief stay in New York with his reported cousin, he moved to New Orleans. There, he married Maria Cristoforo April 23, 1909, and joined the community of organized criminals. He was acknowledged as a cousin and a friend to New York City Mafia boss Giuseppe Morello, and with this connection became a leading Black Hander. It is not known when he joined the Honored Society; he may have been a member in Sicily. Using the alias of Joseph Caronia, he was arrested in 1908 for extortion. He was the leader of a Black Hand group that sent an extortion letter demanding money from a leading Italian grocer. He signed the letter "King of the Mafia." He and his associates were freed after a short stay in jail due to lack of evidence. Further investigation showed that Di Giorgio killed a man, Joseph Campisciano, in self-defense about a year earlier. He had used the name Caronia at that time too. In 1914 he became the owner of a grocery and saloon that was sold to him by the brother of the original proprietor. It had been a successful business and the press did not understand why the owner would sell it. It is likely that the owner, Henry Sciambra, was forced to sell. Sciambra's brother Anthony, the original owner, was murdered in 1912 by an intruder while he was in his home sleeping. Even for a powerful Mafioso, life could be dangerous. Di Giorgio was shot and almost fatally wounded by an assassin on May 13, 1916. He recovered, but an associate who was in the saloon with him did not fare so well and died soon after. One of Di Giorgio's men was captured after he fired at the shooter and was found to have a letter from Frank Sicola of St. Louis. Sicola was a St. Louis Black Hand leader who was shot and killed in 1922. This is evidence of the connections early Mafiosi had, a network that remained unknown to the public until the 1957 Apalachin meeting. Four years later Di Giorgio was alleged to have masterminded a robbery to some acquaintances that led to the death of Dallas Colmes, an Independence restaurant owner, on May 7, 1921. This resulted in the infamous hanging of the six men responsible in 1924.
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