Evening star., 1962-12-27

off Prohibition and stayed fat
off gambling. He dabbled in la
Dor Shakedowns and used un-
derworld tactics to bolster his
ventures into legitimate busi-
ness. Certain politicians courted
him for his money and influ-
ence. His cultural voice was
reputedly heard in the hig h
councils Of Brooklyn's Murder,
Inc. Gangland slayings followed
meetings with Adonis, but po-
lice never got close to proving
his hands were bloody.
With his bodyguards at his
side, he could be seen occa-
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sionally in the clubs patronized
by high society - his round
shoulders concealed by custom
tailoring, his graying hair
pomaded, his small brown
eyes slitted to study the crowd.
He always sat with his back
to the wall.
For three decades, he h a d
been arrested regularly for a
variety Of crimes from kidnap-
ping to extortion, but he never
saw the inside Of a prison until
1851 when New Jersey - faced
with the testimony Of the
Kefauver Committee-indicted
him for conspiracy to violate
gambling laws. He was given
a 2-to-3 year term.
For AdoniS, it was an an
noyance to leave a 100000
home on the New Jersey Pail
sades, to do for himself instead
of having three servants do for
him. But his lieutenants could
collect the take from his far
flung gambling casinos, his real
estate, his auto franchises, his
shakedowns, and he would be
free to resume command by
mid-1953. Nobody, he vowed,
would ever get him again.
Two Investigators
Two men were about to try.
Joe Adonis would never have
heard of either of them. They
were Investigators for the I'm
migration and Naturalization
Service.
Investigator Earl Greenleaf,
in the fall of 1852, was turning
40. Before he Joined the I'M
migration Service, he had
served in the Navy. Now he
lived modestly with his wife and
three children, a quiet man
patient and persistent.
Investigator Martin Peters.
andy-haired. quick Of move
ment and somewhat younger,
had flown with the Air Force
in World War II. He, too, had
three children.
The Attorney General Of the
United States had just launched
a high-priority campaign to de-
port foreign born gangsters.
The name Of Joe Adonis had
not appeared on the original
list because he was believed to
have been born in Brooklyn.
Since then, however, he h a d
sworn to the Kefauver Com
mittee that he was born in Pas
sale, N. j.
investigates Greenleaf drew
what looked like a routine as
signment: stop by Passaic and
check the birth record Of Jo-
seph Doto, alias Joe Adonis, but
don't identify yourself as an
immigration agent. He quickly
found what he sought on Page
SO of the register of births:
Joseph Doto, born November S,
1901, at 36 State street.
Delayed Recording
But Adonis hadn't gotten
around to recording his birth
until 1898. To a trained in
vestigator a delayed birth rec
ord was always suspect the
sort of thing money and in
fluence could buy.
A stroll down State street
seemed indicated. Greenleaf
slowed down as he passed
No. SO. Had the rich and pow
erful mobster started life in
this little house? 1t looked old,
but was it so years old7
Back at city hall, Greenleaf
asked TO see the building rec
ords for so years ago. He
started with 1901 and. finally.
In the plumbing records for
1905, he found permit to in
stall pipes at 36 State street.
The tax records confirmed that
the house was built in 1905
four years after Adonis claimed
he was born there.
Greenleaf passed the ball to
New York. If Adonis had lied
about Passaic, he pointed out,
q search of arrivals from Eu-
rope over the past half CEN
tury might turn UP something.
It did.
One Michele Dato had arrived
in New York In 1905. He had
last resided in Montemarano,
Italy, and was destined for his
brother in law, Ferdinando
DeVito, in Brooklyn. A Maria
Dato arrived in 1909 TO Join
her husband. With her we're
four sons-Antonio, 10; Ettore,
O.; Giuseppe. 6. and Genesio. 4.
The State Department was
asked TO look for the birth rec
ords Of the sons in Monte
marano.
Wos He DepOrtobIe3
The big Job still lay ahead
proving that the 6-year-old
Giuseppe Dato was now Joe