Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Indictment in United States of America v. Joseph Bonanno, 66 Crim. 377, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, stamped filed April 14, 1966, signed by the foreman and by U.S. Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau
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United States v. Joseph Bonanno, S.D.N.Y. criminal case file 66 Cr. 377

The case file of the 1966 Southern District of New York prosecution of Joseph Bonanno. The indictment, filed April 14, 1966, charges that from about October 21, 1964 he obstructed justice "by wilfully failing to appear before a Federal Grand Jury" and by "wilfully and knowingly concealing himself to prevent his appearance."

Date
1966-04-14/1971-12-07
Kind
case-file
Source
National Archives Catalog, National Archives at Kansas City (Record Group 21, Criminal Case Files)
Retrieved
2026-10-12
NAID
7570225
Docket
66 Cr. 377
Rights
An indictment of a United States District Court, signed by the U.S. Attorney and the grand jury foreman, a work of the United States government. Public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The National Archives catalog marks its use as unrestricted. The first page image is stored here.

A digitized criminal case file of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, held at the National Archives at Kansas City in Record Group 21 (NAID 7570225, 138 images; the catalog’s variant control number is “66-Cr-377”). Its coverage runs from April 14, 1966 to December 7, 1971.

The first image is the indictment, stamped filed April 14, 1966: “The Grand Jury charges: From on or about October 21, 1964, up to and including the date of the filing of this indictment, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, Joseph Bonanno, the defendant, unlawfully, wilfully, knowingly, and corruptly, did influence, obstruct, impede and endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice by wilfully failing to appear before a Federal Grand Jury on October 21, 1964, and on said date and continuously thereafter, up to and including the date of the filing of this indictment, wilfully and knowingly concealing himself to prevent his appearance before said Grand Jury. (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1503.)” It is signed by the foreman and by Robert M. Morgenthau, United States Attorney.

Only the first image was read. The later papers in the file were not, so this archive does not record how the case ended. The indictment is a charge, not a finding. The date October 21, 1964 is also the date the government’s 1987 civil complaint gives for the end of his time as boss (683 F. Supp. 1411).

itemUnited States v. Bonanno Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra, 683 F. Supp. 1411 (E.D.N.Y. 1988)Ruling of March 24, 1988 on motions to dismiss the government's civil RICO suit against the Bonanno family, its alleged officers and Teamsters Local 814. It summarizes what the amended complaint alleged about each defendant's position.itemFBI Vault: Joseph Bonanno, Part 01Part 01 of the FBI's Joseph Bonanno file, largely 1979 Phoenix Division material on a RICO investigation and an application for electronic surveillance in Arizona. The deleted-page sheet lists 111 pages withheld.itemWilliam H. Webster, Thomas F. Ryan Lecture, Georgetown University Law Center, October 13, 1982FBI Director Webster's lecture "The Informant, Electronic Surveillance, and the Undercover Agent," in a White House Counsel folder at the Reagan Library. Without naming him, he describes the agent who "assumed his role six years ago. In his undercover role, he was known as 'Donnie Brasco.'"