Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Joseph Doto (Joe Adonis)

Under oath before the Kefauver Committee in December 1950 he gave his name as Joseph Doto and said he was known as Joe Adonis; he declined to answer most questions, and the committee reported him twice for contempt of the Senate. The FBI's 1943 and 1944 files on a kickback case at the Brooklyn Army Base name him among the subjects. No record filed here states a family or rank.

Aliases
Joe Adonis, Joseph Adonis, James Aroso, Joseph Aroso, Joseph De Mio
Source
S. Rept. No. 25, 82d Congress (1951): Proceedings against Joseph Doto, alias Joe Adonis
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • 1944-11-02 — An FBI New York report of November 2, 1944 (file 46-480), captioned "Fraud Against the Government, Kickback Racket Conspiracy, Bribery" at the U.S. Army Base, 58th Street and First Avenue, Brooklyn, lists "JOSEPH ADONIS, with aliases: Joe Adonis, Joseph Doto" among its subjects (FBI report; no outcome stated in the pages read).
  • 1950-12-12 — Sworn testimony annexed to S. Rept. 82-25: asked his full name, he answered "Joseph Doto," and said he was known as "Joe Adonis." To counsel's questions he said he would not deny using the name Aroso, said "Very possibly" to having used the name Joseph De Mio in a 1931 case, and said "I have used so many names in those minor conflicts."
  • 1950-12-12 — In the same testimony he agreed to counsel's account of a $25 disorderly-conduct fine in 1927 and a 1931 conviction for a Prohibition Act violation with a $500 fine, and to charges in 1937 (assault and robbery) and 1940 (kidnapping and extortion, dismissed as to him). Asked whether he was in the bootlegging business before repeal, he declined to answer on the ground that it might incriminate him (testimony).
  • 1951-01-22 — S. Rept. 82-25, ordered printed January 22, 1951, asks the Senate to certify his contempt to the United States Attorney. It records service of the committee's subpoena on him at the Bergen County Court House, Hackensack, New Jersey, on November 27, 1950 (committee report).
  • 1951-03-30 — S. Rept. 82-201 records his appearance on March 12, 1951 in room 2804, United States Courthouse, Foley Square, New York, and the committee's vote of March 17, 1951 "to recommend that these individuals be cited for contempt of the Senate," naming him with Frank Erickson and Frank Costello (committee report).

The heading uses the name he gave under oath, Joseph Doto, with the name he said he was known by. The aliases are those in the committee’s questions that he did not deny; an FBI form of 1944 also prints “Joseph Demio.”

His Kefauver testimony is mostly refusals. A contempt report is the committee’s request to the Senate, not a judgment, and the outcome of the proceedings is not in these records. The FBI’s 1943 and 1944 files record allegations by informants about the Brooklyn waterfront; they are not findings and are not repeated here. Nothing read in those files states a charge against him in the kickback case.

No record filed on this page states a family, a rank, or a role in any organization.

Records

itemSenate Report 25: proceedings against Joseph Doto, alias Joe Adonis (1951)Senate Report No. 25, 82d Congress, 1st Session, on the Kefauver Committee's contempt proceedings against Joseph Doto, alias Joe Adonis, who refused to answer questions. The report accompanies S. Res. 43 and annexes excerpts of the hearing record.itemSenate Report 201: proceedings against Joseph Doto, alias Joe Adonis (1951)Senate Report No. 201, 82d Congress, 1st Session, on the Kefauver Committee's contempt proceedings against Joseph Doto, alias Joe Adonis, who refused to answer questions. The report accompanies S. Res. 112 and annexes excerpts of the hearing record.itemFBI Vault: Joseph Adonis, Part 01First of seven parts of the FBI's Joseph Adonis file: April to June 1943 New York reports and Army letters on an alleged kickback racket among workers at the Brooklyn Army Base, with a New York report captioned "Joseph Adonis, with aliases Joe Adonis and Joseph Doto." Poor scans, read by OCR.itemFBI Vault: Joseph Adonis, Part 02Second part of the FBI's Joseph Adonis file: a New York report of November 2, 1944 on a kickback, fraud and bribery case at the U.S. Army Base, 58th Street and First Avenue, Brooklyn, naming "Joseph Adonis, with aliases: Joe Adonis, Joseph Doto" among its subjects, and later items to 1964.itemKefauver Committee hearings, Part 7: New York-New Jersey (1950–1951)Printed hearings of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Part 7, New York-New Jersey: sessions in Washington and New York, July 1950 to March 1951.itemKefauver Part 7: Joe Adonis declines to answer questions about Luciano in Havana and the Jockey Club (12 December 1950, pp. 291-292, 302)Counsel asked Joseph Doto, called Joe Adonis, whether he ever saw Luciano in Havana, what they talked about, and whether he had a gambling business at the Jockey Club in Havana. He declined each time on the ground that the answer might tend to incriminate him.