Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Joseph Catalanotti

A former Detroit resident deported in 1957 whom Detroit police testified 'later turned up in Cuba during the tail end of the Batista regime,' and whom a Bureau of Narcotics sheet says was 'deported to Italy again 1959 from Cuba.'

Aliases
Joseph Catalanotto
Source
Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Hearings (NCJ 119303)
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • 6 September 1957 — Detroit police inspector Vincent W. Piersante testified on 10 October 1963 that he was ordered deported on 11 August 1953 and "was not actually deported until September 6, 1957, when he voluntarily left the United States 5 days ahead of the official deportation date."
  • Before 1959 — Piersante testified that he "later turned up in Cuba during the tail end of the Battista regime along with Frank Cammarata and 'Nono' Minaudo," that no connection with the Batista regime could be established, and that "Cuba was a haven for these deported criminals."
  • 1959 — A Bureau of Narcotics background sheet printed in the 1964 hearings, spelling the name Catalanotto, says he was "deported 1957 to Italy, returned clandestinely to United States, and Cuba, deported to Italy again 1959 from Cuba."

The police testimony calls him a deported “Mafia suspect,” and the background sheet is a Bureau of Narcotics dossier entry; neither is a finding, and no family or role is set here. The two records spell the name differently; both describe a former Detroit resident deported in 1957 who went to Cuba. No record filed here gives his date of death.

Records

itemSenate narcotics hearings, 10 October 1963: Detroit's Vincent Piersante on deported men in Cuba 'during the tail end of the Batista regime' (p. 449)Detroit police inspector Vincent W. Piersante testified that Joseph Catalanotti, deported in September 1957, 'later turned up in Cuba during the tail end of the Batista regime' with two other deported men, that no Batista connection could be established, and that 'Cuba was a haven for these deported criminals.'itemExhibit 3 background sheets: Richard Boiardo's residence and gambling in Havana; Joseph Catalanotto 'deported to Italy again 1959 from Cuba' (Senate narcotics hearings, pp. 1015 and 1019)Two Bureau of Narcotics background sheets printed in 1964: one says Richard Boiardo of Newark 'Has residences in Newark, N.J., and Havana, Cuba' and was 'active in gambling activities in Havana, Cuba'; the other says Joseph Catalanotto was deported in 1957, returned, and was 'deported to Italy again 1959 from Cuba.'