Natale Evola

Natale "Joe Diamond" Evola (February 22, 1907 – August 28, 1973) was a New York mobster who briefly became boss of the Bonanno crime family.

Commonly thought to be born in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn to parents Filippo and Francesca, who was natives of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. However according to author Eric Ferrara's Manhattan Mafia Guide, young Evola arrived in New York City on the SS Indiana on June 3, 1913, with his twenty-seven-year-old mother, Francescio (maiden name Mione), and siblings Giuseppa, Giorlama and Anna.

Evola’s first arrest came while working for Salvatore Maranzano on August 31, 1930, at age twenty-three, for firearms possession. The charges were dropped a year later. His next arrest came on April 3, 1932, for coercion; again, he was acquitted. Evola eventually became involved in narcotics trafficking and in labor racketeering in the Garment District of Manhattan.

In 1957, Evola was identified at the infamous Apalachin Meeting in Apalachin, New York and later charged, along with twenty other organized figures, for conspiracy. When questioned by authorities he case was later overturned. In 1959, Evola and Vito Genovese of the Genovese crime family were charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Following family boss Joe Bonanno's retirement in 1968, Evola reportedly became the boss of the family. Heavily involved in the trucking industry in the Garment District, Evola cooperated with crime family leaders Genovese and Carlo Gambino of the Gambino crime family.

On August 28, 1973, Natale Evola died of cancer. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in the Woodside, Queens section of New York.

External links

• The American "Mafia" - Natale Evola
• Natale "Diamond Joe" Evola at Find-A-Grave
• Attendee Profiles At The 1957 Apalachin Mob Confab By Mike La Sorte