Who Was Joey 'Doves' Aiuppa? The Outfit Boss Done by the Skim
Mobsters DailyJoseph Aiuppa, called 'Joey Doves' for a 1962 conviction for illegally transporting mourning doves, was boss of the Chicago Outfit from the early 1970s until the Las Vegas skim case — the Strawman investigation — sent him to prison in 1986.
The skim that brought him down
Under Aiuppa, Chicago shared in money skimmed from Las Vegas casinos, the world dramatised in Casino's true story. FBI surveillance and cooperating witnesses tied the skim directly to the Midwest bosses, and Aiuppa was convicted of skimming millions from the Stardust and related casinos.
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His fall was part of the same federal wave as the Commission Trial in New York: wiretaps, RICO-era prosecutions and insiders willing to talk. Aiuppa received a long sentence and never returned to Chicago power.
He died in federal prison on February 22, 1997, aged 89 — an Outfit boss undone not by a rival's gun but by his own side's recorded conversations.
Frequently asked questions
Why was Aiuppa called Joey Doves? After a 1962 game-law conviction involving mourning doves.
What was the Strawman case? The FBI investigation and prosecutions of the Las Vegas casino skim that convicted Aiuppa and other Midwest bosses in 1986.
When did Joey Aiuppa die? February 22, 1997, in federal prison.
Keep reading: Lucky Luciano: The Man Who Invented the Modern Mafia · Why the Mafia Fell · Sammy Gravano's Betrayal of Gotti · Who Killed Sam Giancana · Who Was Harry Aleman? The Hitman the Government Tried Twice
From the shop: Shadows of the Underworld — the real-mafia history behind the bosses, hits and betrayals in this story.
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