CRIME: A Little Rain Must Fall

In his 25 years as rumrunner, racketeer and intimate of hoodlums and murderers, Joseph (“Joe Adonis”) Doto never served a day in jail. He knew too well the value of influence. He had connections with Murder Inc., union rackets and gambling. But he also made himself a political power in Brooklyn—and he got into legitimate business (the Ford Motor Co. gave him exclusive rights to truck all new cars from its Edgewater, NJ. plant to the New York City area).

Well-dressed, polite, successful, he moved a few years ago into a $100,000 house in Fort Lee, N.J. and settled down to highly polished respectability. But the Kefauver hearings turned an embarrassing spotlight on Joe; with four underworld partners, he was indicted for running a million-dollar gambling empire in New Jersey. Too shrewd to risk a jury trial, he threw himself on the mercy of the court.

This week Joe Adonis was sentenced to serve from two to three years in prison and pay a $15,000 fine. Adonis took his sentence with a smile, said “I’m not sore at anybody.”