Joel Cacace

Joel Cacace Sr. (born April 9, 1941), also known as Joe Waverly, is an American mobster and former consigliere of the Colombo crime family in New York City. He was convicted of murder in 2004 and was released from prison in 2020. Since his release, he has been the alleged underboss of the family.

Early life Cacace had one child, Joel "JoJo" Cacace Jr., with his wife Vita Rose Cacace. JoJo was reportedly a member of the Colombo family and was allegedly involved in labor racketeering before his death from a heart attack on January 1, 2015, at the age of 44.

Cacace is close friends with Colombo capo Luca DeMatteo and former acting boss Victor Orena. Cacace was involved in extortion, illegal gambling, and the hijacking and selling of truckloads of cigarettes.

Criminal career On December 20, 1976, Joel Cacace Sr. was ambushed by three robbers near his florist shop in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. After being shot in the chest, Cacace wrestled a handgun from one of the robbers, and shot and killed an assailant. The remaining robbers fled the scene. The critically wounded Cacace drove to a local police station with the robber's body in the backseat.

In early 1987, imprisoned Colombo boss Carmine Persico ordered Cacace to kill federal prosecutors William Aronwald and Rudy Giuliani.

Furious at the Aronwald murder, the heads of the other New York "Five Families" demanded that the Colombos kill the Carnini brothers. An enraged Cacace recruited Lucchese crime family member Carmine Variale and Bonanno crime family associate Frank Santora to eliminate the Carninis. In June 1987, both Carnini brothers were found dead in the back seats of their cars in Brooklyn.

Following the Carnini murders, Eddie Carnini's widow, Kim T. Kennaugh, moved in with Cacace and later married him. They soon separated and Kim divorced him.

In January 1991, during the 1990s Colombo War, Cacace attempted to kill Gregory Scarpa, a hitman aligned with the Persico faction. Cacace was a supporter of temporary acting boss Victor Orena, who was challenging Carmine Persico for control of the family. Cacace drove up next to Scarpa's car in Sheepshead Bay and fired at him several times. Scarpa escaped unharmed. On February 26, 1992, the two mobsters shot at each other again outside a social club in the same neighborhood. Two gunmen in a parked station wagon fired 14 shots at Cacace as he was visiting his dry cleaner. Although wounded in the stomach, Cacace drew a handgun and exchanged shots with the men. Colombo enforcer Greg Scarpa later boasted about participating in the Cacace murder attempt. As the Colombo War progressed, Cacace switched sides to the Persico faction, which ultimately won. On September 8, 2004, Cacace was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Cacace allegedly ordered Colombo capo Dino Calabro and soldier Dino Saracino to murder Dols. On August 25, 1997, Calabro and Saracino allegedly ambushed Dols outside his Brooklyn home and killed him.

On November 26, 2013, a jury acquitted Cacace on the Dols murder charge. Cacace was imprisoned at the Tucson Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, and was later transferred to the low security FCI Ashland in Kentucky. Cacace was released from prison on May 22, 2020.

Since his release, Cacace is the alleged underboss of the family.