Born 'Giuseppe DiGiovanni' in Chiusa Sclafani, Palermo, Sicily. Joseph arrived in Kansas City in 1912 fleeing a murder investigation where he joined the Black Hand. He allegedly became boss of the Black Hand gang that would be the predecessor of the Kansas City mafia syndicate. Joseph along with his brother Pietro DiGiovanni began making money from a variety of criminal operations or "rackets" shortly after they arrived, engaging in Black Hand extortion within the Sicilian and Italian communities in Kansas City. A botched attempt at insurance fraud - the firebombing of a building - left Joseph permanently scarred.