Andrew Thomas Del Giorno - Early Career

Early Career

DelGiorno was born to a father who was an immigrant from San Piero, Sicily and a Polish-American mother in South Philadelphia. In 1964, he was 24 and was supplementing his days as a delivery truck driver with a small-time bookmaking and policy operation at night and on weekends. At the time he was just one of hundreds of numbers writers in South Philadelphia chasing after action. He also began hanging out in afterhour clubs and began to socialize with mobsters at card and dice games.

He later became a close friend of numbers writer John Bastion, when Bastione retired years later he left his entire operation and a large sum of money to back the operation to DelGiorno. DelGiorno was soon in need of financiers to cover his action in an emergency. He became an avid fan of professional boxing.

In 1967 DelGiorno met Joseph McGreal a Highway Truck Drivers & Helpers Local 107 organizer and began working for him. The two became close friends and business associates. DelGiorno was interested in labor racketeering and Joseph was interested in gambling. DelGiorno was involved in the strike which resulted in the closure of United Parcel Service and 1,150 truck drivers and warehouse workers were left without jobs. But DelGiorno didn't mind the loss of permanent employment and it had little effect on his lifestyle. McGreal began backing DelGiorno's criminal activities. He was a protege of Frank (Frankie Flowers) D'Alphonso.

DelGiorno wasn't much of a husband to his wife or father to his sons. He was often cold and aloof, when he was actually at home. He felt that he was living up to his end of the bargain by keeping a roof over his family's heads and putting food on the table.