The son-in-law of Detroit powerhouse figure Papa John Priziola, Joseph and his brothers Gaspar, Frank and Leo made up the nucleus of the partners west coast operations. Born September 7, 1910 in Italy, Joseph was the leader of the Matranga clan. Joe wielded tremendous influence in an area in which he operated along with members of criminal syndicates from Los Angeles and Chicago. Much of Joe's influence was garnered from his family ties not only to Priziola but also to Salvatore Vitale another member of the Detroit partnership with strong ties to the Sicilian mafia and an international drug smuggling ring. Joe and the rest of the Matranga clan had operated in San Diego for years under the wing of Papa Tony Mirabile. So close were the two that Papa Tony agreed to set up Frank Borgia a man who many thought was Tony's closest friend outside of his brother Paul. Borgia had been at odds with Matranga and went to Detroit leader Joseph Zerilli for permission to hit Joe but instead returned to San Diego with a price tag on his head. Borgia was disposed of by an efficient hit team consisting of Papa Tony, Frank Bompensiro, Jimmy Fratiano and Carlo Licata. Fratiano later related that the body had been disposed of by Joe Adamo and Biaggio Bonventre. Matranga inherited most of the rackets empire left by Papa Tony upon his death in December of 1958. Joseph Matranga would continue to buy, sell and operate bars and nightspots much like his mentor throughout his career. One of the most notorious incidents in the long career of Joseph Matranga occured within one of his legitimate establishments. Joseph and his brother Frank purchased the La Mesa Bowl after receiving $1.1 million in funds from the teamsters pension fund. The Matranga brothers under the name of Show Bar Inc., applied on December 19, 1962 for a liquor license for the La Mesa Bowl located at 7380 Parkway Drive in La Mesa. The application for the liquor license was quickly withdraw when objections were drawn from the La Mesa City Council and Police Department on February 25th of 1963. Joseph arranged for Vincent Provenzano to obatain the license under the name of Recreation Center Inc., in a petition filed on the same day the Matranga's withdrew their original request for a license. Joe waited another year before buying a majority interest in Recreation Center Inc., gaining controll of the liquor license he had been denied the year before. The seemingly flawless plan came to a disappointing end when the license was once again recommended for revocation in December of 1964. This led to an incident which was viewed as damage control and a last ditch attempt to salvage La Mesa Bowls Liquor license by Joseph his brother Frank I Matranga and another silent investor in many Matranga business ventures, cousin Frank A. Matranga of San Bernardino. While awaiting a decision on an appeal of their liquor license revocation, the Matranga's in a meeting arranged by Dominick Tavaglione of Riverside met with 3 members of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board on the night of March 23rd 1965. As a result of the meeting an inquiry into the incident was launched by then govenor Pat Brown who wanted to know if the incident was an attempt on behalf of the Matranga's to gain favor in the outcome of their licensing hearing or if the whole incident was an innocent encounter. In the end the Matranga's lost their liquor license and the three members of the board were found to have taken free food and drinks from the Matranga owned Show Bar and were promptly relieved of their responsabilities by Govenor Brown. This incident hardly served as little more than a nuisance who continued to operate a variety of nigtspots and clubs right up untill the time of his death. Matranga's final brush with the law occured in March of 1985 when he and brother-in-law Michael Polizzi were convicted of extortion, racketeering and loansharking. Matranga convicted on 10 of 14 counts faced a maximum of 185 years in prison but escaped with a relatively light 5 years in federal prison and 5 additional years of probation. The conviction stemmed from an operation which saw Matranga and Polizzi loan out more than $1 million dollars at a 10% intrest monthly between 1976 and 1979. The majority of the loans were made to schemers and swindlers and a government informant by the name of Harry Hall. During the trial tapes were played in which Joe threatened to kill hall if he failed to meet his obligations on the loan repayment. Matranga's defense that he had never loaned Hall money and Hall had obtained the funds through his elaborate schemes fell on death ears at his March 13 sentencing. Joseph L Matranga would live to the ripe old age of 89 before passing away October 7, 1999. The longtime godfather of San Diego's bar scene left behind two sons Larry and Wally, 4 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Matranga was buried in El Camino Memorial Park.
