Joie Miami

When JoAnn Wainwright aka Joie Talarico called the Miami, Florida office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in November 1989, she was a woman scorned and abandoned by the people she trusted most. Betrayal outweighed the code of loyalty. There was no longer honor among soldiers. She had been "fucked by the Mob without even a kiss!" Having a home that was more like a battlefield due to her abusive father; Gene "Gino" Talarico appeared at a time in JoAnn's life when she needed it most. Like Prince Charming, he took her away from the destitution she knew and replaced it with tainted riches. It was her personal Cinderella story with a twist! Unfortunately, the happy ending she expected didn't come written like the fairy tale. For fourteen years, JoAnn, known as Joie, had been the woman that stood strongly by the side of Gene Talarico, a Mafia soldier. She thrived off of a life style many would have quivered from. She was groomed to be an asset to Gene and his "employers" which turned out to be the South Florida Branch of the Chicago Mafia. For years she hosted gatherings, carried and laundered money, loaded planes to make drops, bought the apartments and cars for the "family" and kept their secrets. Her role in the Mafia grew to a liaison for Santo Trafficante. She saw heights many of the other Mob wives never knew. The blood and sweat of loyalty, however, was washed away as Gene fell ill to cancer. Everything she worked so hard to build; the power, money and earthly possessions were stripped from her. She had been left out in the cold as a fallen and forgotten foot soldier and was made to survive on scraps. Joie had to count on the one thing the Mafia underestimated, her survival skills. With love now turned to hate, respect now turned to disdain and courage pumping in her veins, she returned the favor of spitting in the face of the Mob.