Joseph was born in Summit, New Jersey, and graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School in Red Bank, NJ. He then earned a bachelor’s degree and master's degree in Criminal Justice from Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. In graduate school, Joseph’s specialization was in advanced statistics and his master’s thesis was on the correlation between fear of property crime and firearm ownership.
Joseph worked for the Lakewood Police Department in Lakewood, NJ as a crime analyst and statistician. He was responsible for community policing and crime prevention strategies, grant writing for the agency and township, crime mapping utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), training of officers on specialized topics, FBI UCR data collection and analysis, restructuring patrol zones, and weekly CompStat meetings with command staff.
He was then hired as a Special Agent with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and graduated from the DEA Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia. After the DEA Academy, Joseph was assigned to the Newark, NJ Field Division in a HIDTA street level heroin task force. While in the Newark Field Division, Joseph was also involved in several high-level investigations both international and domestic.
Joseph was transferred to the Miami Field Division and was assigned to a Title-III/wiretap enforcement group targeting cocaine and heroin drug trafficking organizations in South and Central America. While in this enforcement group, some of the large cases Joseph was assigned to were Operation Twin Oceans, Operation Evolution, Operation Streamline, and Operation Lunarejo. He conducted diplomatic, witness, and executive protection details in Miami for high-risk targets and worked undercover on several domestic level cases.
He was then assigned to the newly formed Miami Tactical Diversion Squad (TDS) which targeted pain clinics and the illicit distribution of opioids and prescription drugs in South Florida. Joseph was the lead case agent on Operation Snake Oil and Operation Pill Nation, which resulted in the conviction of countless doctors, pharmacists, users, and other co-conspirators as well as over 20 million dollars in seized assets. Joseph also completed a temporary duty assignment (TDY) as part of Operation BAT in Andros and Georgetown, Bahamas. This operation targeted “go-fast” vessels via helicopter patrols attempting to smuggle narcotics into the US. Shortly after returning from this operation, Joseph began training for his pilot’s license in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joseph was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent (GS-1811-14) and transferred from Miami to the Phoenix Field Division, Nogales Resident Office and then to the Tucson District Office several years later. While a DEA Group Supervisor in Arizona, Joseph was at times Acting Resident Agent in Charge (RAC) of the Nogales Resident Office and Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the Tucson District Office. He was also the leader of the DEA Phoenix Division Marijuana Eradication Team and the I-19 Interdiction Response Team.
After retiring from DEA in 2018, Joseph was recruited by Amistades, Inc. as the Director of Programs. Joseph reports directly to the CEO and oversees all programs in Pima and Cochise Counties, as well as all employees and contractors. Joseph possesses a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt and is part of the grant writing team at the agency that works to secure continual funding for agency sustainability. Joseph is responsible for interviewing and hiring staff, staff management and development, establishing standards of performance across all programs, and overall operational success.
Joseph provides strategic leadership as well as technical, operational, financial, and managerial leadership for successful implementation of all programs. He also provides oversight of program design and evaluation; including all activities, outputs, and outcomes related to project management and administration, including reporting, budget development and monitoring, financial transactions, execution of project plans, and project performance.