The Los Angeles Mafia

LA Gangland 1950’s & LCN Tradition

Nick Licata would rule the Los Angeles Family for seven years. He continued working with many of the Eastern Cosa Nostra Families.  He had great connections with the Detroit family.  Nick's son Carlo, a made man in the LA Family, had married Detroit Family Capo Black Bill Tocco's

daughter.   

After Frank DiSimone died, Nick stepped in the top spot easily because he was the Underboss.

Nick was now in a whole different game.   He would no longer be the guy who operated from the shadows.  He was very low key and did not attract much attention until he held the alibi party for Jimmy Frattiano on the night he killed the Two Tony's.  After that he was always a blip on the radar of the LAPD and the FBI.

Nick was in poor health and had to spend six months locked up after he was given immunity by a grand jury in Los Angeles.  Nick appointed Joe Dippolito, a well liked member of the family, as his underboss. Joe Dip was a serious landowner in the inland empire and he had wineries.  He also took part in a couple of murders, so he had the respect of the family.  Joe Dippolito died 9 months before Nick died.   Nick then appointed the loyal Jimmy Regace aka Dominic Brooklier as his underboss.  Dominic was well liked by the white collar members of the family, but he had also taken part in some killings, including the attempted hit on Mickey Cohen in front of Sherry's.  They would make a lot of members that were capable.  The goal of being made or inducted into the Cosa Nostra used to be the highest honor a criminal could obtain.  Today that is no longer a main motivating factor in the life.

Being Made

Jimmy Frattiano described being made in his book The Last Mafioso. You can tell by his words that even when he told the story more than 40 years later, he was excited.  He was brought to a winery in LA where he was escorted into a room by Johnny Roselli.  Once inside, he joined fifty men already seated around the large fermentation room.  The family had all come together to induct five new members.  Three would move on to become bosses and another would be underboss in the future.  They had a dagger and a pistol on the table.  They would prick the inductee’s trigger finger and then recite the oath.  Then the men were Amico Nostra, “A friend of ours.”

The years would take their toll on the Family.  The FBI would record the New England Families Ceremony, and from that point on it would no longer be a secret ceremony.

I know that Pete J Milano aka Shakes was made by Brooklier, but I do not know how it went down.  Jimmy also wrote in his book about making Mike Rizzi.  They were in Murrietta, California on June 6, 1976.  It was Mike Rizzi, Frank Bomp, Louie Dragna and Jimmy in a car.  Jimmy would explain what Bomp was saying as he recited the words in Sicilian.  They would do the whole thing in the car at the end of a dirt road.  They had no pistol or knife, but Dragna had a pin that they used to prick Mike's trigger finger.

Jimmy Caci many years later would tell me a little about his experience.  He told me that they all played golf in Palm Springs.  Pete Milano was boss. Carmen Milano was underboss and after dinner they went back to a hotel room.  That is where Jimmy was made into the family.  He told me it was not what he thought it would be, and that he wished he never did it.  He would tell me later that he had wasted his life, that it all just fell apart.  It was sad when Jimmy told me that.  We were sitting at a restaurant in Ontario after we left the Auto Mart in 2003.  He was telling me about how good the old days were and then how it all went downhill.

Some years later I would be in New York and a former Colombo guy would tell me about his big day.  He wore a suit.  He was picked up by his Capo and driven to a home in Long Island.  He was waiting upstairs with a guy named Joe Baudanza and he was called downstairs.  The

acting boss and the Underboss were down there with a number of Capos.  They had a pistol and a dagger on the table. They did the ceremony in English and he was made.  Next, they brought down Joe and made him.

Later Joe would sit on the panel that ruled the family and he would be one of those that gave the okay to shoot my friend.  They failed but it goes to show you how far the Cosa Nostra had fallen. So we sat in a Midtown restaurant on a rainy day talking about it.  He told me that none of it was worth it.  That the whole thing was wrecked it was not what he thought.  He told me that his Capo had taken him aside and told him not to get into the life.  I asked him if he knew anyone in the life who lived a happy life.

The two of us could not think of one person.

The LA Family was big in gambling in LA, San Diego, Tijuana and Palm Springs.  The Sica brothers worked with them running action up to Northern California and the new boss formerly Jimmy Regace, now Brooklier was close to them.  Once Dominic became boss he would make Pete Milano which was a smart move because Pete’s father was the underboss of the Cleveland family and his uncle had been boss.  He started sending word to other families that he was the boss.  He then appointed a very well connected Sam Sciortino as his underboss to help him get the family in shape.  Sam was a smart choice because he was related to the under boss of the San Francisco Family, he was also related to a Capo in the New Orleans family.  He had deep connections in the garment center in Los Angeles and Dallas. He was also big into trucking.  

These guys could have led the family into a new era of prosperity but the heat was on.

More next week!

Swedish Documentary on Kenji

Gangland Los Angeles the 1960's and more

Gambling and Other Rackets in Los Angeles 1960’s

I was driving in Los Angeles the other day and I ended up on Santa Monica Boulevard right in front of the Formosa Cafe. The Cafe was the headquarters of Joe Sica and his brothers (Freddy, Angelo, Frank).





Mickey Cohen was no longer a force in LA Organized Crime, but the Sica brothers were still going strong.

The Cosa Nostra Families from the East had all moved into Las Vegas for the big casino skimming money.  

Nevada had just introduced its new Black Book featuring those not allowed in a casino.  Joe Sica along with Louis Tom Dragna were some of the original inductees.

In the Early 1960's, Frankie Carbo, Blinky Palermo, Joe Sica, and Louis Tom Dragna were sentenced to jail terms for extortion.  They had muscled in on the National Boxing Association’s Welterweight Champion Don Jordan's contract. They had gone to his manager and threatened them both so that they could take over his contract.  They were caught, and as a result Carbo received 25 years, Sica 20 years, Palermo 15 years, and Dragna 5 years. The sentences were imposed by Judge George Boldt, who also fined the four men $10,000 each.

They would all later appeal and their sentences would be reduced or dropped.

Louis Tom Dragna, who was a Capo in the LA Family, went into the garment trade industry.  By the end of the 1960's he was worth millions.

Joe Sica and his brothers would continue their gambling business and narcotics sales in LA and Northern California. Joe became a gambling kingpin who would meet his men from Northern California at the Pine Lake Lodge in Fresno.

Freddy Sica would run the brothers gambling enterprises from the Savoy Shirt Company on Melrose Avenue.  They also had a gas station in downtown where they took action.  They paid young party girls to use phone lines installed in their apartments so their guys could take action on them.

Joe, Freddy, Angelo and Frank Sica also had a new racket that was pretty lucrative.  They took over a company called ActiveAire in Los Angeles that provided air hand dryers for bathrooms in restaurants and other places. They would go around and lease these to businesses for their locations at a premium. This would become a large source of revenue for the Sica Brothers.

Gambling was and still is today the life blood of the Cosa Nostra.

During the 1960's in Los Angeles the big bookmakers took huge action on horse racing from all over.  There were other sports bets but racing was the big money.  

In Los Angeles there were many Sub-Bookies.  These included barber shops, shoe shiners, local bars, gas stations, many convenient places where people could place their bets.  These Subs would get a percentage.  This was before cell phones and the Internet that streamlined the process with 800 numbers and offshore locations.

It was a lot harder to set up a phone room in those early days.  The phones were all hardwired into places and if you needed a lot of lines, there was only one phone company.  

Phone rooms were manned by guys who took the action and gave the slips to a Pit Boss.
A Bookmaker is much like an insurance actuary worker.  A good bookie does not make his money from the actual bets but rather the vig or vigorish that he charges.  The Vig is 10% added onto the bet (a transaction fee).  So as long as they balance the books, the bookmaker is making cash.

If you have too many bets on one team then you have to lay some off to a bigger bookie or a bank.  

Gambling is accepted in America today - just look in a newspaper, they list the lines for games.

Monday night football!  

A good bookie always pays off the winners no questions asked. He also regulates what a player can play.  You cannot give a waiter a ten thousand dollar credit line, he has no way to pay it. You have to have them post (deposit) cash with you for larger bets. Its important for local bookies to know their customers.

Back to the 60’s.  Frank DeSimone died and his Under Boss Nick Licata took over.  Nicks first act was to make Joseph Dipolitto his underboss.  Nick had power with the Detroit LCN Family because his son Carlo married Grace Tocco in 1953.  Grace was the daughter of Detroit caporegieme William "Black Bill" Tocco. Carlo was a made guy in the LA Family and had taken part in the killing of Mickey Cohen’s lawyer.  Nick had a place on La Brea where he took action and he also had his 5 O'clock club in Burbank.  Nick owned a couple of apartment buildings around LA.  

A side note: Louie Gelfuso who one day I would know as a Capo in the LA Family, worked for Nick as a bartender during this time.

This is also the time when other important people came into LA.

Anthony Milano, alias Tony Milano, purchased a Hollywood, Calif., home for $56,000 . He has been connected with Jack I. Dragna. It is claimed that Anthony Milano and Frank Milano are members of the Mayfield Road gang in Cleveland.   Tony's two sons would join the LA Family.  Pete would be a long time member of the LA Family and he would be the boss.  Carmen would go to Law School and practice in Cleveland until his brother became boss and he would be our underboss until his death.

Then you had the Scorentino's who had trucking firms. All these guys would be among the smartest guys in the LA Family.  They would do what they did and their offspring would never have to be in the life.

Nick Licata had some trouble 1969 when a criminal named Julius Petro was killed at LAX. It was not an LA Family killing but it had a lot of connections with the family.  

Jimmy Frattiano, who was made in LA but had transferred to the Chicago Outfit, had been around Julius Petro and the guys who killed him.  

Getting rid of Julius and the mess it causes the LA family

Skinny Velotta, Bob Walch and Ray Ferrito were around Jimmy at the time.  Ray Ferrito hated Julius but when Julius started to shake down bookmaker Sparky Monica, Sparky ran to Ray for help and promises Ray half of his gambling operation. This was funny because Sparky was at that exact moment with a Gambino named Tony Plate who should have been the one he ran to for help.  

So, Ray gets some dynamite and has Skinny drive him over to Julius’s car.  On the way over, a blasting cap explodes and hurts Ray.  So Ray goes to plan B.  He books a flight out of LAX and has Julius and another guy drop him off. Julius is seated in the passenger seat when they pull into a lot to park.  A plane is taking off just as Ray starts to open the door.  Instead Ray places a pistol to the back of Julius head and fires a single shot.  There is no need to fire another so they both leave.

Ray gets out of the car and catches his flight, his buddy ditches the pistol and goes home.

Nick and the LA Family just can't get a break. Nick is called before a Grand Jury in Los Angeles and they give him immunity. They want to know about the Julius Petro murder and the LA Family. Nick takes his Cosa Nostra Oath seriously so he sticks to Omerta and gets locked up. Jimmy Frattiano and Ray Feritto are never questioned about the murder.  It will remain unsolved until Ray blows up Cleveland Mobster Danny Greene and is busted.

Meanwhile, his underboss Joe Dippolito is indicted on January 31, 1969 on three counts of perjury for lying during a liquor license inquiry on May 16, 1968. He was released on $10,000 bail and scheduled to be arraigned. On May 17, 1969, he was convicted on two of the three perjury charges. Then, to make matters worse, on June 10, 1969, he was sentenced to five years for each count. That will mean he has to do ten years unless he wins on appeal.

Los Angeles Mafia 1960's

“No, its not Mafia. That’s the expression the outside uses,” Joe Valachi, 1963

In 1963, Law Enforcement and the Cosa Nostra itself were still reeling from the debacle of Appalachia which happened in 1957 (if you missed that post, read it here). All this attention forced the FBI to step it up.  It would soon get much worse for the men who made their living in the Underworld.  Everything changed for the Cosa Nostra in September of 1963.  

Joseph Michael Valachi told everything he knew.  He claimed it was because the organization had ruined his life and he wanted to right that wrong.  Valachi gave the world a new look - an inside look - at a criminal organization that had been called many names by the outside world.  

He referred to it as Cosa Nostra and from then on it was no longer a secret organization.

Why did Valachi flip?

Valachi was a low level Made guy in the Luciano Family, a family which would later become the Genovese Family.  He had been sent to prison for heroin trafficking, and he thought he was marked for death. Vito Genovese, in the same prison, also for heroin trafficking, had given him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  Valachi interpreted it as the so called “kiss of death.”  He did not eat or sleep for weeks after the “kiss” so when an inmate approached him in the yard he thought the guy was going to kill him.  So Valachi beat him to death with a pipe. It turned out to only be a guy who looked like a connected guy, but was not involved in any way. Valachi was now facing a death sentence for killing the inmate.  As a result, he reached out to the FBN who had arrested him for heroin. The FBI quickly took over handling Valachi from the FBN, and he spilled it all.  Once the FBI took over they moved him to jails all over the country and he would finally live out his life in what would become known as the Valachi Suite in La Tuna Federal Prison.

The 1960's were not good to the LA Family.  Frank DeSimone and his underboss had been caught in Appalachian.  The underboss was deported back to Italy, so he appointed Nick Licata as the new underboss.  Then Valachi flipped and caused the Cosa Nostra to be known all over the world.  Gone was the mystery and the mysticism of the once secret organization.  Frank's name and picture were published in newspapers all over.  Look Magazine even did a story naming him as the boss of the LA Family.  Frank filed a lawsuit against the magazine for the story, but he had been caught with the rest of the Cosa Nostra at Appalachian.  Frank was also a second generation boss, his father Rosario DeSimone was part of the Cosa Nostra family in Pueblo, Colorado before moving to Southern California and joining the LA Family.  Rosario would become boss briefly in LA before stepping down to pursue his legitimate business interest in Downey, California. He ran a successful Import/Export business until his death in 1946 of natural causes. He was known as the Chief or Pappa and he kept a low profile.

There was once a shooting outside Rosario’s home in Downey.  Some rivals fired upon Joseph Ardizzone, the man who would later become boss, and Little Jimmy Basile, as the two hoods left a meeting held at DeSimone’s Downey home.  Ardizzone was also known as The Iron Man.

The swift and deadly attack left Basile dead in the street.  Ardizzone was seriously wounded but made it to the safety of the house. DeSimone, his son Leon, "a Stanford grad," and nephew Simone Scozzari were questioned and later released.  People may recognize Simone as the underboss who was picked up with Frank in Appalachia.

Frank's nephew Tommy DeSimone in Queens, New York would become a Lucchese Associate known as Tommy Two Gun.  He would be immortalized on film by Joe Pesci in Goodfella's as Tommy DeVito. He would later be killed for killing a Gambino guy and his body would never be found.  Anthony DeSimone, another nephew, also in Queens, was with the Gambino family.  Anthony was killed by Tommy Agro, a Gambino family Soldier. Frank had gone to USC and graduated to become a successful Criminal Attorney.  However, once Jack Dragna died he would step up to take the top spot.  His new position in the family resulted in lots of bad press, and caused his professional career as an attorney to suffer greatly.

I used to think for a long time that a Boss like Frank was bad for the LA Family. I felt they were to white collar not real gangsters. Now that I am no longer in the life, I see that he could have taken the family in a better direction.  Led it into more white collar or legitimate enterprises.  It is a criminal organization and there is a need for strong men who can put in the heavy work. It is a hard balance to find, a guy who can do the work but not one who likes it. It is one of those things that has to be done as a last resort.  Most famlies have a few guys who can really do the work and others who can help out.  Some have a work crew that handles these things, it keeps everyone in line and it protects the power of the Cosa Nostra.    The only problem with these guys is that they generally get into a lot of trouble and they can never make enough money to live well.  They are really well liked and useful when times are tough but during peace, they are shunned. This is a problem. The solution is to have a balance like the Outfit in Chicago where they take care of their workers.

Joe Bonnano, one of the original bosses on the commission in New York, decided to kill some other bosses.  I guess he wanted to be Capo di tutti cap or Boss of Boss which is not what the Cosa Nostra is about. This plot was leaked to the other bosses by Joe Colombo who was a well known soldier in what would become the Colombo Family.  We will never know the truth about what went down. One of the bosses that he had on his hit list was Frank DeSimone, the boss of the LA Family.  Joe Bonnano was exiled to Tucson, Arizona by the Commission and replaced by Gaspar DiGregorio one of his Capo’s. The Commission told him he was to have no dealings in Brooklyn with his family. They have no formal enforcement arm, just other famlies.  So he moved those loyal to him out west with him to Arizona.  Some guys from other famlies went with him and one of those was  Charlie "Batts" Battaglia, a Made guy in the LA Family, who left the LA family to be with the Bonnano's.  Frank DeSimone took the threat of the hit from Bonnano very seriously.  After the plan was uncovered, he would never again go out after dark. He would still meet with trusted LA Family guys like his underboss Nick Licata but he was not the same.  He later died of a heart attack in Downey, California where he lived with his mother.  

I keep reading about how the LAPD was responsible for the decline of La Cosa Nostra in Los Angeles.   The truth is, they caused their own decline with in-fighting.  Another factor towards decline was the small Italian population of Los Angeles.  Although it nearly doubled from 9,650 in 1920 to 16,851 in 1930 (a surge due in part to a downturn in the Italian film industry which encouraged many Italian film technicians and film set designers move to Los Angeles), most of these immigrants were Northern Italians.

Compare this small number to New York where over 4,000,000 Italians immigrated between 1880 and 1920. That is a huge talent pool that would grow up in the urban ghettos of New York City.  If you look at the what is known as the LA Family, almost all of there Made members were pooled from other places and just ended up here.

Here is what I know.  The boss of the family when I was around was Pete "Shakes" Milano and the Underboss was his brother Carmen.  They were both from Cleveland, Ohio.  Capo Louie Gelfuso was from Providence, Rhode Island.  Capo Jimmy Caci’s soldiers, Charlie Caci, Steve Cino, Rocky Zangari all were from Buffalo, New York.  Soldier John Joseph Vaccaro is from New Orleans.  Capo Louie Caruso is from New Jersey.  Soldier Anthony Fiato is from Boston, Mass.  That is just a few that I can name off the top of my head.   It was a mish-mash of second or third generation immigrants from all over the country.

Next week I will lay out more of the LA Family history.

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The end of an Era in Los Angeles Gangland

The End of Post WWII Gangster Era in Los Angeles

“There are no happy endings in the life.” - Joseph "Joe Campy" Campenella


The Life is what being a wiseguy or being in Organized Crime is called.  Very few men involved in The Life ever live out a full life.  The Life is hard, treacherous and stressful.  Men in The Life never take care of themselves and are frequently locked up.  I’ve seen it so many times in my life.  A guy does very well, lives a super star life and then when he is older he loses it all and there is no way for him to get it back.  

Mickey’s not-so-happy ending

Mickey Cohen lived The Life. He bought a home in Brentwood for forty thousand dollars and then spent forty nine thousand in renovations.  He spent eight hundred dollars a year on shoes. He bought two new Cadillacs a year. All money that legally he should have paid the IRS. So he did his first prison stint in about four years.  Mickey came out and opened up a plant business that supplied real and plastic plants to restaurants.  The scam?  Mickey would have some of his guys walk into places and tell them they needed his plants at say 200 a month. This was a way to get his hooks into restaurants and clubs. He would also continue his bookmaking business.  The house was gone and so was his wife, so Mickey moved into a small apartment.  He had it redone with new carpets, floors and closets. Then Mickey came up with a brilliant scam. The reporters had loved him because he sold papers every time he was on the front page they flew off the racks.  Mickey was a known name and he found that he could use this infamy.  He started working on a piece about himself with a screenwriter who had written the original Scarface.  He started hitting up anyone rich or poor to buy a piece of his life story. He would collect upwards of four hundred thousand dollars. This was working out very well for Mickey until the night of December 2, 1959 at Rondelli’s, when Jack Whalen was murdered.  Mickey and his friends were put on trial.  Luckily for him, they were acquitted.  However, Mickey had no time to celebrate because the IRS came down on him again.  They proved he was guilty of not paying his taxes again and he was sent to Alcatraz, this time for 15 years.  He was there a short time when he was released on an appeal bond but this freedom did not last long.  The appeal was rejected and he was back in Alcatraz. Alcatraz was closed and he was relocated to a Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he was hit in the head with a pipe and partially paralyzed.  After Mickey was home from his prison sentences and in a wheelchair, he lived in an apartment. This time there would be no long nights at clubs or thousand dollar dinners with movie stars. This was the same man who years earlier had raised a million dollars for the state of Israel and then claimed the ship carrying the arms was “lost at sea.” The same man who once had hundreds of bookies paying him weekly.   When Mickey died from stomach cancer in 1976 he was worth a total of three thousand dollars. So much for being the King of the Sunset Strip.

The Sica Brothers

Joe “JS” , Alfred “Fred” , Angelo and Frank Sica.  These were the real faces of Organized Crime power in LA.  Nobody writes about them and they are not in movies.  JS gave many a gangsters his start and right now one of the top guys in  the Boston Cosa Nostra is a Sica taught man. They were part of LA’s Underworld from the 1940’s until the 1990’s when JS passed. The Sica Brothers had long worked out of the Formosa Cafe.  They were still running their empire from their ranch in the Valley all the way to Northern California in the shadows.They Shylocked, Booked sports, ran dope and anything else that made them cash.  The Cosa Nostra had not missed a step when Dragna died in 1956.  They would keep it going till today. This I will get into in future blogs

The LA Family tried for many years to get a casino but had failed. Jack Dragna was a good boss, but he was complacent.  He did not have the drive to get into a casino, he wanted the cash now, not long term. The others did not have what it took to lead the family into these lucrative rackets. They would come close.  Pete Milano would almost get into the Tallyho, Jimmy Frattiano just missed getting into a counting room of his own. Jack Dragna had been close to Benny Benion the Dallas gambling kingpin and later Casino owner but he never did do anything but hit him up for cash.

The Mickey Mouse Mafia is what the LAPD called the LA Family, the press picked up on this and ran with it.  The LAPD likes to pat themselves on the back and claim the Gangster Squad was the reason the Cosa Nostra never grew like it did back east.  The truth though was simple.  The family had no talent pool to pull from.  The Families back east had a large population of Italian immigrants to pull talent from. If you look back on who was in the LA Family everyone was from back East.  If you follow the Cosa Nostra now, you can see that even in New York they have problems today.  They do not have the pool of qualified hoods to pull from.  The Commission realized the pool was small and at the behest of Carmine Persico and John Gotti they decided to okay making guys who were not 100% Italian. This was in the early 80’s.  The two bosses did this mainly so that their sons could join the life and take over for them. The other families gladly welcomed it because they could fill their depleted ranks.


Happier Endings

There is no denying that the men who fought against the gangsters were brave and put their lives on the line for what they felt was right. Those men from LAPD who chased the gangsters during the time after the war would end up much better than the famous gangsters they chased.  One example is Jerry Wooters, the cop who had fed info to Jack Whalen.  After Jack met his end, Jerry soon left the force and started a career in sales. He did very well and moved his family to Newport Beach where he would die a wealthy man.

Jack O'Mara went from the LAPD right to leading the large Security force at Santa Anita Racetrack.  He would live a long fruitful life with his wife and kids. He would laugh about the old stories of dealing with gangsters.  One he often recalled was taking Marshal Caifano up to Coldwater Canyon where he explained to him why he did not want to be in LA.  Marshal was “the man” in  Las Vegas for a while but he ended up in exile in Florida.

Lindo "Jaco" Giacopuzzi was the one Italian on the squad who could speak Italian.  Lindo became rich and successful like Jerry Wooters.  He would build a huge shopping center and he also moved to Newport Beach.


This ends the Gangster era of post World War Two Los Angeles.
Fifty eight murders and only two of those would ever result in people going to prison.