RICO and The Mafia

The 1970's was a bad decade for La Cosa Nostra and they had no idea what was yet to come. One word: RICO, an acronym for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It was introduced into the US Code in 1970 after having been written by G. Robert Blakey.

RICO is the single most powerful weapon the Government had to use against the Mafia.  They used two other weapons in conjunction with the RICO Act, asset forfeiture and The Witness Security Program.

RICO enabled the FBI to finally make cases against the Bosses that controlled the Mafia.  J. Edger Hoover never let his Agents work undercover because he felt they would get dirty.  So they were stuck making cases against low level hoods.  RICO enabled the Government to put together cases against the organization as a whole based on two predicated acts committed in a 10 year period for the group or with it.  These acts or crimes are (1) “racketeering activity,” which means any act of murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, dealing in a controlled substance or a listed chemical, dealing in obscene material (Porn etc) -- and this definition really gives the Government a second bite at the apple.  They can use crimes you already did time for to hit you with RICO.

There are more acts but this is not a law blog and I just want to give you an idea of what it is about:

- It shall be unlawful for any person who has received any income derived, directly or indirectly, from a pattern of racketeering activity or through collection of an unlawful debt in which such person has participated as a principal

- It shall be unlawful for any person through a pattern of racketeering activity or through collection of an unlawful debt to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, any interest in or control of any enterprise which is engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce.

Like I said above, this is just a little bit of the RICO ACT. The best part?  You get 20 years to life and lose everything as does your family.

So the FBI used this as a big hammer against the Mafia.  By the late 70's they really knew how to use it best.  They then started assaults on the Families all over the country.  They started an operation against the oldest Mafia family in the US headed by its iron fisted leader Carlos Marcello who had ruled the New Orleans underworld for decades.

The FBI called this Operation Brilab.

The FBI got the whole operation moving when a Washington DC Lobbyist Isaac Irving Davidson started doing business with a convicted conman from Los Angeles named Joseph Hauser. Davidson was really in the mix in DC politics and he also happened to be very close to Carlos Marcello.  Davidson introduced Hauser to Carlos and soon, thanks to a quarter million dollars, Carlos had him working with all the Unions.  Hauser even bought a New Orleans insurance company, but things did not go well.  He was soon in deep troubles with the SEC and the Feds.  Hauser was looking at some huge fines and prison time for his failed insurance business.  That is when the FBI approached him to work as an informant in Operation Brilab against Carlos Marcello.  Hauser soon introduced two undercover FBI Agents to Carlos.  The two undercover agents had set up a fake insurance company in Los Angeles and they were soon looking for Carlos to get them contracts through his contacts.  Carlos fell for this right away because all he could see was the huge cut he would get from the commissions.  It was during this time that Hauser, wearing a wire, picked up Carlos talking about the LA Family.  

The Los Angeles Family leadership, Boss Dominic Brooklier, Underboss Sam Scorentino, Capo Mike Rizzi and others were facing a RICO case thanks to Jimmy Frattiano who had flipped after the family had turned against him.  He became the second made member of the Cosa Nostra to flip and tell the FBI everything.  One of the things he told the FBI about was how the LA Family had set up and killed Frank Bompensiero in San Diego.

Carlos was close to the LA Family because a high ranking member was related to Sam Scorintino, the LA Underboss.  This is what Carlos told Hauser, "I'm doin' this for friends of mine in California. They Maf like me, you know, personal friends." The FBI came up with a plan right away because now they had proof from Carlos that he was in the Mafia.  They had Hauser tell Carlos that he could bribe a Federal Judge and help out the LA Family.  Carlos played right into the FBI's trap, he was eager to help his friends. Carlos agreed to pay the judge $125,000 for the bribe to help out the family.  The FBI took Carlos down.  First on the Brilab and then on attempting to bribe a Federal judge in Los Angeles.  Carlos lost his RICO case in New Orleans and he knew right away that he would lose the LA Case.  Carlos had beaten the Government for years on his home turf, but in LA it was a different story.  He was convicted on all counts and soon faced almost 20 years in prison.  The LA Family had gotten of easy because Tommy Riccardi, the shooter of Frank Bompensiero, had died during the trial.  Los Angeles Family Boss Dominic Brooklier, largely resulting from the testimony of government informant Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno, is convicted of racketeering charges and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. Other members of his organization include Capo Michael "Big Mike Rizzi" Rizzitello with 5 years, Underboss Samuel Scoirtino with 4 years, and 2 years each for Capo Louis Dragna and Consigliere Jack LoCicero, who are also convicted of racketeering, included the gangland slaying of former Capo/Consigliere Frank Bompensiero.

This case shows a lot about how the Cosa Nostra works, how they cross state lines and how relations exist among all the families. It also proves how effective RICO can be against Organized Crime.

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!