The Priest, The Violin and the Mobster

Frank Calabrese Sr was such a good manipulator that he was able to convince a Roman Catholic priest to help him continue his criminal activity.  If you know Frank’s background then this will come as no surprise.

Frank spent his whole life manipulating others for his own gain.  Frank brought his brother Nicholas into his juice loan business. Nicholas had served in the Navy for two years during the Vietnam conflict, and he worked as an Ironworker after he returned home.  Nicholas had then worked as a court security officer for 11 years in Maywood, Illinois. Nicholas was not afraid to hold a real job and work hard.  In the mid 1970s he also joined his brother Frank in his loan business and worked a double life.  He had no idea it was a lifetime commitment.  Frank was not above using money and threats to keep his brother in the business.   Nicholas would end up taking part in over 14 murders for the Chicago Outfit during his time working with his brother.

Frank was not content to just use his brother in the family business.  Frank would break an unwritten rule in the Chicago Outfit and bring his sons into the family business.  Frank would control every aspect of his son Frank Jr’s life as he grew up. He would alternate between using physical threats and generosity to keep Frank Jr under his control.  He would parcel out cash to Frank Jr so he could control what he did.   He would push him so far that one day Frank Jr would have to turn on his father to stop the evil cycle.

Frank Sr would be found guilty in the Family Secrets trial in Chicago that took down the administration of the Outfit. He was given a life sentence for his part in 13 murders.  Frank Sr would mouth “You are a fucking dead man” to AUSA  T.Markus Funk after he was sentenced.  This earned Frank Sr Special Administrative Measures or SAMs which meant he would have no contact with anyone but his lawyer and certain family members under strict supervision of Federal authorities.  Each year Frank Sr was given a copy of the SAMs that would be implemented and he was informed of their continuation for the year.   In March 2009 Frank was transported to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri where he would serve his life sentence.  Eugene Klein was a Roman Catholic Priest who had served the Bureau of Prisons for over 20 years.  He would provide religious services to the worst that the Federal System had to offer and Frank Calabrese Sr was one of them.   Before he started speaking to Frank Sr he was given the SAMs package on Frank Sr.  He also read about his crimes in the Electronic Posted Picture System, a database that the Bureau of Prison uses. Klein was fully aware of the crimes that Frank Sr had committed.  Klein started giving Frank Sr Communion and other religious instructions soon after he took in all the information.   Frank Sr was locked in a cell with a small slot in which Klein was able to pass material to Frank Sr.  While talking with Frank Sr Klein learned of a hidden violin that Frank Sr claimed was an 18th-century Stradivarius that was likely worth millions of dollars.  

The real story of the violin was this: it was used as collateral for a juice loan by a guy named Corky.  Before Frank Sr took it he found out it was worth around 100k.  It was actually a violin made in 1764 by Giuseppe Artalli.  Frank Sr would claim that it was once owned by Liberace.  He was able to suck Klein into his plot by putting him in touch with associates who were still on the street.

During some of the visits Frank Sr passed notes containing instructions to Klein in the religious material.  Klein then gave it to the associates on the outside and they came up with a plan.

The Violin was hidden in a summer house near Williams Bay, Wisconsin that was being sold by the Government to satisfy the judgement they had against him.  They had already found 800k in cash and another 300k in diamonds hidden in another house.  Klein and his confederates would pose as buyers shopping for a house and one of them would distract the real estate agent while the others would recover the Violin.  The main problem is that Frank Sr may have been losing his mind, because the Violin and everything else had been moved long before.  The other problem was the house had already been sold.  The FBI soon found out about the plot but they never recovered the violin.  The Bureau of Prisons changed the rules when it came to Frank Sr after this last incident.  Nobody was allowed to deal with Frank Sr alone, they had to work in pairs because he was so manipulative.  They did arrest Klein and charged both him and Frank Sr.  Frank Sr would die on December 25, 2012 escaping those charges.  Klein would fight the case until the second of week of February 2015 when he would change his plea to guilty.

One of my mentors, a dirty cop, used to say all you have to do is plant the greed seed and you can get anyone to do anything.  Another guy, Jerry Zimmerman, used to tell me that I had to find out what somebody needed or wanted, what was missing in their life, and then fill it - that is how you turn someone.  Why did Klein disgrace himself? Only Klein can tell us that.  Where is the violin now?  Someone out there is taking violin lessons I am sure.

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.