Mickey Cohen Files

I have recently acquired a lot of FBI Documents on Meyer Harris Cohen AKA: C. Cain, Donald Duitz, Michael Kane, Michael Masters, M. Michaels, Max Patterson, M. Weaver and best known as Mickey Cohen.

Mickey, Mike Howard, Johnny Stompanato

These were easy (and cheap) to get my hands on.  It makes me wonder why all these people writing books or screenplays could not bother to get this information. Its all Freedom of Information Act stuff, which means a lot of the names are redacted.  I have read most of the 4,000 pages, many are FBI Airtels (interoffice memos) and other interoffice communications.

Mickey was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 4 1913 to Max and Fannie Cohen. Both Max and Fannie were born in Russia and emigrated to the US.  Mickey attended school until the age of 15 but never did well because he was a truant.  Max died a year after Mickey was born, and his mother moved them to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles. 

He was a bad kid and did a lot of time in reform school.  In 1929 he moved to Cleveland to train as a pro boxer.  He was never a stand out in pro boxing but I am sure from what I have read that he fought in a lot of "smokers" or illegal fights.  He became known as a scrappy tough fighter, although not a great fighter.

He got involved in the gambling rackets in Cleveland with some other Jewish gangsters but soon left for Chicago.  Once in Chicago, he built up a gambling business that included games and taking bets.  He got into trouble with some Outfit men and soon left for Los Angeles.  

Once in Los Angeles he began shaking down madams for cash and this brought him to Joe Sica. The FBI has Joe Sica listed as part of the Mafia, but according to everything I have been told, he was never a made guy. Joe, along with his brothers, was a huge money maker that basically ran his own family that stretched from Tijuana to the Bay Area.  Joe Sica had a huge gambling network and was a very big drug smuggler.  He was very well respected by many Cosa Nostra bosses all over the country.

Joe Sica and a man named Mike Howard witnessed Mickey's marriage at a Chapel on Western Ave in Los Angeles on October 15, 1940, the marriage would last until February 1st, 1957 when his wife divorced him because of "extreme cruelty."  He must have done something because he got away with just paying her 1 dollar a month in alimony.

The FBI had a number of female informants that gave them information on Mickey and by the winter of 1950 they were investigating them for kidnapping a former Los Angeles Gambler/Bookie who had fled to Las Vegas because he owned Mickey $5,000.  Mickey found out where the man was living and had his men grab him and put him on a plane to Los Angeles.  Once in Los Angeles, the man gave Mickey two checks for 1000.00 each that he deposited in his own account!  The FBI seized them from the bank and opened a safety deposit box he had at the bank but the victim told them he came to Los Angeles on his own accord.  That case died on the vine.

The FBI would speak to anyone who was ever seen with Mickey, including a number of Hollywood stars and others in the entertainment business.  They all said that Mickey loved the attention and loved being in the media.  He lived for the spotlight.  

Mickey was arrested for tax evasion twice.  After his release he had a number of businesses, Michael's Greenhouses 1956-57, Carousel Ice Cream Parlor 1958-60, he owned a piece of Rounders Restaurant and he went on to sell his life story many times, but he never had a resulting book published.  

The selling of his life story was a con job that he used to get cash from a lot of people.  He did have a really well known gifted writer working on it.  The man's name was Ben Hecht, and he won an Academy Award for Underworld at the very first awards ceremony.  He also wrote the classic movie Scarface, the original black and white movie.

Mickey and Ben went to La Paz Mexico to finish the book but it was never finished.

Mickey moved into a brand new apartment complex at 705 South Barrington where he paid a lot of money at the time, $250.00 a month in rent.  He had lived for years at the Hotel Del Capri on Wilshire before he moved.  Another soon-to-be famous name also lived at the Del Capri, Johnny Stompanato, the sometimes body guard of Mickey.  Stompanato had been a Marine during World War II for 3 years until he was discharged honorably.  The FBI had information that Cohen was working with others back east in an extortion ring where they used young good looking people like Stompanato as gigolos that catered to both men and women.  Stompannato was killed by his girlfriend Lana Turner's daughter in April of 1958.  

The FBI and the LAPD Intelligence division had a number of bugs in Mickey's places. It would be great to listen to those tapes!

One of the things they picked up was Mickey having someone break into Stompanato's room when he was killed and stealing his shave kit.  It was not just a shave kit it had a bundle of love letters from Lana Turner which Mickey sold to the tabloids.

A lot of the memos and Airtels are from the FBI Top Hoodlum Program but in none of them do they ever refer to Mickey as a Boss or part of what they called the Mafia at the time The Syndicate. They just call him a hoodlum or a muscleman who collects debts with bodily force.  He was employed by the Flamingo Casino Hotel to collect cash from guys who left Las Vegas without paying their markers. 

There were a lot of FBI Memos from an informant who was a woman that was close to Bugsy Seigal. She told the FBI that when Bugsy came to LA he wanted to establish himself as a sportsman, not a gangster, so he used Mickey because he would do whatever he was asked to do.  He helped Bugsy get bookmakers signed up for the wire service he was repping at the time.

She went on to tell the FBI that Mickey was never on the inside circle and that is why after Bugsy was murdered in Beverly Hills, Mickey went to the Ambassador Hotel with a pistol.

This lady was pretty plugged into the workings of the Mafia or Syndicate because she told the FBI after Los Angeles Boss Jack Dragna died Nick Licata took over aided by Frank Milano!  She told them that Jimmy Frattiano was a killer who set up Mickey to be murdered.  She told them that Frattiano had killed Frank Nicoli, Dave Ogul and the Two Tonys.  She also gave them information on Frank Costello being the boss but later falling out of favor.  I am pretty sure I know who this informant was and I am sure many of you can guess because she later moved to Europe.

 One story that has been told and retold is Mickey killing bookie Max Shaman who came into his office on May 16, 1945 threatening him.  The FBI claimed the real shooter was Hooky Rotham, his body guard, but Mickey took the blame because it was easier to claim self defense.  Paulie Gibbons was a burglar, gambler, cheater and armed robber of gamblers.  He also robbed Mickey's home. Mickey told people he wanted him dead, but he was killed instead by major gamblers Benny Gamson and George Levinson.  They would be gunned down by Hooky Rothman near their home.  Hooky was paid $500.00 a week by Mickey.  The other men working for Mickey were paid $200.00 a week. Hooky would never face the music for any murders because he was killed by Frank Bomp when Frattiano set up Mickey in his Haberdashery on Sunset Blvd.

It is very clear from all the papers that Mickey was never a boss.  He shook down madams, bookies, drug dealers.  He conned people for money, extorted them, did armed robberies, dealt in stolen credit cards and shoplifted clothes.  The real Gangsters of that era are still relatively unknown men like Jack Dragna, Nick Licata, Frank Milano and the Sica Brothers.  It is also clear that Mickey bribed LAPD Vice and other officials.  He also informed for them, giving up his competition.  He had an LAPD Sgt for a body guard and that was not the only time. He was shot outside Sherry's on Sunset along with Special Agent Harry Cooper from the California Attorney General's office.  No other gangster has ever had law enforcement body guards in public.

Reality vs. Fiction: Mob City's Mickey Cohen vs. Today's Colombo Family

Hollywood never tires of making movies about the Mafia.  The problem is they don’t know the way it works.  So they claim they are telling true stories, yet they make up the facts.  Every person from the writer to the studios has to put their spin on it, throw in their ideas of how it may have happened, yet not one of them knows a thing about the life or bothers to talk to anyone who actually does.  They do research by reading books written by people who also don’t know anything.  They “learn” by watching other poorly done movies.  Or, they might even speak to a copper, who knows very little about the whole story.  Once in awhile, they might find some old guy who was somehow “part of the life” in a farfetched stretch of reality, for example their “insider” was maybe a bartender at a watering hole a few mobsters frequented.

Reality Vs Fiction: MOBCITY

This is what they say about the show. “Mob City is a television series created by Frank Darabont for TNT. It is based on real-life accounts of the L.A.P.D. and gangsters in 1940s Los Angeles as chronicled in the book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City by John Buntin.”  

I see billboards all over the city calling Mickey Cohen the “Godfather of LA”.  That is an incredible feat for a one-time “Never Contender” Boxer who was not part of any organization but his own.  They will continue to credit him with murders that real Gangsters from the Dragna Family, The Outfit and other families back East committed.  The Cosa Nostra Family, that at Mickey Cohen’s time was headed by Jack Dragna, was already 50 years old by the time of Cohen’s run as LA's “Newspaper Gangster.”

Mickey Cohen (the little guy) and his "bodyguard" who was also conveniently a California Highway Patrol Officer

Yes, Mickey was a tough guy and he did shoot a guy in his wire room off La Brea.  But, he never killed one guy in the Dragna Family.  During the time of his so-called reign as the Godfather of LA, the Dragna Family had over 60 inducted members.  Mickey Cohen was a Bookmaker.  The Dragna Family had huge shylock loans all over the city, they also had their own wire rooms.  Dragna himself had his office downtown in the produce area, where he imported bananas and other fruit.  He had at least two freighters that came up from South America.  Now who here thinks all they brought from South America was fruit?  

Mickey Cohen in a hospital bed after being shot by Dragna's men.  LA's first Reality TV mobster seen here talking to reporters and police.

Many others in La Cosa Nostra were also in the importing business.  They ran the garment district because Tommy Lucchese, a relative of Dragna, was huge in the Garment Unions.  The Chicago Outfit was big in LA because they ran the Unions that extorted the Studios.  

The control of Unions in Hollywood still was going on in the 1980's.  I knew a guy who was the head of the Projectionist Union and they were important because no movie could be shown at a theatre unless a Union guy was in the booth.  This all changed with Digital because there is no need to change film reels.

I love how they get cops to tell us how Mobsters act.  They only know what they hear by rumor.  They were never in a crew, never inside.  It is like those talking heads on those TV show “documentaries” on gangsters that say things like Carmine Persico was a ruthless guy who only wanted power.  Yet they never met Carmine, or any made guy for that matter.  They read about it in books written by others who did not know, from their safe office.

Los Angeles was never an "Open" city for the Cosa Nostra.  It always had a family, since before 1900.  The rules of Cosa Nostra as set forth by the formation of the Commission in 1931 are that every family is equal.  That means no family can come into another family’s area and just set up shop.  When New York came to Los Angeles, they made arrangements with Jack Dragna.  When the Chicago Outfit came and did their extortion of the Movie Studios, they gave the LA Family a piece.  They let them in on their Wire service when they brought it to Los Angeles. People have to understand how the Cosa Nostra works. Lets say guys from The Patriarca Family came to Los Angeles to open up a porn studio.  They would clear it with LA and give them a small piece.  LA would not expect a large share unless they used their people as enforcers or workers.

In 1957 Mickey Cohen was on TV being interview by Mike Wallace.  Now what kind of Gangster would do that?  All Mickey was doing is living off his past exploits. In 1957 The Commission met in up State New York at the home of mobster Joseph Barbara in Apalachin, New York on November 14, 1957.  Over 58 Made Guys were arrested but not one from the so-called Jewish Mafia. Los Angeles was represented by the REAL BOSS Frank DeSimone and his Underboss Sam Scozzari.  Why were there no other guys from other ethnic groups?  Only Italians were inducted into families and many are related.  

Mickey Cohen died broke in a little one bedroom apartment.  The families of the LA Family owned huge garment center businesses, trucking firms, wineries, vast tracts of land in what is now Ontario California, Apartment buildings etc.

Reality TV meets real life.  Mob Wives has a new cast member Alicia DiMichele Garofalo and her claim to fame?  She is the wife of Edward Garafalo Jr aka Eddie, whose father was murdered by Sammy Gravano (because Sammy was greedy).  Eddie Garofalo Jr ran his Big R Trucking and Equipment (T&E), and another trucking business, from a truck yard in Staten Island that used to be owned by his cousin Eddie Garafola, a Made Gambino guy and a relative of Sammy Gravano.  He ran it before out of a yard in Downtown Brooklyn.  I started wearing a wire and taping Eddie when he was still at the fuel oil lot in Brooklyn.  I even drew the FBI a layout where they would talk about important things.  Eddie is a big guy.  Mostly, a fat guy.  And yes, just like all big guys he likes to push around guys who are smaller.  He would fight guys who were smaller with no skill. 

Fat Eddie and Alicia.  Eddie introduced me to people as his cousin, and you can see here why people may have believed him.

 Yesterday, Eddie was sentenced by a Federal Judge for his crimes, which included ripping off the Union for employee benefits, things like health insurance and retirement.  Alicia used to help him, so she was also charged and has plead guilty. Big R trucking was named after their child.  

Eddie also plead out to a murder conspiracy.  I was there with the wire running. Eddie egged the whole thing on and he is the one who brought it up in front of Teddy Persico Jr.  Yet when we got to Teddy’s mothers house to pick up "the gear" aka guns, Eddie had to run inside to use the bathroom. After they handed out their really crappy "gear," and all I had was a knife, Eddie told me to duck if they started shooting.  Once we were at the spot, the Cops and paramedics were also there. Then Eddie Uncle Manny drove by and stopped. Strange.  Today the headlines in the New York Daily News read:

“Mafioso husband of 'Mob Wives' star sent to prison for 7 years in extortion case.”  They called him “Reputed Colombo enforcer Edward (Tall Guy) Garofalo, Jr.”  Now that is a strech, according to a number of my friends who knew them when they were all young.  And I quote " If the Colombos needed an enforcer, Eddie Garofolo is the last guy they would call."  End Quote.  

People around him felt sorry for him because his father was killed by Sammy the Bull for no reason, and he didn’t do anything in retaliation.  Not that he could do anything.  

Now Eddie is going to be calling in on the reality show from prison.  I wonder what Teddy Persico, his Capo, thinks about that?  Just like the real mafia guys in LA would never have been on TV like Mickey Cohen, every mob guy knows mob guys don’t go on TV.  It’s a secret society.

To top it all off, according to the New York Post, Eddie’s Wife Alicia has been carrying on a 3 year affair with a married restaurateur. That is how she thanks her husband, after he plead out so that she would get no time.

Do we see a rule 35 hearing coming up in the future?

For more details on the affair, click here.

That is the real Mafia, full of honor.  

Eddie's Uncle Manny, today a free man.  He received zero jail time from the judge, even though he plead guilty and had plenty of clear evidence stacked against him.  Makes you wonder why they let him off...???

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.

Gangland Los Angeles: Not Like The Movies

If people were only to watch Hollywood movies like LA Confidential, Gangster Squad and Bugsy, they would get the idea that Mickey Cohen was the only real Gangster in Los Angeles.  The writers of these "gangster" movies have no idea how a real Mobster would act or how it works.

One myth I would like to bury is the yelling, threatening crime boss. If you are a boss of a crew  (for example, Mickey Cohen) you are paying guys to be your muscle. Yelling, berating, beating, killing is not done BY the boss.  Also, none of that is done TO the boss.

Why? These men are hardened criminals. Why would they let another man talk down to them?  They lose all credibility on the street if it were to get out.  Cosa Nostra: you have men who want to  be in the organization, men that took an oath.  You never yell or raise your hands.

There were three main groups in LA during the time period of Gangster Squad.  One was the Los Angeles Cosa Nostra Family, headed by Jack Dragna. The Underboss was Momo Adamo and they had 60 plus men.  The FBI likes to estimate that for every Made guy there are 10 associates.  The second was Joe Sica or JS and his brothers.  They ran a vast empire from Mexico to San Francisco from their Valley home base. They  would outlast everyone.  The third was Bookmaker Mickey Cohen. Mickey bought his loyalty and soon many of his men would end up dead at the hands of The Cosa Nostra.


The Most Famous Gangland Murder in Los Angeles

Tony Brancato and Tony Trombino aka the Two Tony's. These two guys were bad.  They were freelance muscle and armed robbers.  They were not killed by Mickey Cohen as portrayed in LA Confidential.  In fact, Mickey was already locked up for tax evasion when they were killed. He had nothing to do with it.

The two Tony's had run into trouble because they dared to rob a bookmaker in Las Vegas. Las Vegas at this time is not the family friendly vacation destination. It was an adult playground founded and owned by the Cosa Nostra. The rules were simple, no crime was to be committed in the town by any criminal.  Even the Cosa Nostra took care of business outside the town. They believed that crime would scare away gamblers and that was bad for business.  The penalty for crime was death and it would be swift.

Setting: Los Angeles, The Five O'Clock Club.   This was Nick Licata's bar in Los Angeles.  Nick Licata was a Capo in the family and he used it as a meeting place for his crew. Jack Dragna pulled Jimmy Frattiano, a newly made soldier in the family, aside, "Jimmy, these two guys. Tony Trombino and Tony Brancato - they are no good. They need to be handled. Take care of it," Jack says.  Jimmy says he'll set something up, "I'll reach out to them today."

Jimmy would then reach out to them through a bookmaker in Los Angeles. They were out on bail for the Las Vegas robbery and they were hiding in Los Angeles.

Jimmy met with them and told them about a high stakes poker game they could rob for fast cash. They needed cash because they were facing time.  Jimmy told them he would drive but could not go in because people would recognize him. They went for it, agreeing to give Jimmy a full cut.

Jimmy set up a meet for later that night.

It would go down like this.  Angelo Polizzi would drive Jimmy and Charley Battaglia to the street where they would meet the two Tony's. He would wait down the street.  Leo Moceri would drive the crash car and be a back up shooter in case anything went wrong.

Jimmy and Charley were waiting on the street just off Hollywood Blvd.  The car pulled up with Tony Trombino driving and Tony Brancato in the passenger seat. Charley went in first and was behind Brancato, Jimmy was behind Trombino.

Time stood still for Jimmy as he opened the rear door for Charley. When he got in and closed the door his heart was pounding, a cold sweat ran from his armpits.  Jimmy took a deep breath, relaxed, pulled out his snub nose 38. cal pistol and placed it to the back of Trombino's head. Boom, Boom. Trombino jerked forward and back from the impact of the slugs. Blood and smoke filled the car. Charley was frozen, so Jimmy turned his pistol on Brancato and fired four times.  Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom.  Charley woke up and fired his pistol one time.  Boom! He opened his door and ran out. Jimmy, now bloody with his ears ringing, opened the door and walked to Angelo in the getaway car.

This was how the Cosa Nostra handled problems.  It shows how the families worked together. Las Vegas was still an open city to other Cosa Nostra families but New York and Chicago ran it with an iron fist.    Jack Dragna gave the contract to Jimmy Frattiano, the new guy from Cleveland. This would make Jimmy's reputation in the Cosa Nostra,  Jimmy murdered two tough men in a few seconds and later would be picked up by the LAPD. He would walk on the charges but everyone knew he had done the work. This is one of the things most people do not understand about the Cosa Nostra or Mafia.  You do not get paid to kill, you do not ask why, you just do it.  Every guy connected is there to protect the Organization, to protect its rackets and members and preserve the power.  It is part of the life.