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.

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.