John"Handsome Johnny"Roselli, sometimes spelled Rosselli, was an influential mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped that organization control Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. In the early 1960s, Roselli was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero was a Mafia hitman and longtime caporegime in the Los Angeles crime family. In 1956, with the death of boss Jack Dragna, Bompensiero was demoted to the rank of soldier by the new boss, Frank DeSimone. He was the older brother of associate Salvatore "Sam" Bompensiero. Bompensiero made a name for himself for the many killings he committed on the orders of his superiors. Jimmy Fratianno, a close associate, once said that Bompensiero "had buried more bones than could be found in the brontosaurus room of the Museum of Natural History."
Dominic Phillip Brooklier was an American mobster and boss of the Los Angeles crime family of the Mafia during the mid-1970s who mainly worked in pornography, extortion, and gambling.
Anthony Brancato was an American criminal who served as a freelance gunman to various Mafia and syndicate organizations.
Jack Ignatius Dragna was an American Mafia member and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 20th century. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States. In 1931, he succeeded Joseph Ardizzone as the boss of the Los Angeles crime family after Ardizzone's mysterious disappearance and death. Both James Ragen and Earl Warren dubbed Dragna the "Capone of Los Angeles". Dragna remained the boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1931 until his death in 1956.
Aladena James Fratianno, also known as "Jimmy the Weasel", was an Italian-born American mobster who was acting boss of the Los Angeles crime family. After his arrest in 1977, Fratianno become an informant and entered the Witness Protection Program in 1980. He admitted to having killed five people. Later in life, he became a writer.
Joseph "JS" Sica was a New Jersey mobster involved in armed robbery, murder for hire, extortion, and narcotics distribution. Sica mentored many West Coast mobsters, including Mike Rizzitello and Anthony "the Animal" Fiato. Christopher "Chris" Petti was Sica's longtime partner in the Los Angeles and San Diego rackets. Sica's brothers Alfred, Angelo, and Frank were also associates of Sica's.
The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Los Angeles as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the Los Angeles crime family gained power bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition era. The L.A. family reached its peak strength in the 1940s and early 1950s under Jack Dragna, although the family was never larger than the New York or Chicago families. The Los Angeles crime family itself has been on a gradual decline, with the Chicago Outfit representing them on The Commission since the death of boss Jack Dragna in 1956.
Michael Anthony Rizzitello, also known as "Mike Rizzi", was a high ranking Italian American mobster in the Los Angeles crime family. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947. He was also featured in several biography novels by mobsters-turned-informants Jimmy Fratianno, Anthony Fiato, and Kenny Gallo (Breakshot).
Nick "Old Man" Licata was an Italian American mobster who was the Boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1967 until his death in 1974.
Louis Tom Dragna was an Italian-American mobster, nephew of Jack Dragna and son of Tom Dragna. He was active in the Los Angeles crime family from the 1940s until the early 1980s.
Dragna is an Italian surname and may refer to:
Joseph Charles Dippolito, also well known as Joe Dip, was an Italian American Mafia member in the Los Angeles crime family. The son of fellow Mafioso Salvatore Charles Dippolito, Joe Dip rose to become underboss of the Los Angeles crime family. He was featured in the book The Last Mafioso by Ovid Demaris.
The Last Mafioso: The Treacherous World of Jimmy Fratianno is a biographical novel detailing the life of American Mafia member Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno. It chronicles Fratianno's life from his childhood in Cleveland to becoming the acting Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Author Ovid Demaris gained the information for the book from Fratianno himself in the early 1980s, where they spent hours recording the pair's conversations. Demaris also conducted his own research. The book was released on January 13, 1980 by Crown Publishing. It was the first of two biographical books written about Fratianno; the other is Vengeance is Mine (1987) by Michael J. Zuckerman.
Girolomo "Momo" Adamo (1895–1956) was an Italian American mobster in the American Mafia. He lived in Chicago and Kansas City before moving to Los Angeles in the 1930s and soon became underboss to Jack Dragna in the Los Angeles crime family. His brother Joseph Adamo was also a member of the crime family. Both he and his brother were well connected criminals in San Diego, working with such mobsters as Frank Bompensiero and Jimmy Fratianno. In 1950, Momo was arrested along with several members of Jack Dragna's family including Tom Dragna (brother), Louis Dragna (nephew), and two men named Frank Paul Dragna when Dragna fled the state after being named in the California Crime Commission report as a member of a crime syndicate in Los Angeles. The five of them were taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department, who believed they were responsible for bombing Mickey Cohen's home or knew who was. The men were all released without being charged, when the police couldn't find evidence of their involvement.
The Gangster Squad, later known as the OrganizedCrime Intelligence Division (OCID), was a special unit created by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1946 to keep the East Coast Mafia and organized crime elements out of Los Angeles.
Harold "Hooky" Rothman, also known as Harry Rothman, was a Jewish mobster and mob enforcer who was the right-hand man of Los Angeles kingpin Mickey Cohen during "The Battle of Sunset Strip" for the control of illegal activities in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
