When William H. Parker became Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department in 1950, the police started cracking down on organized crime instead of assisting it. [60] Since Milano's reign, the family was heavily involved in narcotics, pornography, gambling and loan sharking. On July 9, 1969, Licata was taken into custody after refusing to answer questions at a federal grand jury session about L.A.'s crime syndicate structure. [11] Dragna had a daughter Anna Rosalia Dragna, who later married and changed her surname to Niotta. [10] During prohibition the two were successful in running bootlegging operations in Southern California as well as gambling and extortion. They were distant cousins from Piana dei Greci. The soldier and hitman served both the Cleveland and Los Angeles crime families. The L.A.P.D. However, since Peter Milano's paroled release in 1991, he took back control of the weakened family. [5] He then fled California and hid in different states. He refused to fall in line behind Dragna and Dragna saw this as an opportunity to eliminate him as Cohen began to create his own crime family that quickly began to rival Dragna's. Compared to neighboring county Clinton and county Cook it's a more dangerous . [22] By 1937, the Los Angeles crime family controlled the illegal gambling in Los Angeles. [34] In 1951, Cohen was imprisoned for tax evasion and the L.A. family moved in on his gambling business. He reached Los Angeles in 1901, after first settling in New Orleans, and he became a wealthy and politically connected rancher in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland. Warner, Richard N. "The First Mafia Boss of Los Angeles? Dragna was dubbed the "Capone of Los Angeles" and was boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1931 until his death in 1956. He later surrendered to authorities, and was questioned in the U.S. Senate Kefauver hearings, but denied all accusations against him. When California Dreaming Becomes Deadly: Was Hamilton (ON) Mob Figure Made In L.A. His other children, including Stefano and Francesco also moved to the Los Angeles area. After switching allegiance to the Los Angeles crime family, Milano became a made man in 1970. Although many sources speak of a rivalry between them, Dragna and Siegel worked closely together, especially at organizing a racing wire service on the West Coast.[6]. Brucceleri took over the boss role after the death of Nick Licata. Ardizzone. [68] By the 1990s the L.A. family was estimated to have 20 official members. . In 1931, Dragna succeeded Joseph Ardizzone as boss of the Los Angeles crime family. His driver Jimmy Basile was killed. The Los Angeles family since made moves into Las Vegas with the Buffalo crime family. Mickey Cohen was part of the Jewish mafia with ties to the American mafia. At that time, Brucceleri died in federal prison. [52] In March 1973, seven men were arrested for running a rigged gambling operation in Los Angeles that brought in up to $250,000 a month. Will the last guy left in L.A. mob please turn out the lights? Almost every member of the family charged pleaded guilty to receive lesser sentences and the F.B.I. DeSimone died on Aug. 4, 1967, of natural causes. [19] With the deaths of Buccola and DiCiolla in 1930 and 1931, respectively, Ardizzone (who was a suspect in both murders) was the undisputed leader of crime in L.A. His legitimate businesses were in real estate properties and a vending company called "Rome Vending Company".[3]. Since then a host of mobsters fought to take control of liquor operations that Marco and the City Hall Gang previously dominated. When Frank DeSimone died of a heart attack, Licata became new L.A. Mob boss with no opposition in 1967, and he made Joseph Dippolito of Upland, California, his underboss. These included members of the Matranga, Ardizzone and Cuccia families. MafiaGenealogy article by Justin Cascio: Los Angeles, 1915: Jack Dragna and Sam Streva. In the late 1920s, Dragna and Johnny Roselli constantly battled Charlie Crawford for control of the lucrative bootlegging rackets. Since its inception in the early 1900s, it has spread throughout Southern California.Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. family gained power bootlegging during the Prohibition Era.The L.A. family reached its peak in the 1940s and . His close supporters included Girolamo "Momo" Adamo and John Roselli. When he tried to challenge higher powers by moving in on syndicated gambling rackets, he was murdered in 1931. Ardizzone returned to Los Angeles in 1914 and resumed his feud with the Matranga family. Ardizzone is widely regarded as the first Mafia "boss" in the Los Angeles area. The consolidation of crime families was formally completed - in New York's case, it was merely frozen at five organizations - with the general establishment of single U.S.-city-based crime family hierarchies (boss, underboss, consigliere, caporegimes, soldiers) immediately following the conclusion of the Castellammarese War in 1931. [14] With the continuing Ardizzone-Matranga feud, Di Giorgio was able to relocate to Los Angeles and bring some order to the Los Angeles underworld. Pittston, where Bufalino's crime operation was based, was considered as being in the "same league" as cities like New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans "as headquarters for organized crime . In 1922, Dragna married his second cousin, Francesca Rizzotto. His underboss Rosario DeSimone, who moved from Pueblo, Colorado to Los Angeles around the same time as Di Giorgio, was another longtime power figure who stayed out of the city and operated bootlegging rackets quietly in Los Angeles County. Armed with top hitman Frank Bompensiero and Jimmy Fratianno (who committed over 30 murders on the orders of their superiors), Dragna muscled his way into controlling territory stretching throughout California and Southern Nevada. arrow_forward. He was born during his parent's stay in Pueblo, Colorado. Anthony Spilotro, a dominant force in Las Vegas rackets for nearly two decades, had been dead for eight years when FBI agents decided in October 1994 to take a fresh look at organized crime's . In what he later called an act of self-defense, Joseph shot and killed a Matranga ally named George Maisano in 1906. Since Jack Dragna's 1956 death, Los Angeles was starting to be seen as an "open city" where any Mafia family could do business, but Fratianno hoped that by restoring the ailing family, he would be a candidate to officially run the family after Brooklier was released. He became the West Coast crime boss after the assassination of Bugsy Siegel in 1947. He appears to have had a relationship with Gaetano Reina, who eventually led his own crime family in Manhattan and the Bronx. The Los Angeles Family was certainly active during this time period. Competing families engaged in near-constant feuding from the 1890s into the 1930s. The organization was desperate to fend off regional incursions by mobsters from New York and Chicago and to extract protection payments from bookmakers and narcotics peddlers. Basile was killed and Ardizzone wounded. Until his death, Peter Milano was still believed to be the official Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. On July 9, 1969, Licata was taken into custody after refusing to answer questions at a federal grand jury session about L.A.'s crime syndicate structure. The Los Angeles crime family is the last Mafia family left in the state of California.[9]. [58] Fratianno testified against mobsters not only in Los Angeles, but across the entire country. The Ardizzone family came to America at different times. Soon after, he was promoted to caporegime (captain) in the family. In 1931, he succeeded Joseph Ardizzone as the boss of the Los Angeles crime family after Ardizzone's mysterious disappearance and death. He left for Los Angeles after offending its boss, Joseph Zerilli. Thomas "Tom" Feargal Hagen was the son of German-American Martin Hagen and Irish . Son of notorious Italian-American crime lord John 'Sonny' Franzese, Sr., Michael was raised amidst an atmosphere of crime and . In 1931, when the Castellammarese War between Joseph Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano was taking place, the Los Angeles crime family may have supported Maranzano. Last edited on 25 November 2022, at 02:15, "California Digital Newspaper Collection | Los Angeles Herald September 26, 1906", Riverside Daily Press, Volume XXIX, Number 307, 28 December 1914 accessed September 22,2018, Los Angeles Herald Volume XLIII, Number 304 22 October 1918. Licata's underboss was Joseph Dippolito. Other businesses including running gambling ships, a heroin smuggling operation, and collecting extortion money. Months later Milano and 11 other men were indicted for conspiracy, racketeering and extortion against bookmakers, loan sharks, and pornographers. Dragna would send in men to threaten businesses, then the owners would pay Dragna for protection (unaware that these were Dragna's own men). In 1950, Dragna appointed Frank Bompensiero to run underworld affairs in San Diego. About this game. This left a power vacuum in the family and enabled Milano to step up and become acting boss. The entire hierarchy of the family including the Milano brothers, captains Mike Rizzitello, Jimmy Caci, and Luigi Gelfuso along with many other mobsters were arrested on various charges in the late 1980s, due largely to information and recordings collected by the Fiato brothers. [2] Milano was active in organized crime from the 1950s until his death. Outkick host Curt Schilling sat down with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday and was very blunt on how he views Ukraine currently, comparing it to fascist Italy under dictator Benito Mussolini and calling it a "bad" place with "bad" people. [51] A pair of indictments in the mid-1970s threaten to put most of the working family in prison. Once Siegel ran out of favor with New York, he was ordered to be killed. DeSimone was the son of early southern California Mafioso Rosario DeSimone, who had been a lieutenant to Vito DiGiorgio. [8] Not having a strong concentration of Italian-Americans in the region leaves the family to contend with the many street gangs of other ethnicities in the city. The Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in California, as part of the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra ). Turncoat mobster Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno revealed that Bucceleri, Samuel Sciortino and Louis Dragna determined that Bompensiero was informing on their activities and needed to be killed. [61] 20 reputed organized crime figures were arrested in 1984, in what law enforcement officials said was a bid to take over a $1 million-a-week bookmaking operation in Los Angeles. Dragna fled the state to avoid questioning. Joseph "Joe Iron Man" Ardizzone (born Giuseppe Ernesto Ardizzone; Italian pronunciation:[duzppe ernsto ardittsone]; November 19, 1884 disappeared October 15, 1931, declared dead 1938) was an Italian-born early Los Angeles mobster, who became the first Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Brooklier later ordered the death of Frank Bompensiero for his growing criticism of the family, and later finding good evidence that Bompensiero was cooperating with the FBI. When Brooklier was sentenced to a 20-month prison stint along with underboss Samuel Sciortino in 1975, Jimmy Fratianno on Tom Dragna's request, transferred back to the L.A. family from Chicago, and was named co-acting Los Angeles boss with Dragna. The Mystery of Vito Di Giorgio, 1880-1922. ", This page was last edited on 25 November 2022, at 02:15. He controlled the L.A. Mafia for seven troubled years until his own death. [59][69] Los Angeles doesn't have a high concentration of Italians like the East Coast to support them, so recruiting new members is challenging. Officer Jack O'Mara found the wedding invitations with the names of members of Detroit's and L.A.'s crime families on them while carrying out an arrest warrant on Licata. Dragna was the most successful boss the L.A. family ever had. [14] Di Giorgio was known as an intimidating and forceful man who was in conflict with several local underworld factions. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States. [3] Licata held a fish fry party at his Five O'Clock Club Burbank Restaurant restaurant, and other guests and a waitress testified before a grand jury that Fratianno and his associates were at the restaurant the entire night. [43] By 1965, it was estimated that the number of members of the L.A. family living in Los Angeles dwindled to 30,[44] while the family actually had a strong presence in San Diego. 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. The killing of Bugsy Siegel in his Beverly Hills home in June 1947 made the front page of the L.A. Times. [11] This made him a well liked man in the Italian community. He later renounced organized crime and evolved into an author, activist, and motivational speaker. Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. He was born during his parent's stay in Pueblo, Colorado. In return for his testimony, he pleaded guilty to the murder charges and received a five-year prison sentence, of which he served 21 months. After Prohibition, Dragna moved conservatively into gambling, operating off-shore gambling ships. Di Giorgio maintained strong connections with mobsters in New Orleans, Colorado, and Chicago,[14] and was a cousin, close friend, and mob associate of New York City mobster Giuseppe Morello, the first boss of the Morello crime family. Early in 1931, Dominic DiCiolla, regarded by authorities as boss of the Italian liquor rackets, was shot to death. Over time, the southern California Mafia resisted apparent incursions from criminal organizations in Chicago and Cleveland. 28 Feb 2023 06:37:45 According to an unidentified informant, he raped the wife of former underboss Girolamo "Momo" Adamo, which caused Adamo to shoot his wife (who survived) and kill himself. Under Ardizzone's tenure, organized crime began consolidating under his banner as he dominated criminal activities in L.A. . Tiernan. Tommy Lucchese, of the Lucchese crime family, was Dragna's main contact in New York. 1906 - Joseph Ernest Ardizzone (Nov. 1884 to Oct. 1931). In October, 1984, Milano and nineteen other alleged organized crime figures were arrested and charged with conspiracy to control bookmaking in the region. (Authorities speculated that Ardizzone was eliminated by his own men.) Biography [ edit] Early life [ edit] Those families included the Cuccias and the Matrangas.[4]. Crawford. He was possibly the underboss of the LA family by the early 2000s while he was still in his 20s (though the family is basically just him now) Reply SnooTomatoes2894 . Upon the resignation of Rosario DeSimone for unknown reasons, he became the next chief of the Los Angeles crime family. Ardizzone and his local rivals may have been forced to give ground when Vito DiGiorgio was installed as regional leader around 1920. Along with Dragna avoiding the spotlight and public life, he often was given the reputation as a weak ruler. Paul Castelanno was the 5th family boss to be killed and John Gotti was probably weeks away from being killed by the commission before he went to . Sam and his successor, Pietro "Peter" Matranga, were both murdered within 33 days of each other in 1917. [9] His funeral was attended by 150 people. The Los Angeles Family was certainly active during this time period. The most prominent of these was the Matranga family. [6] When Dragna died in 1956 Frank DeSimone became the new boss of the family. Since Milano's reign, the family was heavily involved in narcotics, pornography, gambling and loan sharking. Raymond W. "Ray" Ferritto (8 April 1929-10 May 2004) was a hitman and a former US Marine who was working for the Cleveland crime family and the Los Angeles crime family. Pete James mentioned in his blog that he even from his childhood he loved playing risky games with his family. - Active-ragdoll and realistic physics. [12] He returned to power and quickly started expanding his rackets in Los Angeles. He opened membership rolls and moved into new rackets. [57] Fratianno claimed that the Mafia had a $100,000 contract on his life. [40] A disappointed Roselli, who felt that DeSimone rigged the election,[41] transferred back to the Chicago Outfit. Dragna was born to Francesco Paolo Dragna and Anna Dragna in Corleone, Sicily, on April 18, 1891. Soon after his arrival, he was targeted by assassins. With Southern California's many racial groups, La Cosa Nostra faced an uphill battle to challenge the many street gangs in the area over criminal rackets. Licata's son-in-law Frank Stellino was also active as a made man in Los Angeles during the 1960s and 1970s. While other Mafia families in the country were prospering in the 1950s, the L.A. family was beginning its decline. [67] Blizstein had a lucrative loan shark and auto insurance fraud business the two families moved in to take over. The rift with the Commission started in 1961, after Joseph Bonanno was accused of plotting to kill Los Angeles Crime Family boss Frank DeSimone. The Ardizzones were of Arbresh[3] origin, being related to several other families and they would maintain contact in America. There was little unity in the Sicilian underworld of southern California at the time. Loglines: --'Path of the Olympians' (fantasy action-adventure series): In ancient Greece, the heroes of myth have unified into a single league, which a young hero joins so he can help them fight . In 1953 his son Carlo married Grace Tocco, the daughter of Detroit underboss William "Black Bill" Tocco. Jalisco . Cuccia was a relative of Ardizzone's and ruled in Ardizzone's favor, causing the Matrangas to threaten Cuccia. Milano moved with his family to Beverly Hills, California in the late 1930s or early 1940s as a teenager. [6] When DeSimone's underboss Simone Scozzari was deported to Italy in 1962 for being an illegal immigrant, Nick Licata became DeSimone's underboss. [56] Fratianno traveled across the country making new connections and deals. "The Gangster Squad sets a trap for Mickey Cohen", "Joseph Charles Dippolito (1914 - 1974) - Find A Grave Memorial", "Rites for Licata, Mafia Figure, Attended by 150 in Los Angeles", List of Italian-American mobsters by organization, Collaborations between the United States government and Italian Mafia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nick_Licata_(mobster)&oldid=1140797285, Articles with dead external links from November 2018, Pages using infobox criminal with known for parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 21:08. [3] After his prison stint he worked closely with Joseph Ardizzone, a prominent mobster in Los Angeles. RT @shannonrwatts: Jacqueline McBride and two other Los Angeles officers fatally shot a woman holding a pellet gun. . To expand their power they began cooperating with the police. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He was honored with a place on The Commission, the only boss west of Chicago to hold a spot on the council. He is best known for murdering the Irish mob boss Danny Greene in 1977. [54] He was seen as Licata's successor, but died unexpectedly of a heart attack in January 1974 at the age of 59. Jack LoCicero, a leading figure in the organization under Brucceleri, was unable to serve as boss due to advancing years and declining health. Roselli had been a member of the Chicago Outfit, but left for California and worked with Dragna in gambling. In 1984 he was arrested for trying to take over a $1 million a week book making operation, but was released due to lack of evidence. 2012), owner of the Rome Vending Company of San Fernando Valley, became the new boss of the southern California Mafia in 1984. [50] Licata had high hopes of restoring the declining family, but with the police and FBI constantly monitoring his family, Licata wasn't able to do much of a better job than DeSimone. Otherwise they used threats, violence, arson, and extortion to control the Plaza area, which was the heart of the Italian American community of Los Angeles at the time. He was related by marriage to William Tocco, one of the top men in the Detroit Mafia. [53] Although this scared other informants from testifying, they still were convicted and given light sentences. Factions lingered and continued to compete. Go to Crime Mapping. He is the author of The Los Angeles Sugar Ring (2017), The Fight Abroad and the Fear Back Home (2019), and Los Angeles Underworld (2021). [48] Law enforcement also considers East Coast Mafia members moving to California as a threat. Some members, like Rocco Zangari and Russell Massetia, moved out of the state and left the family altogether. This group of men harassed Dragna's family, as well as Cohen's throughout the 1950s. Brucceleri joined the Dragna mob around 1947 after moving west with a fellow Midwest gangster. [57] In 1980, after testifying for the government that led to the racketeering convictions of five reputed Mafia figures, Fratianno entered the federal Witness Protection Program. The Los Angeles Crime Family has been branded with the derogatory label, the "Mickey Mouse Mafia," and not due to its proximity to the famed theme park either. Nick "Old Man" Licata (born Nicol Licata; Italian pronunciation:[nikol llikata]; February 20, 1897 - October 19, 1974) was an Italian American mobster who was the Boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1967 until his death in 1974. The opposing faction apparently did not believe Ardizzone, and on October 15, 1931, while on his way to a cousin's house in Etiwanda, driving a 1930 Ford Coupe SRW7653 and carrying a .41 caliber Colt revolver No.323 he "disappeared". Sam's relatives Salvatore Matranga, Pietro "Peter" Matranga, and Antonio "Tony" Matranga were other members of the gang. Siegel made millions extorting movie production companies and only had to pay Dragna a tribute for working on his territory. Peter Milano was officially made boss of the Los Angeles crime family with Brooklier's death in 1984. He was accepted as a member of the L.A. family and became close to Dragna's brother, consigliere Tom Dragna. [7] Shortly after that their home was burned down by arsonists. As DiCiolla was buried, Ardizzone was targeted by assassins. He set up the Italian Protective League, with Dragna as its president, Ardizzone as its vice president, and California State Senator Joseph Pedrotti as its chairman. Siegel was able to get independent bookies to pay tribute to Dragna's already flourishing gambling business. By the early 1920s, the Los Angeles-based DiGiorgio was the dominant figure in southern California's Sicilian underworld. He failed to eliminate competitor Mickey Cohen, despite repeated assassination attempts in the late 1940s and early 1950s. With Dragna gone and his brother Tom retired after his death, the crime family slipped out of control. [2], Ardizzone was born on November 19, 1884 in Piana dei Greci (today Piana degli Albanesi), in the Province of Palermo, Sicily, to Antonino Ardizzone. Dragna stayed in New York for ten years before returning to Sicily. [71] According to informants for the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian gangster and Musitano crime family associate Albert Iavarone was inducted into the Los Angeles family shortly before he was shot dead in Hamilton, Ontario on September 13, 2018.[72]. Dragna was president of the league, and Ardizzone was treasurer. In early 1931 he was driving with his friend Jimmy Basile when gunmen drove by and shot at them. The number of high-profile murders and gangsters moving into the West Coast, combined with the recall of Mayor Frank L. Shaw because of corruption charges related to organized crime, caused law enforcement to stop accommodating the Mafia. It is unknown when Dragna's father arrived in the United States. With Brooklier's death in 1984, Milano was made boss of the family and named his brother Carmen his underboss. [52] Licata's underboss Joseph Dippolito had a large influence in San Bernardino and the Inland Empire in both legitimate and criminal enterprises. [14] DeSimone officially stepped down from the top position in the 1920s, but was still a power within the Los Angeles underworld. The Mystery of Vito Di Giorgio, 18801922. [7] Soon after, several Los Angeles family members were arrested for the bombing of Mickey Cohen's home. His father Anthony, while also being one of the main criminal powers in Cleveland, also had interests on the West Coast and was closely associated with the L.A family. [5] Their trial was delayed when the key informant and witness, former Mafia associate John Dubcek, was shot and killed in Las Vegas. In 1981 the top members of the Los Angeles crime family, including boss Dominic Brooklier, were sentenced to jail time on RICO charges. (After his move west, he retained his home and perhaps his underworld stature in his hometown of New Orleans.) Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. [38] Frank Bompensiero and Jimmy Fratianno started serving prison sentences in 1953 and 1954, respectively. His grandfather Rosario DeSimone was a Los Angeles mob boss in 1922, and his uncle Frank DeSimone was the Los Angeles crime family mob boss in 1956. Answer (1 of 3): In most Cosa Nostra crime families the consigliere (meaning "counselor") is the number 3 top ranking position, below the boss and underboss. He was held in contempt of court and eventually served six months in prison. "A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns." Vito Corleone[src] Thomas "Tom" Hagen was the consigliere and head lawyer of the Corleone family, as well as being the adoptive son of Vito and Carmela Corleone and the adoptive brother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie Corleone. DeSimone's extended family was also involved in the mafia. (Los Angeles Times archive) And all the while, legalized vices in Nevada were beginning to . That turned out to be a costly move, as "Bomp" became a federal informant. The "History of La Cosa Nostra" ends with the death of Genovese crime family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante in 2005. [7] However, through sheer luck, Cohen survived many attempts on his life (John Roselli compared Cohen to Bugs Moran). 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. Dragna was a very private boss who eschewed flashiness and attention. This was possible because in the 1950s, Jack Dragna flew labor union expert Johnny Dio in from New York City to teach Louis how to manipulate labor unions in the Los Angeles Garment District. "Pardon for Felon Considered After Kin Paid Roger Clinton", Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia, Cosa Nostra guys Louie Caruso Pete Milano Jimmy Caci Bobby Milano Keely Smith. [4] Many members of the Milano family were involved in organized crime, including his uncle Frank Milano, who was boss of the Cleveland family and sat on the original Commission from 1931 until he chose to flee the country to avoid tax evasion charges in 1935. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "Aladena 'Jimmy the Weasel' Fratianno boasted in a taped", "FIRST REPORT OF THE ORGANIZED CRIME CONTROL COMMISSION", "Not Entrenched Like Eastern Families The L.A. Mob: Eking Out a Living Working Streets", "A Battered and Ailing Mafia Is Losing Its Grip on America", "The Gangster Squad sets a trap for Mickey Cohen", "Frank Bompensiero San Diego Hit Man, Boss and FBI Informant", "Los Angeles Mafia May Have Survived Super Snitch", "Two more characters from mob's past make final exits", "7 Alleged Southland Mafia Figures Enter Guilty Pleas", "Murder of Chicago Hood Foretells Power Grab by the Los Angeles Mob", "Mobster's peaceful death ends violent chapter in saga of organized crime", "Greed in the Desert: The Murder of Herbert Blitzstein", "Organized Crime in California Annual Report to the State Legislator 2005", The big interview: Tommy and Jules Gambino. On October 19, 1974, after a long battle with illnesses, Nick Licata died at age 77. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the Los Angeles crime family gained power bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition era. - Third-person & first-person view. Mobster turned informant Kenny Gallo credited the brothers with "help[ing] Pete Milano revamp the L.A. During the 1920s Licata became involved in bootlegging in Detroit during the prohibition era. [37] Due to over 50 unsolved gangland killings in the first half of the century, the L.A.P.D. The fall of the Los Angeles family came when Fratianno became the second American Mafioso to turn state's evidence and testify against the Mafia in court. [5] Although this scared other informants from testifying, Milano was still sentenced to four years in prison. By the end of the 1920s he was rapidly expanding his power and influence. The family's influence stretched all the way to Las Vegas, where they had long standing ties to what the Mafia considered an "open city" where any family could work. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Most successful boss the L.A. Times to have had a daughter Anna Rosalia,... 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