Los Angeles odds & ends

[Costigan]

Makes no sense that a newly buttoned soldier under Toddo Aurello would be at some theater rubbing elbows with Frank Sinatra, Carlo Gambino, and an LA boss.

I'm not saying I believe Gravano, but Greg DePalma was the same thing, a newly buttoned soldier, and he made it into the famous photo and talked to Jimmy on the phone more than once.

DePalma owned the theater. That's the difference.

Okay, I didn't know or had forgotten that fact.

[B.]

Thanks for clearing up the timeline. Makes Gravano's claim less egregious. I still feel like Antiliar, though, and unless Gravano mentioned Fratianno in his FBI interviews I'd question him suddenly inserting himself in the infamous Westchester Theater angle. Having a public dispute with a high-ranking LA member / notorious CW like Fratianno should surely have come up somewhere in his debriefings if not his book.

[Eld]

Thanks for clearing up the timeline. Makes Gravano's claim less egregious. I still feel like Antiliar, though, and unless Gravano mentioned Fratianno in his FBI interviews I'd question him suddenly inserting himself in the infamous Westchester Theater angle. Having a public dispute with a high-ranking LA member / notorious CW like Fratianno should surely have come up somewhere in his debriefings if not his book.

Now when he starts mentioning Al Capone I can agree with some of the posters in this thread.

[Antiliar]

Does anyone know which crew Jimmy Fratianno was part of when he was first made? Either I forgot or I missed it.

[B.]

Does anyone know which crew Jimmy Fratianno was part of when he was first made? Either I forgot or I missed it.

Wasn't he reporting direct to Dragna? When he talked about his own promotion to captain, I remember him indicating members were direct with Dragna but Nick Licata was upset with the change and asked to remain with Dragna, which was granted. This is just going off memory.

SF had a similar arrangement in the 1960s and 1970s. They had one capodecina but he had no members under him and all other members reported direct to the underboss.

[motorfab]

Roselli was directly reported to Dragna for sure. For Fratianno I'd say he was under Salvatore Dippolito because his first major hit for the family (Frank Niccoli in 1947) was in the house of Fratianno, and Joe Dippolito was there with Sam Bruno & Nick Licata.

But that's just a deduction because I don't believe he specifies which crew he was in in The Last Mafioso (I didn't read the other one)

[B.]

There was an undentified Lucchese member (not Taglialatella) cooperating with the FBI early on who got to know John Roselli in prison and they remained friends afterward who occasionally met up. He said Roselli had once been underboss in LA.

Is there a period where Roselli could have been underboss? You'd think Fratianno, Bompensiero, or Piscopo would have mentioned it. They never give him a formal rank but make him out to be the power behind the throne. Piscopo and Fratianno were made in 1947 and not sure when Bompensiero was made, but he was on the lam for a while before Roselli went away in the early 1940s.

Roselli was a big name by the 1930s/1940s, so not completely out of the question for him to be underboss before his legal trouble. This is when the Lucchese CI did time with Roselli. He could have been mistaken but could have been referring to Roselli holding the underboss position before 1942/1943. Never seen anything about when Momo Adamo was promoted but he was underboss until 1956. Seems like there had to be someone else in the position before Adamo as he was a relative latecomer to California.

According to Piscopo one of the reasons for Fratianno and Bompensiero's constant plotting against Desimone/Licata was because they'd been demoted from their captain positions in prison and were upset they weren't given them back after their release. Roselli was also part of these plots and at least one of them involved a plan to make Roselli the LA boss. Don't think I've seen a proper explanation for Roselli's bitterness against the post-Dragna leadership especially since he always had a lot of autonomy and was under Chicago during these plots.

[chin_gigante]

How quickly was Charlie Dip made a captain? Wasn't he also inducted at the same ceremony as Fratianno?

[B.]

Yep, Charlie Dippolito was made with Fratianno. He doesn't say in his book who he was assigned to, just that Roselli was his sponsor and Dragna officiated. He names Jack Dragna as boss, Momo Adamo as underboss, and Tom Dragna as consigliere and didn't name captains at the ceremony that I can see. It also indicates Momo Adamo was underboss from at least 1947 (see my Roselli post above).

-

Here is the part about Licata I was referring to.

At an early 1952 induction ceremony the following members were made:
- Angelo Polizzi
- Charles Battaglia
- Carlo Licata
- Joe Dippolito
- Joe LiMandri
- Joe Adamo

+ Jimmy Fratianno was also promoted to captain over the new members at the ceremony. This promotion was a surprise to Jimmy Fratianno and Nick Licata, as there had only been rumors of a promotion and it was believed Licata would be the one to receive it.

+ Nick Licata protested at the ceremony and said he didn't want to be under Fratianno, implying it was more than just the new members who would be placed with Fratianno. Licata said, "I just want to be under (Dragna) like before." Dragna agreed and said to Licata, "... you can stay under me."

+ Might suggest that like Licata, the other candidate for the position, Fratianno was also assigned to Dragna. Fratianno said at other times he used to accompany Jack Dragna on long drives to Nevada, just the two of them, so he did have a direct relationship with him.

[B.]

Frank Bompensiero was also promoted around 1951. One of the reasons for the Willie Moretti murder stemmed from a US Treasury agent close to Moretti congratulating Bompensiero on his promotion to captain right after it happened in ~1951. Apparently Bompensiero and Jack Dragna put 2+2 together and determined the agent got the info from Moretti, so they contacted Lucchese and set the investigation in motion.

Fratianno said his promotion was early 1952, but he was going off memory so it's possible he and Bompensiero were promoted around the same time. Fratianno indicates he was given a new crew, not taking over for a previous captain. When Bompensiero gave the FBI the succession of San Diego captains, he starts with himself and continues with Mirabile and Joe Adamo. No mention of anyone having the spot before Bomp himself. I would guess the San Diego members reported to underboss Adamo before Bompensiero's promotion.

Harry Riccobene said Philadelphia didn't have captains to his knowledge before Joe Bruno, who took over in 1936. Given LA was a small family that struggled to sustain significant operations it's not unbelievable if LA's membership reported direct to the admin before 1951/1952.

Are there any references to LA having captains before the 1950s?

[motorfab]

B, I believe the "Charles" Dippolito made with Fratianno, Brooklier, Dragna & Piscopo in 1947 is Joseph Charles Dippolito. I think Salvatore Charles Dippolito was already a capo in 1947.

In my notes in 1947 I have 3 capos: Sal Dippolito, Joe Giammona & Frank Bompensiero.

I admit that I am lost here lol

[Antiliar]

If I were to guess, my guess would be that Fratianno had been under Joe Giammona. By the time Dago Louie Piscopo and then Bomp started informing, Giammona was a mostly retired caporegime. He had no crew - but he used to have one. He was in ill health. We aren't told what Giammona's territory was, but records indicate that he lived in Los Angeles, so it's reasonable to assume his crew was based there too. Piscopo started informing somewhere between 1962 and 1964, or only ten to twelve years after Fratianno was promoted to capo. It seems reasonable to conclude that Giammona's retirement coincided with Jimmy's promotion. Again, this is all guesswork.

(Bomp was capo over San Diego, Dippolito would have been the Inland Empire, and Giammona in Los Angeles - however there could have been others unknown to us.)

As for Rosselli being the underboss, I doubt it. Everything I read says that he never rose higher than soldier. He was close to Jack Dragna and likely reported directly to him (as Motofab pointed out). I agree that Momo Adamo probably wasn't Dragna's first underboss. I think Jimmy Costa may have been the underboss before him. Informants indicated that Costa was an important member, and Rosselli even worked for him and may even have sponsored him. My opinion.

[B.]

B, I believe the "Charles" Dippolito made with Fratianno, Brooklier, Dragna & Piscopo in 1947 is Joseph Charles Dippolito. I think Salvatore Charles Dippolito was already a capo in 1947.

In my notes in 1947 I have 3 capos: Sal Dippolito, Joe Giammona & Frank Bompensiero.

I admit that I am lost here lol

Salvatore "Charlie" Dippolito should be the one made in 1947, though he was fairly old. He was a former NYC Lucchese associate very close with the LoCascios in that family. One of the many Lucchese/LA connections.

Mentioned Bompensiero's promotion in the above post, around 1951. He was already a trusted aide to Jack Dragna by the early 1930s though and traveled with Dragna to national meetings.

No clue when Giammona got promoted, only like Antiliar said he was an inactive captain without a crew by the 1960s. He was still consulted when they elected a new boss.

-

Dragna had Nick Licata assigned directly to him before and after early 1952 but neither Bompensiero nor Fratianno every say outright if they were ever assigned to him. Roselli was assigned direct to Dragna as well, not sure about others.

Fratianno says the newly inducted members would be assigned to him as the new captain but doesn't explain why Licata believed he was also being transferred to Fratianno's crew. It appears to be true though given Fratianno said Licata had to protest and receive permission to stay with Dragna as he had been before.

So the Fratianno crew was planned to include the new members and at least one older member assigned to Dragna. Be interesting to know if there was anyone else under Dragna assigned to Fratianno after Licata refused. Unlikely Roselli would be placed under Fratianno.

[B.]

Bompensiero gave interesting info about the plot to murder Roselli.

Bompensiero told the FBI that Johnny Roselli's testimony before the Grand Jury greatly upset the Chicago family and Frank LaPorte told Bomp that Chicago would wait until some federal cases died down and then they'd kill Roselli. LaPorte said they'd use a friend to lure Roselli to his murder. Bomp thought they might use Santo Trafficante Jr. for this.

Anthony Zerilli, Mike Polizzi, and Tony Giordano also blamed Roselli for their own legal trouble

-

Here is a San Diego FBI source who wasn't a TE but has many interesting connections:



His relation to the Matrangas and other connections could help narrow it down.

[Antiliar]

According to Fratianno, Bomp was already the capo in charge of San Diego when he was made in 1947. After the ceremony everyone went to Dago Louie's house to celebrate, and that's when Rosselli explained that Bomp was the capo of San Diego.