The L.A. Mafia has been in Los Angeles, California since the 1900s. Joseph Ardizzone was the first boss who controlled Los Angeles through bootlegging, gambling, extortion, and prostitution during the era of prohibition. Angelenos wanted booze and the L.A. Mafia was there to give it to them. Here are five mafia hits that happened connected to the L.A Mafia.
Joseph “Iron Man” Ardizzone. He was the first mafia boss of Los Angeles. In 1931, Ardizzone was with Jimmy Basile when a gunmen drove by and shot at them. Basile was killed and Ardizzone wounded. A second attempt was made on his life in the hospital and he agreed to retire from the mafia. Ardizzone didn’t retire fast enough, and on October 15, 1931, while on his way to his cousin’s house, he vanished. An intense search followed, but his body was never found. Ardizzone’s wife had him declared legally dead.
Bugsy Siegel: On June 20, 1947, Ben Seigel was shot in the face by a gunman while he read the Los Angeles Times on his girlfriend’s living room sofa. The unknown assailant fired at him through the front window from the outside of the house. The murder of Bugsy Seigel remains officially unsolved today. Segel was killed because of his excessive spending and possible theft of money that the mob had loaned him to open the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
The Two Tonys: On August 6, 1951, Tony Brancato and Tony Trombino were shot to death in the front seat of their Oldsmobile on Ogden Street in Hollywood. The Two Tonys had a contract placed on them after they robbed a sportsbook in the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Mobster Nick Licata had set up an alibi for the killers at his restaurant, The Five O’Clock Club. No one was charged with the Two Tonys murders, and they remained unsolved until Jimmy Fratianno admitted to the murders 25 years later.
Harold “Hooky” Rothman: On August 18, 1948, Jack Dragna’s gang stormed into Mickey Cohen’s clothing store on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. Mickey Cohen was in the bathroom. Frank Bompensiero forced Rothman, Mickey’s right-hand man, into the back of the clothing store with a sawed-off shotgun. Rothman swung his hand at Bompensiero causing the shotgun to go off. Whether it was on purpose or not, Hooky Rothman was dead.
Jack Whalen was known as “The Enforcer” and associate of Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. Whalen was a bookie and contract killer. Whalen was shot in the face and died at Rondelli’s Italian Restaurant while sitting with Cohen and three other mobsters. Sam LoCigno was arrested and acquitted of the murder. Rondelli’s was located at 13359 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.
Mickey Cohen died in 1976 and many believed that the L.A Mafia died with him. The media might have moved on to other street gangs but the L.A Mafia remained. Peter Milano was the last known L.A. Mafia boss who died in 2012. He had legitimate businesses in real estate and vending machines. It is hard to say who runs the L.A. Mafia now but just like Las Vegas, there’s a lot of money to be made in the City of Angels.