Louis Tom Dragna
Encyclopedia
Louis Tom Dragna is a former mobster and 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.
. He has a younger brother, Frank Paul Dragna (nicknamed "Two Eyes" to distinguish him from his cousin who had the same name and had a glass eye
). They are second generation immigrants and Louis was the only younger Dragna to be heavily involved in the Mafia
. His grandparents Francesco Paolo Dragna and Anna Dragna immigrated to the United States on November 18, 1898, but returned to Sicily 10 years later. His family then returned to New York City in the 1910s and made their way West to California. In 1931 his uncle Jack Dragna became Boss of the Los Angeles crime family and named Tom his Consigliere
.
in 1947 along with Jimmy Fratianno
, Dominic Brooklier
, Charles Dippolito, and Salvatore "Dago Louie" Piscopo. Louis Dragna was eventually promoted to Captain (caporegime
) in the family by his uncle. Some say that Louis never "made his bones" i.e. committed a murder on the Mafia's orders.
In 1959 Dragna was arrested with mobsters Joe Sica, John "Frankie" Carbo
, Frank "Blinky" Palermo
, and Truman Gibson
for extorting Jackie Leonard the manager of boxing champion Don Jordan
in 1958. They were accused of trying to muscle in on the fight earnings of Jordan. On May 30, 1961, they were all found guilty in Los Angeles Federal District Court of conspiring to extort money and of transmitting by interstate commerce threats of harm to Jackie Leonard and sentenced to prison times of various lengths, with Dragna sentenced to five years. The defendants appealed their ruling and on February 13, 1963 the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of four of the defendants, with Dragna 's sentence being overturned. His lawyers argued that the defense against him was weak and questioned Leonard's creditability. Leonard's only testimony on Dragna stated that he was present at the times threats were made against him, but that Dragna never made any threats himself.
On June 16, 1960 the Nevada Gaming Commission
opened its first Black Book
. It was a list of all personal who were banned from entering any casino in Nevada. Dragna was one of the 11 original entries to the list and the last surviving member. In the 1940s Johnny Dio taught Dragna how to manipulate labour unions in the Garment District
. By the 1970s Dragna's company, "Roberta Manufacturing Co." was a $10 million a year business. When boss Dominic Brooklier
was imprisoned in 1975, he chose Dragna as his acting boss, to run the family while he was in jail. Brooklier knew Dragna would never have had the nerve or the inclination to take over the family permanently. Dragna, however declined the opportunity and the job was given to Fratianno, with Dragna named co-leader. Dragna's refusal to become boss despite his uncle's and father's former positions in the family earned him the nickname "the Reluctant Prince".
In 1978 Louis Dragna, Michael Rizzitello
, Thomas Ricciardi, Jack LoCicero, and Dominick Raffone were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO Act) charges related to the murder of Frank Bompensiero and extortion. On October 14, 1980 Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno
, a long time member of the Los Angeles family and close associate of Dragna's testified in the case. During an October 23 hearing FBI agent John Barron offered testimony that Louis Tom Dragna admitted to being a member of the Mafia and gave up the leadership structure of the Los Angeles crime family at a meeting held on October 14, 1976. Dragna started serving a one year sentence in a community center in 1984. He was released on March 18, 1985 and completed his sentence which included 1,000 hours of community service. After serving his sentence, Dragna was forced to step away from organized crime
.
According to federal prosecutors, Peter Milano
once discussed in the 1980s with members of the Cleveland crime family a plot to have Dragna murdered for violating the oath of Omertà
. During Milano’s arrest in 1987, prosecutors were going to call Cleveland crime family underboss-turned-government witness Angelo Lonardo
to testify to this allegation. Milano’s lawyer strongly denied these allegations, stating that if it were true, Dragna would have received a formal warning from the FBI. Milano pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and a trial never took place.
Jack Dragna
Jack Ignatius Dragna was an American Mafia member and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 1900s. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States...
and son of Tom Dragna
Tom Dragna
Tom Dragna was a Sicilian-American bootlegger and mobster who became a member of the Los Angeles crime family. He is the brother of Jack Dragna and the father of Louis Tom Dragna...
. He was active in the Los Angeles crime family
Los Angeles crime family
The Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Angeles, as part of the American Mafia . 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...
from the 1940s until the early 1980s.
Early life
Louis Tom Dragna was born on July 18, 1920 in Los Angeles, California to father Tom DragnaTom Dragna
Tom Dragna was a Sicilian-American bootlegger and mobster who became a member of the Los Angeles crime family. He is the brother of Jack Dragna and the father of Louis Tom Dragna...
. He has a younger brother, Frank Paul Dragna (nicknamed "Two Eyes" to distinguish him from his cousin who had the same name and had a glass eye
Ocular prosthesis
An ocular prosthesis or artificial eye replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthetic fits over an orbital implant and under the eyelids. Often referred to as a glass eye, the ocular prosthesis roughly takes the shape of a convex...
). They are second generation immigrants and Louis was the only younger Dragna to be heavily involved in the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. His grandparents Francesco Paolo Dragna and Anna Dragna immigrated to the United States on November 18, 1898, but returned to Sicily 10 years later. His family then returned to New York City in the 1910s and made their way West to California. In 1931 his uncle Jack Dragna became Boss of the Los Angeles crime family and named Tom his Consigliere
Consigliere
Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...
.
Criminal career
According to his army enlistment record, Louis Dragna spent two years in college. He started to become involved in the crime family in the 1940s. Under his uncle Jack, the Mafia in Los Angeles was growing into a very widespread enterprise. Louis has an arrest record dating back to 1946. Dragna became a made manMade man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
in 1947 along with Jimmy Fratianno
Jimmy Fratianno
Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno was a Cleveland, Ohio, mobster and later acting head of the Los Angeles crime family before becoming a government witness...
, Dominic Brooklier
Dominic Brooklier
Dominic Phillip Brooklier , was an Italian American mobster and head of the Los Angeles crime family of the Mafia during the mid-1970s who mainly worked in pornography, extortion, and burglary.-Early years:...
, Charles Dippolito, and Salvatore "Dago Louie" Piscopo. Louis Dragna was eventually promoted to Captain (caporegime
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
) in the family by his uncle. Some say that Louis never "made his bones" i.e. committed a murder on the Mafia's orders.
In 1959 Dragna was arrested with mobsters Joe Sica, John "Frankie" Carbo
Frankie Carbo
Paul John Carbo better known as "Frankie Carbo" was a New York City Mafia soldier in the Lucchese crime family, who operated as a boxing promoter and a gunman with Murder, Inc....
, Frank "Blinky" Palermo
Frank Palermo
Frank "Blinky" Palermo was an organized crime figure who surreptitiously owned prize-fighters and fixed fights best known for fixing the Jake LaMotta-Billy Fox fight in 1947. An associate of the Philadelphia crime family, Palermo also ran the City of Brotherly Love's biggest numbers racket...
, and Truman Gibson
Truman Gibson
Truman Kella Gibson, Jr. was an American lawyer, government advisor, and later influential boxing promoter who played a unique and unheralded role in the Civil Rights Movement, primarily as a member of the "Black Cabinet" of Presidents Franklin D...
for extorting Jackie Leonard the manager of boxing champion Don Jordan
Don Jordan
Don Jordan was a boxer born in Los Angeles, California and was the undisputed Welterweight Champion of the World from 1958 to 1960. His nickname was ‘Geronimo’...
in 1958. They were accused of trying to muscle in on the fight earnings of Jordan. On May 30, 1961, they were all found guilty in Los Angeles Federal District Court of conspiring to extort money and of transmitting by interstate commerce threats of harm to Jackie Leonard and sentenced to prison times of various lengths, with Dragna sentenced to five years. The defendants appealed their ruling and on February 13, 1963 the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of four of the defendants, with Dragna 's sentence being overturned. His lawyers argued that the defense against him was weak and questioned Leonard's creditability. Leonard's only testimony on Dragna stated that he was present at the times threats were made against him, but that Dragna never made any threats himself.
On June 16, 1960 the Nevada Gaming Commission
Nevada Gaming Commission
The Nevada Gaming Commission is a Nevada state governmental agency involved in the regulation of casinos throughout the state, along with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. It was founded in 1959 by the Nevada Legislature....
opened its first Black Book
Black Book (gaming)
"Black Book" is the nickname frequently used to refer to a list of persons who are unwelcome in casinos. The name comes from the fact that the persons listed in the "book" are essentially "blacklisted"...
. It was a list of all personal who were banned from entering any casino in Nevada. Dragna was one of the 11 original entries to the list and the last surviving member. In the 1940s Johnny Dio taught Dragna how to manipulate labour unions in the Garment District
Garment District
Garment District has several uses including:*Garment District, Manhattan - in New York City*Garment District - in Cambridge, Massachusetts*Los Angeles Garment District, also known as the Fashion District*Garment District...
. By the 1970s Dragna's company, "Roberta Manufacturing Co." was a $10 million a year business. When boss Dominic Brooklier
Dominic Brooklier
Dominic Phillip Brooklier , was an Italian American mobster and head of the Los Angeles crime family of the Mafia during the mid-1970s who mainly worked in pornography, extortion, and burglary.-Early years:...
was imprisoned in 1975, he chose Dragna as his acting boss, to run the family while he was in jail. Brooklier knew Dragna would never have had the nerve or the inclination to take over the family permanently. Dragna, however declined the opportunity and the job was given to Fratianno, with Dragna named co-leader. Dragna's refusal to become boss despite his uncle's and father's former positions in the family earned him the nickname "the Reluctant Prince".
In 1978 Louis Dragna, Michael Rizzitello
Michael Rizzitello
Michael Anthony Rizzitello also known as "Mike Rizzi", was an Italian American mobster in the Los Angeles crime family. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947...
, Thomas Ricciardi, Jack LoCicero, and Dominick Raffone were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO Act) charges related to the murder of Frank Bompensiero and extortion. On October 14, 1980 Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno
Jimmy Fratianno
Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno was a Cleveland, Ohio, mobster and later acting head of the Los Angeles crime family before becoming a government witness...
, a long time member of the Los Angeles family and close associate of Dragna's testified in the case. During an October 23 hearing FBI agent John Barron offered testimony that Louis Tom Dragna admitted to being a member of the Mafia and gave up the leadership structure of the Los Angeles crime family at a meeting held on October 14, 1976. Dragna started serving a one year sentence in a community center in 1984. He was released on March 18, 1985 and completed his sentence which included 1,000 hours of community service. After serving his sentence, Dragna was forced to step away from organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
.
According to federal prosecutors, Peter Milano
Peter Milano
Peter John Milano is a Los Angeles based, Italian-American mobster, and current Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Milano has been active in organized crime since the 1950s...
once discussed in the 1980s with members of the Cleveland crime family a plot to have Dragna murdered for violating the oath of Omertà
Omertà
Omertà is a popular attitude and code of honour and a common definition is the "code of silence". It is common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Apulia, Calabria, and Campania, where criminal organizations defined as Mafia such as the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and...
. During Milano’s arrest in 1987, prosecutors were going to call Cleveland crime family underboss-turned-government witness Angelo Lonardo
Angelo Lonardo
Angelo Anthony Lonardo was a Cleveland crime family mobster who later became the acting boss of the family in the early 1980s. Lonardo was born in 1911 in Cleveland to Joseph and Concetta Lonardo. His godfather was Anthony Milano...
to testify to this allegation. Milano’s lawyer strongly denied these allegations, stating that if it were true, Dragna would have received a formal warning from the FBI. Milano pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and a trial never took place.