Since at least the late 1910s, mob historians say there was a Cosa Nostra presence living and operating in Southern California.
Among the first notable mafiosi to settle into the City of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas were such notorious Sicilian-born crime figures as Vito Di Giorgio, Rosario DeSimone, Giuseppe Ardizzone, and the Matranga family.
Each of these early mafiosi headed small rival Mafia factions who competed with one another as they attempted to establish their power around the City of Los Angeles and its outer suburbs.
Seeds of The Mafia
Di Giorgio and his associates are largely credited with having been among the first, if not the first, recognized Mafia powers to organize the territory as their own. After he was killed, DeSimone is thought to have become the first “official” head of what was a newly formed “borgata,” or Mafia Family, that would firmly establish itself in Los Angeles.
Another early Mafia leader in the Los Angeles area was Giuseppe (Joe) Ardizzone, who gained the moniker “The Ironman,” during his time in the underworld. By the mid-1920s, after DeSimone stepped down, Ardizzone was thought to have risen to power as Family boss.
Soon, Ardizzone reportedly came into conflict with rival mafiosi in the area by the name of the Matranga clan and a long, bloody conflict started between the two factions. This protracted conflict would produce assassination attempts and murders that claimed lives on both sides. But Joe “The Ironman” Ardizzone eventually gained supremacy over his enemies and secured the territory for his Mafia clan.
Along the way, two young Sicilian brothers by the name of Gaetano and Ignazio Dragna relocated to the West Coast and joined up with Ardizzone and the Los Angeles Family.
Getting Started
Just as millions of other Sicilian and Southern Italians had done before and after them, the brothers had bravely left their hometown in Sicily and sailed to America to start a new life.
After arriving in the United States, the Dragna brothers made their way to the East Harlem section of New York City where support was readily available from fellow amici. By that point in time, an entire immigrant Corleonese colony had formed in Upper Manhattan. They soon also adopted the more American-sounding names of Jack and Tom.
The brothers soon joined in with other young Sicilians who had formed a fledgling local street gang. This criminal network was generally comprised of fellow townsmen from Corleone and the City of Palermo. This group later become notorious as the “Gaetano Reina Family.”
Jack and Tom are suspected of having been inducted as mafiosi under Gaetano Reina’s sponsorship. What is certain is that among their earliest and most important friendships and alliances were several young men who, within a few years, also become major Mafia powers, Gaetano Gagliano, Gaetano Lucchese, and the La Salle brothers, Stefano and Vito.
During these fledgling years, the Dragnas conducted criminal activities around New York City until Jack ran into trouble with the law, at which time he and Tom were “sent” out west to duck future police investigations and scrutiny.
Setting Down Roots
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, their Cosa Nostra credentials intact, the Dragnas were immediately absorbed into the local Mafia clan under Ardizzone.
But in the back of his mind, Jack Dragna had no intention of taking a backseat to Giuseppe Ardizzone or anybody else. He was an ambitious young hoodlum, but he bided his time nonetheless, until one day, Ardizzone simply disappeared off the face of the planet. He was never seen again. It was as if the earth had opened up and swallowed him.
From that point forward, Ignazio (Jack) Dragna was voted in as the new official “Representante” of the Los Angeles Family. That year was 1931.
Side Note: Dragna’s 1931 ascension to the boss seat dovetails with the years the infamous “Castellamarese War” was fought between 1929 to 1931 between Mafia factions of the legendary Salvatore Maranzano and his rival, Giuseppe (Joe the Boss) Masseria.
After Masseria was finally assassinated, Maranzano and his Castellammarese allies then claimed victory.
To further secure his power base, Maranzano then, more than likely, gave Dragna the “green light” from back east to dump Joe Ardizzone, allowing Dragna to then claim the Los Angeles borgata for himself.
Planting His Flag
Jack Dragna would rule, unimpeded, over the City of Los Angeles and the nearby City of San Diego for the next 25 years. His borgata was also known to have been involved in the casino gambling mecca of Las Vegas, Nevada where several of his soldiers and associates resided.
The Dragna Family was also known to have infiltrated the Desert Sands Casino in Cabazon, CA where Jack and several of his key men allegedly held hidden ownership “points” and interests.
During the course of his career as “boss” over Southern California, Dragna expanded his borgata’s membership ranks by absorbing aspiring Italian hoodlums who relocated from various cities across the country out to California – fellow mafiosi and racketeers of every size and stripe from places back east like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and midwest cities like Detroit and Chicago who found the allure of sunny California more to their liking.
By the very nature of its beautiful climate and more relaxed style of living, California has always found itself to be an attractive place for the bent-nose set back east, who migrated there to retire or to get a fresh start in the rackets.
By the time Dragna’s recruitment drive was complete, he had grown the Los Angeles “borgata” to a formal “inducted” membership of approximately 40 soldiers by the 1940s and 1950s. In addition to their official membership, the Family had another estimated one hundred or more criminal “associates” as well as dozens more loosely tied criminals who interacted with the borgata on an occasional basis.
Southern California Rackets
The demographics and makeup of Southern California set the tone for the types of illicit criminal activities the Dragna Family could and would pursue and operate over the years.
By the very nature of the sprawling layout and terrain of Southern California, certain rackets that were lucrative back east in the inner cities such as numbers-policy gambling wasn’t practical for Los Angeles.
Instead, horse and sports bookmaking became their major gambling revenue, coupled with slot machines, and floating dice and card games. Their gambling rackets were augmented by such underworld staples as shylocking, all types of extortions, strong-arm robberies, and a handful of labor union rackets.
Labor organizations such as San Diego’s Culinary Alliance and Hotel Service Employees Union – Local #402, several Teamsters Union Locals, a wine growers and helpers union, and a handful of other unions were under their purview and domination.
Because of their close proximity to Mexico, heroin and opium smuggling across the border became big business for the mob. They smuggled drugs in and distributed them locally and also transported narcotics across the country to their fellow mafiosi in other cities and states back east.
The King is Dead! Long Live the King!
After Jack Dragna’s death from natural causes in 1956, the Family throne was first inherited by fellow mafioso Frank DeSimone, the son of former boss, Rosario DeSimone. In subsequent years, the torch was passed on to such notables as former underboss Nick Licata and Dominick Brooklier.
But with Dragna’s passing, the Los Angeles Family had lost some luster and never again had a “Representante” with the stature of Ignazio (Jack) Dragna.
The Jack Dragna Family Leadership Chart
What follows below is the formal inducted membership for most of the Los Angeles Family. Button Guys names 82 men as official members and another 249 mob associates (some of whom were proposed members formally initiated years later) and corrupt businessmen known to have been part of this Cosa Nostra network.
Button Guys also took the liberty to mention a handful of other mafiosi from around the country who lived and operated in California through the years but were actually allied to other Families throughout the nation.
Note: This hierarchy chart represents the Family’s collective known membership for a period of over sixty-plus years. Not all those listed below were active during the same time period, or necessarily even knew one another during their time on the streets.
