Jack Dragna - Biography - Private Life and Death

Private Life and Death

In 1953, the federal government ordered Dragna to be deported to Sicily. Back in 1932, Dragna had violated immigration law by illegally entering the United States at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego after a three day stay in Mexico. However, at the time of his death Dragna was still living in California, appealing the deportation order.

Dragna was a very private boss who eschewed flashiness and attention. However, in the 1950s, the Los Angeles Police Department under Chief William H. Parker engaged in a campaign of harassment against organized crime figures. Dragna and his family were frequently arrested. When his wife Frances died in 1953, Dragna lost interest in running the Los Angeles family and instead focused on meeting new women. On one occasion, several members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) stationed themselves outside a trailer where Dragna and a girlfriend were having sex. Using listening devices, officers gained enough evidence to arrest Dragna for engaging in lewd acts.

On February 23, 1956, Dragna died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. His body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California. Dragna was survived by two children. His son Frank Paul Dragna was a USC graduate and World War II veteran who lost an eye in the war and was nicknamed "One Eye" to distinguish him from his cousin who had the same name ("One Eye" also had a glass eye). Dragna had a daughter Anna Rosalia Dragna, who later married and changed her surname to Niotta.