West Coast Mobster
After Dragna's death in 1956, Frank DeSimone became the new boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Fratianno soon became dissatisfied with DeSimone's leadership and in 1960, after serving a 6½ year sentence for extortion, Fratianno transferred to the Chicago Outfit. He still lived and remained active in California and Las Vegas and remained closely associated with Bompensiero. During the 1960s and 1970s, Fratianno started his own trucking company. His wife Jewel officially owned the company, even after her separation and divorce from Fratianno. Fratianno also attempted several times to build, own, or obtain a share in a Las Vegas casino, but failed each time. During this period, he started providing information on organized crime to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In exchange for his information, Fratianno received less scrutiny from law enforcement along with a small amount of money. By all accounts, Fratinano's information was of marginal value and never helped convict anyone. In 1976, the Los Angeles family offered Fratianno the opportunity to become acting boss, so he rejoined them.
Read more about this topic: Jimmy Fratianno
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