Frank DeSimone
Encyclopedia
Frank A. DeSimone was the Boss of the Los Angeles crime family
from 1956 to 1967. DeSimone was the son of former don Rosario DeSimone
. He was sometime referred to as "One Eye" because one of his eyes drooped, in the same way as Charles "Lucky" Luciano
. Frank DeSimone's well-known nephew, Thomas DeSimone
, was an enforcer for the Lucchese crime family
and was portrayed by Joe Pesci
's character, "Tommy DeVito," in the 1990 film, Goodfellas
. He was also related to Simone Scozzari
and Joseph Civello
.
. As a child his family moved to California. Desimone graduated from the University of Southern California Law School and became a lawyer
in May 1933. Soon after he turned to a life in crime. DeSimone was involved in one of the botched assassination attempts on Mickey Cohen
. Jimmy Fratianno
signaled DeSimone after a meeting with Cohen and DeSimone pulled up in a car with Frank Bompensiero, Leo Moceri, and another armed man. By the time they got past Cohen's bodyguards, Cohen escaped. With a job as an attorney, DeSimone was able to avoid police scrutiny. His lawyer career was no front job however. In the 1940s and 1950s DeSimone served as lawyer for mobsters such as Jimmy Fratianno
and Johnny Roselli
as well as providing legal aid to others.
After Dragna died of a heart attack in 1956, DeSimone was elected the third official Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Jimmy Fratianno believed he had rigged the election and transferred to the Chicago Outfit
afterwards. According to an informant shortly after he became boss, DeSimone supposedly raped the wife of his underboss
, Girolamo "Momo" Adamo
, in front of her husband. The humiliated "Momo" later shot his wife and committed suicide in their San Diego home. Marie Adamo survived her wounds and later married Frank Bompensiero. It is uncertain if DeSimone actually committed the actions that caused "Momo" to kill himself. By all accounts DeSimone was a straight laced and sober character. One of his first acts as boss was attending the 1957 Appalachian mob convention
along with Simone Scozzari
. When the conference was raided by law enforcement, DeSimone was outed as a mobster, and his underboss was deported to Italy for being an illegal immigrant.
Frank DeSimone is accused of ruining the Los Angeles family's reputation and integrity, causing the chapter to earn the title, "The Mickey Mouse
Mafia". Nonetheless, DeSimone was featured in Look Magazine
in 1965 as one of the decade's notable figures in organized crime
; DeSimone sued the magazine for libel. Jimmy Fratianno
also blamed DeSimone in 1953 for having been sent to Folsom prison on a six-year extortion
conviction, after dealing with con-artists James B. Modica (a man who 'bumped' slot machines and liquor store owners in Tarzana) and Frank Raspona. Fratianno accused DeSimone of ruining his case by not recording one of the defendants key witnesses who skipped town before being able to take the stand. DeSimone was later disbarred because of his criminal activities.
In the 1960s, Joseph Bonanno
, in a plot to take over The Commission
, plotted the murder of Mafia Bosses Thomas Lucchese, Carlo Gambino
, and Stefano Magaddino
, and added DeSimone to the list for good measure. Although never carried out, DeSimone didn't learn about that plan until after it was thwarted. This caused DeSimone to become very paranoid. During the later part of his life he never went out during night.
DeSimone died of a heart attack at age 57. After DeSimone's death, Nick Licata
, DeSimone's third underboss was named the next Los Angeles Boss. Frank DeSimone may have inspired the The Godfather
' s lawyer-turned-mobster character "Tom Hagen
," portrayed by Robert Duvall
.
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 1956 to 1967. DeSimone was the son of former don Rosario DeSimone
Rosario DeSimone
Rosario "the Chief" DeSimone , was the head of an Italian crime family that was the predecessor to the Los Angeles crime family of the American Mafia from 1922 to 1925. Rosario was the father of the future California mob boss, Frank DeSimone.-Biography:DeSimone was born in Salaparuta, Sicily in...
. He was sometime referred to as "One Eye" because one of his eyes drooped, in the same way as Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
. Frank DeSimone's well-known nephew, Thomas DeSimone
Thomas DeSimone
Thomas "Two-Gun Tommy" Anthony DeSimone was an Italian-American gangster and associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York. Also known as "Tommy D" or "Tommy Two-Guns", he was a grandson and nephew of Los Angeles mob bosses Rosario DeSimone and Frank DeSimone...
, was an enforcer for the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
and was portrayed by Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
's character, "Tommy DeVito," in the 1990 film, Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
. He was also related to Simone Scozzari
Simone Scozzari
Simone "Sam" Scozzari was a Sicilian mobster was a member of the American Mafia in Los Angeles. He served as a soldier in the Los Angeles crime family during the 1940s and 1950s. When Frank DeSimone became boss of the L.A. crime family in 1956, he promoted Scozzari Underboss.Scozzari was born on...
and Joseph Civello
Joseph Civello
Joseph Francis Civello was a retailer of imported food and liquor in Dallas, Texas, and, more notably, leader of the Dallas crime family from 1956 until his death in 1970.-Early life:...
.
Biography
Frank DeSimone was born in 1909 in Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
. As a child his family moved to California. Desimone graduated from the University of Southern California Law School and became a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in May 1933. Soon after he turned to a life in crime. DeSimone was involved in one of the botched assassination attempts on Mickey Cohen
Mickey Cohen
Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:...
. 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...
signaled DeSimone after a meeting with Cohen and DeSimone pulled up in a car with Frank Bompensiero, Leo Moceri, and another armed man. By the time they got past Cohen's bodyguards, Cohen escaped. With a job as an attorney, DeSimone was able to avoid police scrutiny. His lawyer career was no front job however. In the 1940s and 1950s DeSimone served as lawyer for mobsters such as 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...
and Johnny Roselli
John Roselli
John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli , sometimes spelled John Rosselli, was an influential mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped them control Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. Roselli was also involved with the Central Intelligence Agency plot to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the early 1960s...
as well as providing legal aid to others.
After Dragna died of a heart attack in 1956, DeSimone was elected the third official Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Jimmy Fratianno believed he had rigged the election and transferred to the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
afterwards. According to an informant shortly after he became boss, DeSimone supposedly raped the wife of his underboss
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
, Girolamo "Momo" Adamo
Momo Adamo
Girolomo "Momo" Adamo was an Italian mobster in the American Mafia. He lived in Chicago and Kansas City before moving to Los Angeles in the 1930s and soon became Underboss to Jack Dragna in the Los Angeles crime family. His brother Joseph Adamo was also a member of the crime family...
, in front of her husband. The humiliated "Momo" later shot his wife and committed suicide in their San Diego home. Marie Adamo survived her wounds and later married Frank Bompensiero. It is uncertain if DeSimone actually committed the actions that caused "Momo" to kill himself. By all accounts DeSimone was a straight laced and sober character. One of his first acts as boss was attending the 1957 Appalachian mob convention
Apalachin Meeting
The Apalachin Meeting was a historic summit of the American Mafia held on November 14, 1957, at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara in Apalachin, New York. The meeting was attended by roughly 100 Mafiosi from the United States, Canada, and Italy...
along with Simone Scozzari
Simone Scozzari
Simone "Sam" Scozzari was a Sicilian mobster was a member of the American Mafia in Los Angeles. He served as a soldier in the Los Angeles crime family during the 1940s and 1950s. When Frank DeSimone became boss of the L.A. crime family in 1956, he promoted Scozzari Underboss.Scozzari was born on...
. When the conference was raided by law enforcement, DeSimone was outed as a mobster, and his underboss was deported to Italy for being an illegal immigrant.
Frank DeSimone is accused of ruining the Los Angeles family's reputation and integrity, causing the chapter to earn the title, "The Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
Mafia". Nonetheless, DeSimone was featured in Look Magazine
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
in 1965 as one of the decade's notable figures in 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...
; DeSimone sued the magazine for libel. 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...
also blamed DeSimone in 1953 for having been sent to Folsom prison on a six-year extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
conviction, after dealing with con-artists James B. Modica (a man who 'bumped' slot machines and liquor store owners in Tarzana) and Frank Raspona. Fratianno accused DeSimone of ruining his case by not recording one of the defendants key witnesses who skipped town before being able to take the stand. DeSimone was later disbarred because of his criminal activities.
In the 1960s, Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
, in a plot to take over The Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
, plotted the murder of Mafia Bosses Thomas Lucchese, Carlo Gambino
Carlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
, and Stefano Magaddino
Stefano Magaddino
Stefano Magaddino was an Sicilian mafioso who became the boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio and Southern Ontario as far north as Montreal, Quebec...
, and added DeSimone to the list for good measure. Although never carried out, DeSimone didn't learn about that plan until after it was thwarted. This caused DeSimone to become very paranoid. During the later part of his life he never went out during night.
DeSimone died of a heart attack at age 57. After DeSimone's death, Nick Licata
Nick Licata (mobster)
Nick "Old Man" Licata was an Italian American mobster who was the Boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1967 until his death in 1974.-Early life:...
, DeSimone's third underboss was named the next Los Angeles Boss. Frank DeSimone may have inspired the The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
Tom Hagen
Thomas "Tom" Feargal Hagen is a fictional character in the Godfather books and films. He was portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He is the informally adopted son of Don Vito Corleone and serves as the family lawyer and consigliere . Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, he often serves as a voice of...
," portrayed by Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
.