Jimmy Fratianno
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Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno (1913-1993) was a Cleveland mobster and later acting head of the Los Angeles crime family, before becoming a government informant. After Joe Valachi first publicly acknowledged the existence of the Mafia, many mobsters agreed to become informants during the 1970s and 80s. Fratianno was the highest ranking to become a federal witness - until Sammy "the Bull" Gravano during the early 1990s.
Born Aladena Fratianno in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, Fratianno began stealing from fruit stands as a child and supposedly earned his nickname "the Weasel" from outrunning policemen while growing up in the streets of Little Italy. Soon becoming involved in the city's organized criminal syndicate, he soon earned a reputation as a prominent hitman in the city's underworld. Eventually finding his way to the West Coast he frequently worked with fellow hitman Frank "The Bomp" Bompensiero, and later claimed to be responsible for at least 11 gangland slayings under Los Angeles crime boss Jack Dragna.
However, upon learning the family had put out a murder contract on his life, Fratianno agreed to become a government informant during the 1970s. Despite his role as an informant, Fratianno eventually rose through the ranks to become acting boss of the crime family for a brief time while supplying federal authorities with questionable information. Unlike Valachi, who had been a low level "soldier" limited to knowledge within New York, Fratianno was a high ranking organized crime figure privy to information on the detailed hierarchy of organized syndicate operations across the United States as well as facts regarding crime boss Santo Trafficante, Jr.'s plans to assassinate (while cooperating with) Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as part of Operation Mongoose.
After his testimony in federal prosecutions against the Los Angeles syndicate in 1981, Fratianno entered the Witness Protection Program until being dropped for violations of the program. He would later write an autobiography with author Ovid Demaris entitled The Last Mafioso and Vengeance is Mine with Michael J. Zuckerman enjoying his years as a criminal celebrity with appearances on CBS's 60 Minutes and various documentaries before his death from natural causes in 1993.
[edit] References
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
[edit] Further reading
- Moldea, Dan E. Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. ISBN 0-14-010478-X
- Neff, James. Mobbed Up: Jackie Presser's High-Wire Life in the Teamsters, the Mafia, and the FBI. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989. ISBN 0-87113-344-X
- Pizzo, Stephen; Fricker, Mary; and Muolo, Paul. Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1989. ISBN 0-07-050230-7
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fratianno, Jimmy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | "The Weasel"; Fratianno, Aladenna |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Italian-American mobster and informant |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland, Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1993 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
