FRANK DESIMONE

'Frank DeSimone' (1909 – August 4, 1967) was the boss, or don, of the Los Angeles mafia from 1957 to 1967. Frank, who was born and died in Los Angeles, California, was the son of former don Rosario DeSimone and underboss to Jack Dragna. He was the inspiration for the ''The Godfather'''s lawyer-turned-mobster character Tom Hagen, who was portrayed by Robert Duvall. One of DeSimone's relatives was named after him.

Contents

Mob life

Death and successors

Mob life

DeSimone became a lawyer in May 1933. After Dragna's fatal heart attack in 1956, DeSimone replaced him in 1957, becoming the third boss of the Los Angeles outfit of La Cosa Nostra. One of his first acts as boss was attending the 1957 Appalachian New York mob convention along with Simone Scozzari. Simone later changed his name to DeSimone.
Shortly before he became boss of the Los Angeles mafia, DeSimone supposedly raped the wife of his underboss, Giolamo "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 Bompensiro, the San Diego mafia capo. DeSimone was also involved in a botched assassination attempt on Mickey Cohen; DeSimone killed "Hooky Rothman", whom Aladena Fratianno (known as "Jimmy the Weasel") considered to be Mickey Cohen's smartest and toughest, with a single shotgun blast to the head.
Frank DeSimone is accused of ruining the Los Angeles family's reputation and integity, 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. He was also responsible for having Jimmy Fratianno wrongfully 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 from Cleveland. He was later disbarred due to his criminal activities.

Death and successors

Frank DeSimone died of a heart attack at age 57 on August 6, 1967. After DeSimone's death, Nick Licata was named the next California mafia boss, and proved even less effective than his predecessor. Licata's underboss, Aladena Frattiano, testified against mobsters in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Detroit, further weakening those family chapters. Licata's successor was Dominick Brooklier, who stabilized the family and ruled until his imprisonment in 1984.
Frank DeSimone's nephew, Tommy DeSimone, was a hitman for the Luchese crime family and was the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the 1990 film ''Goodfellas''. Another of DeSimone's nephews, Tom Louis Dragna, was also Jack Dragna's nephew.