1. Jack Dragna was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States.
21 Facts About Jack Dragna
1. 2.
Jack Dragna remained the boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1931 until his death in 1956.
3.
Jack Dragna stayed in New York for ten years before returning to Sicily.
4.
Jack Dragna appears to have had a relationship with Gaetano Reina, who eventually led his own crime family in Manhattan and the Bronx.
5.
That same year, Jack Dragna petitioned for naturalization as Charles Jack Dragna, and was a suspect in the murder of Jewish poultry dealer Barnet Baff.
6.
Jack Dragna was extradited to New York, but never went on trial.
7.
In 1915, Jack Dragna was arrested for Black Hand extortion of a Long Beach man and served three years in prison.
8.
Jack Dragna was arrested as Ignazio Rizzotto, leading to the assumption he was the brother of his criminal associate, Benigno Rizzotto, with whom he had lived in New York City.
9.
In 1931, Jack Dragna succeeded Joseph Ardizzone as boss of the Los Angeles crime family.
10.
The American Mafia wanted to make inroads in California, and supported Jack Dragna, as opposed to the "Mustache Pete" Ardizzone.
11.
Jack Dragna controlled unions in the laundromat business and dress importing companies.
12.
Jack Dragna ordered several murder attempts on Cohen, but he managed to survive them all.
13.
Jack Dragna later surrendered to authorities, and was questioned in the US Senate Kefauver hearings, but denied all accusations against him.
14.
In 1953, the federal government ordered Jack Dragna to be deported to Sicily.
15.
Back in 1932, Jack 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.
16.
However, at the time of his death Jack Dragna was still living in California, appealing against the deportation order.
17.
Jack Dragna was a very private boss who eschewed flashiness and attention.
18.
When his wife Frances died in 1953, Jack Dragna lost interest in running the Los Angeles family and instead focused on meeting new women.
19.
On February 23,1956, Jack Dragna died of a heart attack in Los Angeles.
20.
Jack Dragna's body was interred at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.
21.
Jack Dragna's 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.