Ignazio “Jack” Dragna (alias “Jack Rizotta”) in a 1916 police mugshot.
Death: Feb. 23, 1956
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Organized Crime Figure. Made member of the Chicago Cosa Nostra. The most successful, but least known of any Los Angeles crime boss. He was not a publicity seeker like Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen, which allowed him to die of natural causes and not to pass away in jail. He lived in Los Angeles most of his career, and made his living off of gambling and prostitution. He, along with mobser Johnny Roselli ran a telgraph system called the “Race Wire”. It allowed bookie joints to get fast racing information. Later, the New York Mob sent Bugsy Siegel out to get a piece of the action. When Siegel was murdered, Dragna attempted to take over his rackets. This put Jack Dragna into a long feud with Mickey Cohen. Many attempts were made on Cohen’s life, but they were never successful. When he died, the L.A. mob was taken over by Frank DeSimone. Dragna was the only L.A. crime boss to ever hold a seat on the national Cosa Nostra Commission. (bio by: Joe Walker)
In December 1947, Mickey Cohen celebrated the relocation of his haberdashery from un-posh Santa Monica Blvd. up the hill to new digs at 8802 Sunset on the Strip, with a Christmas-themed grand-opening party. Among the guests were Jack Dragna, Cohen’s principal rival for control of the Los Angeles rackets, and Lt. Rudy Wellpott, head of the LAPD’s elite administrative vice unit, who ran another set of rackets from inside the department.
