Louis Thomas Fratto (July 17, 1907 – November 24, 1967), born Luigi Tommaso Giuseppe Fratto, also known as "Lew Farrell" and "Cockeyed Louie", was an American labor racketeer and

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

figure in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

from the 1930s to 1967. He was part of the Chicago youth gang called the 42s which members included later Outfit members besides himself,Sam Giancana Mad Sam DeStefano, Charles Nicoletti and other notable people. In 1939, Fratto replaced Charles "Cherry Nose" Gioe as the Mob Boss of Iowa, making his headquarters in

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. He was later implicated in the murder of Gioe, who went back to Chicago, but who later tried to reclaim his control over the rackets in Iowa. Among other things, Fratto became the Iowa distributor of "Canadian Ace Beer" which was a Capone Family enterprise. Fratto was the brother of Frank "Frankie One Ear" Fratto, a hitman for the mob, the uncle of Rudy Fratto, Jr. and Gill Vlerio, and a cousin to alleged

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

bagman The term bagman (or bag man) has different meanings in different countries. One group of definitions centers on the idea of traveling. In British usage, "bagman" is a term for a traveling salesman, first known from 1808. In Australian usage, it ...

, enforcer and short-lived Chicago front boss, Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio. While in Iowa Fratto lived and operated under the alias "Lew Farrell". He claimed that he took the name as a young man when he was a boxer. In the early 1950s Fratto/Farrell was subpoenaed by the Kefauver Organized Crime Senate Committee where he pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Although Fratto was never convicted of any crime, he was under a federal

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

for

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

at the time of his death in 1967. Fratto had five children with wife Carmella, and one with his first wife, Evelyn. One of his children, Frank, was a passenger along with

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and re ...

on the 1969 Cessna crash which killed them and the pilot. Another son, Johnny, was a frequent guest on the ''

Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

'', managed Eric the Actor and also guest starred in an episode of '' Deadliest Warrior'' as an expert on

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

References

External links

"Louis Fratto - The Mob's Invisible Man (The Original Teflon Don) mafia." MidwestMafia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fratto, Louis 1907 births 1967 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Chicago Outfit mobsters