Michael Anthony Rizzitello (March 29, 1927 – October 26, 2005), also known as "Mike Rizzi", was a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

and high ranking member of the

Los Angeles crime family The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the Dragna crime family, the Southern California crime family or the L.A. Mafia, and dubbed "the Mickey Mouse Mafia" by former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, is an Italian American Mafia crime fa ...

. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947. He was also featured in several biography novels by mobsters-turned-informants

Jimmy Fratianno Aladena James Fratianno (born Aladena Fratianno; November 14, 1913 – June 29, 1993), also known as "Jimmy the Weasel", was an Italian-born American mobster who was acting boss of the Los Angeles crime family. After his arrest in 1977, Fratian ...

(''

The Last Mafioso ''The Last Mafioso: The Treacherous World of Jimmy Fratianno'' is a biographical novel detailing the life of American Mafia member Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno. It chronicles Fratianno's life from his childhood in Cleveland to becoming ...

'' and ''Vengeance Is Mine''), Anthony Fiato (''The Animal in Hollywood''), and

Kenny Gallo Kenny "Kenji" Gallo (born 1968) is a Japanese-Italian American gangster-turned-informant, a former director and producer of adult films and an author. A convicted narcotics dealer on the West Coast associated with the Los Angeles crime family a ...

('' Breakshot'').

Early life

Rizzitello was born in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada on March 29, 1927. He later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and as an adult became associated with

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 ...

. He worked for "Crazy Joe" Gallo in the 1950s who was a member of the Profaci crime family (later named the Colombo crime family). When Gallo attempted to take over the Profaci crime family, Rizzitello was one of his key gunmen. Rizzitello allegedly participated in the murder of mobster John Guariglia and Paul Ricci at the HiFi Lounge in Brooklyn on November 11, 1961, along with future Los Angeles crime family soldier Tommy Ricciardi. Soon in 1956, Mike Rizzitello moved to California. In California, Rizzitello first became affiliated with the Los Angeles Mafia working as a debt collector and extortionist for Salvatore "Dago Louie" Piscopo along with a friend of his named Louie "Lefty" Castiglione. He was also mentored by Joseph Sica; an associate of Piscopo.

Los Angeles

In 1962, Rizzitello was arrested by the

LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

for a string of armed robberies of restaurants and businesses in the Hollywood area, and after conviction he served nine years in prison. In 1970. Rizzitello met inmate William Carroll in prison at

Chino prison California Institution for Men (CIM) is a male-only List of California state prisons, state prison located in the city of Chino, California, Chino, San Bernardino County, California. It is often colloquially referenced as "Chino". In turn, locals ...

. The two men became quick friends. In the mid 80's Carroll would become the manager of the Mustang Club, a well known exotic dance club in Santa Ana that Rizzitello received "protection" money from. Carroll later testified in court the protection amount was $5,000 per week. Allegedly, he became associated with

Joe "Pegleg" Morgan Joseph Morgan (born Joseph Međugorac; April 10, 1929 – November 8, 1993) was an American gangster who became the first non-Mexican American member of the Mexican Mafia. He received the nickname "Pegleg" by authorities because of his prosthet ...

and

Rodolfo Cadena Rodolfo Alvarado "Cheyenne" Cadena (April 15, 1943 – December 17, 1972) was a Mexican-American mob boss and a prominent figure in the Mexican Mafia prison gang also called ''La eMe (Spanish for the letter M)''. Biography Cadena was born on ...

, two members of the

Mexican Mafia The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: ''Mafia Mexicana''), also known as ''La eMe'' (Spanish for "the M"), is a predominantly Mexican American prison gang and criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia has no origins i ...

while in prison. During his time in Los Angeles, Rizzitello also became associated with the

. He became involved in illegal gambling, loan sharking, mail fraud, insurance fraud, and extortion. After working extensively with the L.A. Mob, On June 6, 1976, Louie Piscopo allegedly sponsored Rizzitello to become a

made man In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by ...

. Attending the

ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...

were,

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

Frank Bompensiero Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero (October 29, 1905 – February 10, 1977) was a Sicilian-American American Mafia, mobster who was a longtime caporegime in the Los Angeles crime family. In 1956, with the death of boss Jack Dragna, Bompensiero was demoted ...

, acting boss Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno and co-acting boss

Louis Tom Dragna Louis Tom Dragna (; July 18, 1920 – November 16, 2012) was an Italian-American mobster, nephew of Jack Dragna and son of Tom Dragna. He was active in the Los Angeles crime family from the 1940s until the early 1980s. Early life Louis Tom Dra ...

. Later in 1976, he was arrested and convicted of insurance fraud and was subsequently arrested and acquitted of strong-arming an acquaintance over a gambling debt. In 1977, he was arrested in a mail-billing scheme and convicted. He was sentenced to three years for the two convictions. Rizzitello quickly moved up in the L.A. family and was promoted to

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

by acting boss Jimmy Fratianno a year later, in 1977. In 1977, Rizzitello was charged with extortion and filing a false insurance claim. Rizzitello pleaded

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

on May 2, 1977 to one count of insurance fraud. A second grand theft charge was dismissed. On May 22, 1977 he was sentenced to serve 2 to 3 years in state prison, but was allowed to remain free after a $20,000 bond was secured. Rizzitello had quickly become well respected, and was a large cash earner for the L.A. family. In 1977, the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

sent Rizzitello to pressure casino owner

Moe Dalitz Morris Barney Dalitz (December 25, 1899 – August 31, 1989) was an American gangster, businessman, casino owner, and philanthropist. He was one of the major figures who shaped Las Vegas in the 20th century. He was often referred to as "Mr. Las ...

into giving the Outfit $1,000,000. However, the FBI was tipped off by new informant Jimmy Fratianno, and they intervened in the extortion incident. In 1978 mob boss Dominic Brooklier had tried to get Rizzitello to set up the murder of Jimmy Fratianno. Fratianno later turned state's evidence and testified against many of his fellow mobsters. Rizzitello was later put on trial for conspiring with Fratianno to attempt to kill a government witness for Pennsylvania crime boss

Russell Bufalino Russell Alfred Bufalino (; born Rosario Alfredo Bufalino, ; October 29, 1903 – February 25, 1994) was an Italian-American mobster who became the crime boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Italian-American Mafia crime family known as the Bufa ...

, but was acquitted. In November 1980, Rizzitello was convicted of

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. ...

and extortion, and sentenced two months later to five years in prison. He was released from prison in 1986, he was put on trial again on charges that he and others tried to defraud a Montana firm in a fraudulent transfer of stock. He was acquitted. In 1987, he was put on trial again; this time charged with trying to market $1 million in stolen bonds. For the third straight time he was acquitted, using attorney Anthony Brooklier, the son of L.A. Mafia boss Dominic Brooklier, as his attorney.

wrote extensively about his working relationship and friendship with Rizzitello in his best selling book about the Los Angeles mob, ''

''. When Rizzitello was released from prison in early 1986, Peter Milano had become the new boss of the Los Angeles crime family. While Milano and Rizzitello had worked together in the 1970s, they now had a distant relationship. Rizzitello then went to the

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

to seek permission to start his own crime family in California, but it never came to be. However, he was able to run an independent crew under Milano's family. Rizzitello worked closely with and mob mentored Anthony Fiato in the 1980s, before Fiato secretly decided to cooperate with the FBI. In 1988, Rizzitello was blacklisted from every casino in Las Vegas due to his involvement in crime and specifically illegal gambling in the city.

Conspiracy to commit murder

On May 1, 1987, Rizzitello and Joey Grosso attacked William Carroll, the chief financier for the Mustang Club in Santa Ana, over an extorted money dispute. In an empty parking garage in

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge o ...

, Carroll survived three shots to the back of his head, which left him permanently blind. A month later, Rizzitello was returned to federal prison for a parole violation—associating with known criminals. In October 1988, Carroll named Rizzitello and Grosso as his attackers. Defended again by attorney Anthony Brooklier, Rizzitello was sentenced on April 20, 1990, to a total of 33 years in prison; 25 years for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, three years for great bodily injury to Carroll, two years for use of a firearm, and three more because Rizzitello was a convicted felon with a firearm. Terminally ill, Rizzitello died of complications of cancer at the age of 78, on October 26, 2005, in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. He was still in custody at the time of his death. Rizzitello was interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in

Cathedral City, California Cathedral City, colloquially known as "Cat City", is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second la ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzitello, Michael 1927 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American criminals 20th-century Canadian criminals American gangsters of Italian descent People of Sicilian descent American male criminals American people convicted of fraud American people convicted of murder American prisoners and detainees Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City) Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian gangsters Canadian male criminals Canadian people convicted of murder Canadian people imprisoned in the United States Canadian people of Sicilian descent Colombo crime family Criminals from Montreal Deaths from cancer in California Gangsters from Los Angeles Gangsters from New York City Los Angeles crime family Mafia extortionists People acquitted of racketeering People convicted of racketeering People from Palm Springs, California Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government