Peter John Milano (December 22, 1925 – April 21, 2012) was a Los Angeles-based, American mobster, and former boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Milano was active in

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 ...

from the 1950s until his death. His legitimate businesses were in real estate properties and a vending company called "Rome Vending Company".Los Angeles Mob Figure and 6 Others Plead Guilty

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, AP. Published: March 31, 1988

Early life

Milano was born in 1925 in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

to Anthony and Josephine Milano. His father was underboss of the Cleveland crime family from the 1930s until his retirement in 1976. Many members of the Milano family were involved in organized crime, including his uncle Frank Milano, who was boss of the Cleveland family and sat on the original

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

from 1931 until he chose to flee the country to avoid tax evasion charges in 1935. His brothers were also involved in the Mafia except for Carmen Milano who chose to be a lawyer until eventually also becoming a mobster in the 1980s. He is also related through marriage to John Nardi who was a Mafia associate who was killed for switching sides to the Irish Mob, during the Cleveland family's war with Danny Greene. Milano moved with his family to Beverly Hills, California in the late 1930s or early 1940s as a teenager. After graduating from high school, Milano became a part of Mickey Cohen's syndicate and was involved in illegal gambling.

Los Angeles crime family

After switching allegiance to the Los Angeles crime family, Milano became a made man in 1970. Soon after, he 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 ...

(captain) in the family. His father Anthony, while also being one of the main criminal powers in Cleveland, also had interests on the West Coast and was closely associated with the L.A family. In March 1973, Milano and six others were charged with running a rigged gambling operation in Los Angeles that brought in up to $250,000 a month. Their trial was delayed when the key informant and witness, former Mafia associate John Dubcek, was shot and killed in Las Vegas. Although this scared other informants from testifying, Milano was still sentenced to four years in prison. Months later Milano and 11 other men were indicted for conspiracy, racketeering and extortion against bookmakers, loan sharks, and pornographers. Milano served four years for both indictments.Reputed Crime Boss in Southland Is Indicted : Action Against Milano and 14 Others ‘Guts’ Costa Nostra Operations, U.S. Officials Say
Kim Murphy, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' (May 23, 1987)

Boss

In 1981 the top members of the Los Angeles crime family, including boss Dominic Brooklier, were sentenced to jail time on RICO charges. This left a power vacuum in the family and enabled Milano to step up and become acting boss. With Brooklier's death in 1984, Milano was made boss of the family and named his brother Carmen his

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

. Milano took charge of a depleted family and was successful in having illegal bookmakers pay tribute to his family, which was already heavily involved in extortion. On October 28, 1984, Milano was one of twenty people arrested as part of the LAPD's "Operation Lightweight" and accused of trying to take over a $1 million-a-week book making operation.Twenty Members of 'Mickey Mouse Mafia' Arrested for Million-Dollar Bookmaking Scam
''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

'' (October 29, 1984) Milano was released due to lack of evidence. Milano and his brother, Carmen, were among fifteen people arrested and charged on May 22, 1987 in an 18-count federal racketeering indictment following a four-year investigation by the Department of Justice Organized Crime Task Force and the FBI. The indictment linked Milano with a conspiracy to murder Louis Tom Dragna over a statement that Dragna had given to the FBI, as well as the planned murder of John Patrick DeMattia. In March 1988, Milano pleaded guilty again to racketeering charges and received a six-year prison sentence. He never acknowledged being a part of the Mafia. On April 4, 1991, Milano was paroled from prison. He was able to avoid any jail time from the Las Vegas indictments brought on by the murder of Herbert Blitzstein in 1997.

Death

Milano died on April 21, 2012, at the age of 86.

References

External links