Photograph was edited for publication purposes. "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno was born Aladena James Fratianno in Naples, Italy and brought to the United States as an infant. Fratianno went by the name "Jimmy" because he believed "Aladena" sounded like "a broad's name." He was based in Cleveland, Ohio and later became acting head of the Los Angeles crime family before becoming a US government witness. Fratianno gave the government inside information in the early1970s which led to no convictions. In 1981, after testifying for the government in a trial that led to the racketeering convictions of five reputed Mafia figures, he was entered into the federal Witness Protection Program. The government dropped him from the program after his second biography, Vengeance is Mine, was published. The FBI determined that Fratianno could support himself. Fratianno spent his later years as a criminal celebrity with appearances on television news programs and various television documentaries. First photograph caption dated August 17, 1966 reads "Ex-convict James 'the Weasel' Fratiano (sic), reputed Mafia West Coast 'enforcer,' walks into Police Administration Building after his arrest at International Airport on an Imperial County warrant charging him with fraud." Fratianno is shown wearing sunglasses and holding a cigarette.; Second photograph caption reads "Jimmy 'the Weasel' Fratianno--age about 62--and one of the busiest Mafioso in this area. Convictions for robbery, extortion, criminal conspiracies date to 1937, says the federal Organized Crime Task Force. Last sentenced to jail 1969 for trucking co. fraud. Suspected to be executioner of 16 crime figures. Got nickname when he boasted he 'ran like a weasel' away from pursuing officer."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
Fratianno, Jimmy,--1913- Organized crime--United States Gangsters--United States Criminals--California--Los Angeles Crime--California--Los Angeles Smoking--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Herald-Examiner photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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