Dominic Phillip Brooklier (born Domenico Brucceleri; November 19, 1914 — July 18, 1984) was an American mobster and boss of the

Los Angeles crime family The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Los Angeles as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the ea ...

of the

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

during the mid-1970s who mainly worked in pornography,

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, and

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

Early years

Brooklier joined

Mickey Cohen Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen (September 4, 1913 – July 29, 1976) was an American gangster, boxer and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century. Early life Mickey Cohen was born on September 4, 1913, in New York City to Je ...

's syndicate gambling operations in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

in the 1940s under the name Jimmy Regace. During the Sunset Wars of the 1940s, Brooklier defected to rival Los Angeles mobster

Jack Dragna Jack Ignatius Dragna (born Ignazio Dragna, ; April 18, 1891 – February 23, 1956) was an American Mafia member and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 20th century. He was active in bootlegging in Californ ...

. In 1947, Brooklier became a

made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...

in the family. While working for Dragna, Brooklier unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Cohen as he left a restaurant."Crime Bosses of Los Angeles"
American Mafia From 1947 to 1953, Brooklier worked closely with Los Angeles family member

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, Fratianno ...

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

ing. At some time in the late 1960s, Brooklier was promoted to

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a '' made member'' of an Italian crime family who he ...

in charge of a crew in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

, where he also lived. Sometime later, he legally changed his name to Dominic Brooklier. In early 1974, Brooklier replaced the deceased Joseph Dippolito as family

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

. On October 19, 1974, family boss Nick Licata died and Brooklier was elected the new boss. Also in 1974, Brooklier and new underboss

Samuel Sciortino Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...

were charged with racketeering under the federal

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

(RICO). Brooklier was specifically charged with extorting payments from a bookmaker in 1973. On April 19, 1975, the two men pleaded guilty to one count.

Bompensiero murder

In 1975, Brooklier ordered the killing of Los Angeles mobster Frank "The Bomp" Bompensiero. Brooklier had lost trust in Bompensiero's ability to keep secrets, and was angry at his criticisms of Brooklier's leadership. However, Bompensiero, a hit man himself, and always a cautious man, proved to be an elusive target. In 1976, to allay Bompernsiero's suspicions, Brooklier appointed him

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 ...

of the Los Angeles family. Unknown to Brooklier, Bompensiero was now working as a

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) informant. In March 1976, Bompensiero persuaded Brooklier to extort payments from Forex, a new company that produced pornography. However, Forex was actually created by the FBI as a sting operation. When the family discovered the sting, Fratianno immediately suspected Bompernsiero of being an informant. On February 10, 1977, Los Angeles mobster Thomas Ricciardi finally fulfilled the murder contract by shooting Bompensiero in a phone booth near his apartment.

Conflict with Fratianno and death

While Brooklier was serving prison time in the mid-1970s, he appointed

as his acting boss. Seeing a challenge to his authority, Brooklier placed a murder contract on Fratianno for what he felt was Fratianno's attempt at trying to usurp him. However, Fratianno had been informed by the FBI of the contract, and Fratianno agreed to

turn state's evidence A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a witness for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or immunity from prosecution.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized C ...

and testify against his Mafia associates in 1979. Fratianno now implicated Brooklier in the 1977 Bompensiero murder. In 1978, Brooklier was indicted on charges of racketeering,

, and murder. In November 1980, he was convicted of racketeering and extortion, but was acquitted of Bompensiero's murder; he was sentenced two months later to five years in prison. Brooklier's son, Anthony was a criminal defense attorney; at the 1981 sentencing before the U.S. district judge, Anthony made a sobbing plea on his father's behalf: "There are things in his past he shouldn't be proud of, and I'm not proud of... But he's always provided for his family. Whatever sentence he does, he'll be missed every day." On July 18, 1984, Dominic Brooklier died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at the Tucson Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) near

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

References

External links

Who's Who ? - Dominic Brooklier
a
The American "Mafia"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooklier, Dominic 1914 births 1984 deaths American crime bosses American people who died in prison custody Mafia extortionists American gangsters of Italian descent Los Angeles crime family People convicted of racketeering People acquitted of murder Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park

Early years

Bompensiero murder

Conflict with Fratianno and death

References

Further reading

External links