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

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

mobster in the Los Angeles crime family. 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, Fratianno ...

(''

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 th ...

'' and ''Vengeance Is Mine''),

Anthony Fiato Craig Anthony Fiato, also known as ''Anthony the Animal'' and ''Tony Rome'', was an American mobster and hitman for the Los Angeles crime family who later became an undercover informant and government witness. In the words of retired FBI undercover ...

(''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 ...

(''

Breakshot ''Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia'' is an American memoir by Kenny "Kenji" Gallo, a former member of the Colombo Crime Family and The Milano Brothers who became an informant in the federal witness protection program. The boo ...

'').

Early life

Rizzitello was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 29, 1927. He later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and as an adult became associated with

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. He worked for "Crazy Joe" Gallo in the 1950s who was a member of the

Profaci crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was duri ...

(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 LA mob soldier Tommy Ricciardi. Soon in 1956, Mike Rizzitello moved to California. In California, Rizzitello first became affiliated with the Los Angeles crime family 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 Joseph "JS" Sica (August 20, 1911 – November 21, 1982) was a New Jersey mobster involved in armed robbery, murder for hire, extortion, and narcotics distribution. Sica mentored many West Coast mobsters, including Mike Rizzitello and Anthony "th ...

; an associate of Piscopo.

Los Angeles

In 1962, Rizzitello was arrested by the

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

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 state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California. It is often colloquially referenced as "Chino". In turn, locals call the prison "Chino Men's" or just "Men's" to avo ...

. 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 the first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia. He received the nickname "Pegleg" by authorities because of his prosthetic leg. Early life The youngest of fou ...

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 while in prison. During his time in Los Angeles, Rizzitello also became associated with the Los Angeles crime family. 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. 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 origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

were, consigliere

Frank Bompensiero Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero (October 29, 1905 – February 10, 1977) was a Mafia hitman and longtime caporegime in the Los Angeles crime family. In 1956, with the death of boss Jack Dragna, Bompensiero was demoted to the rank of soldier by the new ...

, 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 Dragn ...

. 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 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 ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

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 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 V ...

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 Dominic Phillip Brooklier (born Domenico Brucceleri; November 19, 1914 — July 18, 1984) was an American mobster and boss of the Los Angeles crime family of the Mafia during the mid-1970s who mainly worked in pornography, extortion, and gambli ...

had tried to get Rizzitello to set up the murder of Jimmy Fratianno. Fratianno later

turned 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 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, ; September 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 Bu ...

, 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 coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

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

, 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 Peter John Milano (December 22, 1925 – April 21, 2012) was a Los Angeles-based, American mobster, and former Crime boss, boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Milano was active in organized crime from the 1950s until his death. His legitimate bu ...

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, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

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

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, 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: ''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 Riverside County by land a ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzitello, Michael 1927 births 2005 deaths American gangsters of Sicilian descent Canadian gangsters of Sicilian descent American people convicted of fraud Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City) Mafia extortionists Los Angeles crime family People convicted of racketeering People acquitted of racketeering American people convicted of murder Criminals from Montreal People from Palm Springs, California Deaths from cancer in California Canadian emigrants to the United States