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Frank DeSimone


Frank A. DeSimone (July 17, 1909 – August 4, 1967) was the Boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1956 to 1967. DeSimone was the son of former don Rosario DeSimone. He was sometime referred to as "One Eye" because one of his eyes drooped. Frank DeSimone's well-known nephew, Thomas DeSimone, was an enforcer for the Lucchese crime family. He was also related to Simone Scozzari and Joseph Civello.

Frank DeSimone was born in 1909 in Pueblo, Colorado. As a child his family moved to California. Desimone graduated from the University of Southern California Law School and became a lawyer in May 1933. Soon after he turned to a life in crime. DeSimone was involved in one of the botched assassination attempts on Mickey Cohen.Jimmy Fratianno signaled DeSimone after a meeting with Cohen and DeSimone pulled up in a car with Frank Bompensiero, Leo Moceri, and another armed man. By the time they got past Cohen's bodyguards, Cohen escaped. With a job as an attorney, DeSimone was able to avoid police scrutiny. His lawyer career was no front job however. In the 1940s and 1950s DeSimone served as lawyer for mobsters such as Jimmy Fratianno and Johnny Roselli as well as providing legal aid to others.

After Jack Dragna died of a heart attack in 1956, DeSimone was elected the third official Boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Jimmy Fratianno believed he had rigged the election and transferred to the Chicago Outfit afterwards. According to an informant shortly after he became boss, DeSimone supposedly raped the wife of his underboss, Girolamo "Momo" Adamo, in front of her husband. The humiliated "Momo" later shot his wife and committed suicide in their San Diego home. Marie Adamo survived her wounds and later married Frank Bompensiero. It is uncertain if DeSimone actually committed the actions that caused "Momo" to kill himself. By all accounts DeSimone was a straight-laced and sober character. One of his first acts as boss was attending the 1957 Appalachian mob convention along with Simone Scozzari. When the conference was raided by law enforcement, DeSimone was outed as a mobster, and his underboss was deported to Italy for being an illegal immigrant.


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