United States v. Dominic Phillip Brooklier, Samuel Orlando Sciortino, Louis Tom Dragna, Michael Rizzitello, and Jack Locicero
Opinion
Opinion
Appellants are members of La Cosa Nostra, a secret national organization engaged in a wide range of racketeering activities, including murder, extortion, gambling, and loansharking. They appeal their convictions for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1962 and the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 (a) and 2.
At a seven-week trial, the government showed that beginning in 1972, members of the Los Angeles “family” extorted money from pornographers and bookmakers. Among their targets were Sam Farkas, Theodore Gaswirth, and Reuben Sturman. They also obtained money from Forex, an FBI-operated pornography business.
Much of the evidence consisted of testimony by extortion victims, including the FBI agents who ran the Forex operation. Aladena “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno, an FBI informant, described the internal organization and operations of La Cosa Nostra as an ongoing enterprise engaged in racketeering. Fratianno gave details on meetings, orders, and actions of the entire organization, including plans to murder Frank Bompensiero, an informant. He linked the individual acts of extortion to the leaders of La Cosa Nostra.