Joseph Ardizzone was a legendary figure in Los Angeles’s underworld life from early in the previous century. Ardizzone was an Italian native who had come to America in his youth and just as quickly turned to a life of crime. He grew in the ranks of the L.A. underworld, reveling mostly in gambling and prostitution within the Italian-American criminal society. Ardizzone was instrumental in establishing the Italian Mafia in Los Angeles and claimed links to other mafia families across America. He also had control of bootlegging operations in Southern California during the Prohibition era. But at the end of his iron-fist rule, Ardizzone was arrested and imprisoned in 1936 for tax evasion. Even in his decline, however, that legacy continued to play a part in the history of L.A.’s criminal underworld.
Early Life and Criminal Beginnings
One of those was Joseph Ardizzone, who was born in Italy and emigrated to the U.S. as a kid with his family. He had grown up in a low-income area, so he would have been exposed to street crimes from an earlier age. Ardizzone had been a juvenile delinquent, stealing and extorting from age 13. This early education created the blueprint for his criminal career.
Ardizzone’s affiliations with organized crime began to take shape in his teens. Eventually, he gravitated to gangs in his neighborhood and began working for adult felons living there. Through these connections, he learned from seasoned criminals and increased the scope of his criminal enterprise. Soon after he reached the age of majority, Ardizzone became a leader in the Los Angeles Italian-American underworld.
Rise to Power in the Los Angeles Underworld
The ascent of Joseph Ardizzone as underworld power began with his ascendancy in the Italian-American criminal community. He soon acquired a reputation for his violence and skill at keeping gangs in check and running things related to illegal activities. Ardizzone exercised control over numerous other criminal operations, including gambling, prostitution, and the like, in the city during this era as well.
He built a powerful network with other criminal groups that helped create and sustain Ardizzone as a prominent figure. He forged alliances with other Italian-American mobsters and established a network that spanned Los Angeles. These connections allowed him to step into new territory, grow his crime empire, and further establish himself in the underworld.
The Formation of the Italian Mafia in LA
Joseph Ardizzone played a major role in establishing the Los Angeles Italian Mafia. He identified the need for a controlling institution that would organize criminal activity and take care of Italian-American criminals’ welfare in Chicago. Only through Ardizzone’s leadership and influence was he able to keep all the different factions together as one organized crime enterprise.
Ardizzone’s connections to other mafia families across the United States further fueled the expansion of the Italian Mafia in Los Angeles. He connected with people like Al Capone in Chicago and Lucky Luciano out of New York. Those relationships enabled concerted action in matters ranging from criminal operations (such as bootlegging during Prohibition) to national politics.
Ardizzone’s Role in Prohibition-Era Bootlegging
Ardizzone was a key figure in the Southern California bootlegging scene during Prohibition. Thanks to his established connections with other gangs in the area, he was well connected to a pipeline of bootleg alcohol that the syndicate sold. He obtained great financial and territorial power with bootlegging operations under Ardizzone’s control in Los Angeles.
Bootlegging was something Ardizzone did on a national scale. It wasn’t limited to Southern CA. He also worked with other major bootleggers all over the U.S. to build a pipeline transporting alcohol from coast to coast. Thanks to this co-operation he earned even more money and finally became the leader of one branch in the national criminal network.
The Battle for Control: Ardizzone vs. Mickey Cohen
Still, it was not all smooth sailing for Joseph Ardizzone in the Los Angeles underworld. Ex-associate Mickey Cohen was one of his most famous rivals, as he wanted to take over Ardizzone’s power in the city. Ardizzone and Cohen’s fight for power began with violence, as both factions used intimidation tactics.
Given Cohen’s vicious reputation, he was a powerful threat to strike at Ardizzone. He wanted to grow his own crime business but saw Ardizzone as a rival who needed sleeping with the fishes. This, in turn, led to a series of confrontations and, eventually, Assassinations between the top two crime bosses.
The Murder of Ardizzone’s Brother and Its Aftermath
Joseph Ardizzone faced tragedy when his brother Gaspare was murdered in 1931. The murder of Gaspare is viewed to have come out of the escalation in tension between Ardizzone and Mickey Cohen. The murder of his brother stuck with Ardizzone and spurred him on to get back.
Ardizzone declared war on Cohen and refused an offer to settle the dispute for $1,000 monthly in mob protection money from him. Ardizzone had her brother Jack killed after testifying, such as a surprise hit against Cupcake’s enemy Mickey Cohen. But these violent acts did nothing to ease tensions and, in fact, brought more law enforcement scrutiny. Ardizzone was arrested in 1932 for an unrelated charge to the current gang war and subsequently acquitted.
Ardizzone’s Downfall: Arrest and Imprisonment
When Joseph Ardizzone fell in 1936, it was not for the usual murder rap but for tax evasion. These charges resulted from a probe into his financial dealings, which showed he had failed to pay taxes on millions of dollars earned through crime. Ardizzone was sentenced to prison after fighting the charges.
Ardizzone’s incarceration represented a turning point in the power struggle of L.A.’s Italian Mafia. In his absence, the cartel began to slide towards decay, and other criminal characters saw it as an opportunity to fill this power vacuum. The empire Ardizzone once built began to slowly fall apart, and the L.A. Mob was headed into its death spiral.
The Legacy of Joseph Ardizzone in LA’s Criminal History
Despite losing his inheritance, Joseph Ardizzone would leave an indelible impact on organized crime in Los Angeles. His leadership and unification of various criminal factions with the vast scope in Big Time laid a solid foundation for future cities-running criminals. Ardizzone was the original “King of Los Angeles,” many later organized crime figures in L.A. adopted his approach, hoping to share in Ardizzone’s success.
The impact Ardizzone left upon his death in Los Angeles extended beyond the city and helped to shape how organized crime developed across America. His national network of Mafia connections made it possible to cooperate with other families throughout the United States and over previously alien unlocal territories, opening up endless opportunities for criminal endeavors.
The Influence of Italian-American Organized Crime in the US
The United States has an incredible and complex history with Italian American organized crime. As the Mafia was born in immigrant communities and grew to form a national network, it has profoundly shaped U.S. history, its tendrils reaching into myriad aspects of American life.
The Italian-American Mafia is linked to politics, law enforcement, and other influential institutions. The Cartels gained control over them by bribing and intimidating their members while forging alliances, becoming a large part of the Mexican law enforcement structure. Their influence meant organized crime continued to operate virtually untouched, reportedly merely reshuffling the assets of their criminal syndicates.
The Fascinating Story of Joseph Ardizzone, LA’s Forgotten Crime Boss
The life and criminal career of Joseph Ardizzone is a saga of power, violence, and drama. The tale of Ardizzone is the story from his small-town origins in Italy to become a crime figure in Los Angeles, documenting an important chapter of American mob history.
His involvement in the creation of the Italian Mafia in Los Angeles and how he united with other criminal factions throughout the nation set his position on American crime history. Though Ardizzone eventually fell and served time, in death, he left behind a shadow that continues to haunt the Los Angeles underworld as an echo of old power still reverberating in modern organized crime. Knowing the background of men such as Joseph Ardizzone is essential to understanding the convoluted nature of organized crime and its effect on our country.