Michael Rizzitello

Michael Anthony Rizzitello (March 29, 1927 – October 26, 2005), also known as "Mike Rizzi", was a Canadian-American mobster and high-ranking member of 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 (The Last Mafioso and Vengeance Is Mine), Anthony Fiato (The Animal in Hollywood), and Kenny Gallo (Breakshot).

Early life Rizzitello was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 29, 1927. He later moved to New York City and as an adult became associated with organized crime. He worked for "Crazy Joe" Gallo in the 1950s who was a member of the Profaci crime family (later named the Colombo crime family). 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. However, the FBI was tipped off by new informant Jimmy Fratianno, and they intervened in the extortion incident. In 1978 mob boss Dominic Brooklier had tried to get Rizzitello to set up the murder of Jimmy Fratianno. Fratianno later turned state's evidence 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, but was acquitted. 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. For the third straight time he was acquitted, using attorney Anthony Brooklier, the son of L.A. Mafia boss Dominic Brooklier, as his attorney. Jimmy Fratianno wrote extensively about his working relationship and friendship with Rizzitello in his best-selling book about the Los Angeles mob, The Last Mafioso.

When Rizzitello was released from prison in early 1986, Peter Milano 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 in New York City 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 Anthony Fiato 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.

Terminally ill, Rizzitello died of complications of cancer at the age of 78, on October 26, 2005, in Palm Springs, California. He was still in custody at the time of his death.