What do you think? I chose Jimmy "The Hat" Lanza

After posting our last opinion quiz about which particular Mafia boss, of the five I listed, had lived the best life and enjoyed the best underworld career, it got me thinking about the State of California.

One of the five Mafia bosses I listed was James Lanza, the decades-long boss of San Francisco, California.

So now I’d like to get everybody’s opinion about this little doozy, ok?

My question is: Which of these three Mafia bosses, who headed the three known families that once controlled the State of California, was, overall, the most successful in terms of:

- The wealth he accumulated in terms of money, assets, and legitimate businesses.
- The power and influence he wielded.
- The longevity of his reign.
- The “quality of his life during that reign and happiness he enjoyed during his life.
- How much jail time he did.

Was it…

A) James “Jimmy the Hat” Lanza (City of San Francisco)
B) Giuseppe “Joe” Cerrito (City of San Jose)
C) Ignazio "Jack" Dragna (City of Los Angeles)
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I'm curious as to how everyone on the forum feels about it...Who would you pick?

Los Angeles was such an interesting, glamorous place, but Dragna had to deal with so many high profile violent gangsters like Roselli, Siegel and Cohen. No wonder he died of a heart attack at 67.

Yep. He was the man. "Dragna" was the big name out in California. Especially that he operated in the major City of LA. And he had major pull and was well-respected on both coasts, especially in NYC. But L.A. was a tough town from the get-go. As you say, he had Mickey Cohen and a lot of other independents and semi-independents to deal with. The "Dragna brothers" and sons became notorious there.

Until Apalachin came along in 57', Lanza, as well as, Cerrito mostly stayed in the shadows.

So aside from Hollander, doesn't anyone else have an opinion about the three Cosa Nostra Families who controlled underworld rackets throughout the State of California? Or, for that matter, the legendary bosses who headed those borgatas; Dragna, Cerrito, or Lanza?

Have at it guys! Why not go ahead and take a shot? Remember that there are NO wrong answers, because it is an "opinion" piece.

Later on, I'll throw my two-cents into the ring, regarding my opinions on the subject.

He mostly spoke Sicilian and was also active in San Diego settled in Kensington for a while.

Dragna was also known to be extremely close to NYC boss Gaetano Gagliano, and his then-underboss Gaetano Lucchese. Both men were suspected of having underwritten Dragna's later power play after he relocated out to California and soon took over the Mafia Family in L.A.

Not to get off topic name wise but when it comes to California...i lived out in San Diego from 2007 -2010 in the Ocean Beach section of the city...i miss it everyday...but when it comes to CA my loyalty falls with Christopher Petti the Outfit rep in the 90s i believe.

Interesting. But, be that as it may, you still didn't answer the question about the topic at hand. About which California boss was the most successful?

I say Lanza, because he lived to 103 the other two died at 67 pretty young.

I tend to agree with you regarding Lanza. His longevity alone, living to the very ripe age of 103, makes me lean strongly in his favor. Not to mention all the other positive attributes he enjoyed during his long underworld career.

Regarding the question, "Which California boss was the most successful in terms of wealth, power, longevity, quality of his life, and jail time spent, I chose James Lanza.
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He led an amazing life. But rather than try and enumerate all the reasons why I liked Lanza best, I decided to write a full biography about him.
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We should be posting it up sometime this coming week.

I agree with NYMafia...i choose Jimmy Lanza also.

Was Jimmy Lanza still making guys in the 2000s?

And Dragna had to deal with cops who were mostly not Italian, didn't grow up around wiseguys, and were not willing to be on the pad like some police in the big East Coast cities.

No, I believe the S.F. Family was already extinct by that point in time. And he was already long-retired. He was 97 years old in 2000.

True. The west coast was very different than back east in NY, NJ, PA, NE, etc.

Jimmy Lanza, he still got headaches as boss, but his reign was not violent. His power and influence began to wane by the early 1980s, thus he started to make some poor choices. He still had San Francisco and Oakland in his fist, but the times were changing and he had a hard time adapting. He hardly made any new blood, two of the guys he made were a mistake, as one would become a cooperating witness, and the other would run a lucrative racket to the ground that the administration was taking a million or more a year, this was in the eighties so adjust for inflation. By 1985 he was ready to retire, and in 1986 when he felt there was no more Commission ( I am thinking the Paul Castellano hit), he handed the reigns to Junior (Anthony Lima Jr), but stayed active until 1989, as Sciortino declined the top spot and remained as the underboss and street boss.

Lanza gets props for longevity. But being a boss in
San Fran is alot different than being head of the table
Say in Detroit NYC or even New England.
His position was never threatened. No fear of uprising
Or inner faction plots. He seemed like he kept his
Administration in advanced age nobody younger than 58 -60
So in that aspect he was smart not to bring younger
Prospects who would be more ambitious
Lanza knew he had it easy in city that had more Asian
Blood than Italian. I'm sure him and the Triad had
Policies set in place not to step on each other's toes

After the 1940s-1950s era, the FBI and local law enforcement agents said the member son the S.F. Lanza Family was generally speaking, aging and mostly in legitimate businesses. Very few were still active in the daily rackets. And the ones that were mostly handled gambling and low-key activities. The borgata was already on the wane.

This is good info GV

Hollander, regarding your previous comment (in the other thread) about so many mob guys having made a fortune in California. Lanza, for sure, was on the short list of top mafiosi who made a ton.

GV interesting that Lima Jr held such a high rank, after his father secretly shared confidential information with federal law enforcement. Senior provided an insider's view of organized crime from the highest levels. He kept the FBI up-to-date on the activities of LCN members and helped shape the Bureau's organized crime investigations across the country.

Yes, I've heard that.

And if I'm not mistaken there was even a gangster/cop movie made about LA some years ago where they actually highlighted incidents like that. Where the local LA cops started a real harassment campaign against known hoodlums. And the "pad" wasn't really a big thing out there. The cops weren't as receptive as back home in the east.