Thanks for the explanations, guys. Really hoping Vacari, Ralph, the usual contributors on the California mobs could chime in.

Did the FBI take any heat for the Tamara Rand issue? I could see how they wouldn't have any legal accountability, considering they couldn't control what Bompensiero did. He was just feeding them information. Still, you have to think they took some criticism for it, perhaps from Rand's family. I'd be pissed if a relative of mine were killed by someone the FBI was working with at the time, even if they didn't know.

In the Nuestra Familia "Black Widow" case in California, I recall something about how the feds knew of plans to kill someone and didn't intervene because they didn't want to blow their case. Anyone recall that? SoCalGangs might know more on this.

"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea