Frank Bompensiero
1905 to Feb. 10, 1977.
"Bomp," "The Bomp"

Bompensiero was a key member of the west coast Dragna crime family, a San Diego mob chief and a government informant.

Born in the U.S. midwest, Bompensiero became a California Mafia enforcer in his twenties. By 1950, he was responsible for at least one failed attempt on the life of West Coast gambling czar Mickey Cohen./P>

Dragna put Bompensiero in charge of the San Diego region around 1950. Five years later, law enforcement officials succeeded in putting Bomp behind bars for bribery. He served a five-year term.

In the mid-60s, Bompensiero avoided additional prison time by becoming an informant for the FBI. He fed information to federal agents for more than a decade. During much of that time, the L.A. Family grew suspicious of Bompensiero.

On Feb. 10, 1975, Bompensiero was shot to death at a telephone booth.

© 2007 T.Hunt
The American "Mafia"