During this time, he also gave money to his mother for her support, as well as for her pleasures. At this writing, it is not yet known whether other family relations were close or what part his brother Harry may have played in his activities. The agency suggests that we might well wonder how much of his delinquencies his family has helped him cover up through their acceptance of him as a person who is generous, charitable, and self-sacrificing.
Cohen relates that his first difficulty with the law occurred in the company of some other unemployed boxers with whom he associated. In recounting the incident to the US Probation Officer, Cohen stated that he had formed the habit of hanging around a certain restaurant where occasionally the manager would tear up a small meal ticket for them. A scheme was developed where the manager would turn over the contents of the till to them, claiming he had been robbed. Carrying through with the plan, he was found out, and made a confession. Cohen, placed on two years probation for his part, subsequently made restitution for about $140.00. Going to Chicago, Cohen relates that he continued his gambling activities and became further identified with the underworld.
His appearance on the Los Angeles scene took place in 1939. The prosecuting agency—in reporting his activities and their development from this time—reports that he has been the focal point of numerous police investigations. The most recurrent offenses appear to be brutal assaults on persons who did not agree with the business methods he outlined. Public expenditures of funds in investigating and prosecuting Cohen (and his subordinates) over a period of thirteen years would total several hundred thousand dollars.
Cohen’s record in the Los Angeles area from November, 1939—according to the prosecuting agency—shows that he was arrested by the Los Angeles Police at a bookmaking place that he was operating and was charged with robbery. He was released on November 15, 1939. In May of 1940, he was arrested by the police for assault with a deadly weapon and for vagrancy, and was released with the charges being dismissed on June 24, 1940. In November of the same year he was again arrested by the police for further investigation and released on November 14th.
Lavonne Weaver Cohen
Cohen married Lavonne Weaver Cohen, alias Simoni King, in October of that year. Records indicate that she became a prostitute at the age of fourteen and according to the Chief of Police of Los Angeles, was reported to have operated in Honolulu as a prostitute and also a madam. Her foul language—evidenced in Dictaphone recordings in the police department’s possession—as well as her language and actions in the presence of officers of the department, has tended to substantiate her background as a prostitute.
Cohen was again arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department in February of 1941 for bookmaking and on July 11th he was convicted and received a 6-month sentence and a $100 fine, serving his time at the Los Angeles County Honor Farm. Following his release he was again arrested in September 1941 and held for questioning in connection with the attempted murder of Benny Gamson, while under appeal bond on the former offense.
In July 1942 he was arrested by the Los Angeles Police for cutting the telephone wires of a racing wire concern, after beating the owner of the services. In February 1943 he was permitted to plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor and was fined $200, which he paid. During the next month he was arrested by the police for shooting craps and was fined five dollars. Arrested by the San Francisco police in September 1944 and charged with vagrancy, he was permitted to forfeit $1,000 bail and leave town.
In May 1945, he was arrested in Los Angeles for shooting and killing Maxie Shaman, a competitive bookie, in a bookie joint owned by Cohen. He admitted the shooting and though there were no direct witnesses, he alleged that he acted in self-defense. A complaint was refused by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, his gun was returned to him, and he was released. He has since bragged to intimates that it cost him $40,000 to escape this charge of murder.
In November of the same year he was arrested by the Los Angeles police on a charge of robbery at a gambling place owned by him. The complaint was refused by the Los Angeles County District Attorney, and he was released on November 19th. He was again arrested by the Los Angeles police in January 1946 on a bookmaking charge; the case was dismissed on February 6th. Cohen, in May 1946, was one of the suspects questioned and released in the unsolved homicide of Paul Gibbons, a bookie competitor and hoodlum. The investigation made by the Beverly Hills Police Department notes that it was rumored at the time that Gibbons was the person who had broken into Cohen’s home on June 16, 1944. At the time it was the underworld conversation that Cohen had obtained the services of Benny “Meatball” Gamson and George Levinson, two known police characters, to do away with Gibbons. Gamson’s car was placed at the scene of the crime and he was arrested in a complaint asked from the District Attorney’s Office, which was refused, and he was released.
Levinson, also taken in custody, obtained an attorney to represent him but the police were unable to interview him for two days after the killing and then only in the presence of his attorney. Cohen was interrogated and he volunteered information that Gibbons was a stool pigeon for law enforcement officers and had double-crossed several members of the underworld. Cohen states that Gibbons was a welcher and was an employee of the Shannon brothers, also known as a Shaman, who Cohen had killed the preceding year.
With Gibbons’ elimination, Gamson and Levinson acquired a reputation amongst the underworld as killers, and it was reported that they had been given the assignment to eliminate Cohen by rival gamblers. Cohen found out that they had an apartment at a Los Angeles address. On October 3, 1946, both Gamson and Levinson were killed there. It was the general conversation amongst the underworld that Cohen had these gunmen liquidated. The Beverly Hills Police kept him under surveillance constantly, questioning him and his guests at frequent intervals, as he returned home early in the mornings until he finally moved to West Los Angeles.
In June 1947, Cohen was one of the suspects questioned and released in the unsolved homicide of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and afterwards took over part of Siegel’s interests. He was again questioned in August 1948, as one of the suspects and was released in the unsolved homicide of his bodyguard Harry “Hookey” Rothman, and the wounding of two members of Cohen’s gang, Albert Snyder, and James Risk in Cohen’s place of business. Rothman had been on the downgrade through the use of drugs for several years prior to the shooting and Cohen had come to distrust him. He had a severe beating administered to Rothman for throwing his weight around at the Del Mar Track. After the shooting Snyder left town and was last reported in Pittsburgh.
Cohen in September of 1957 berating the Los Angeles Police Chief Clinton Anderson. Anderson had jailed Cohen on a charge of violating an ordinance requiring ex-convicts to register with police. After this episode, Anderson had Cohen arrested again for disturbing the peace.
In March 1949, Cohen and several of his gang were charged with conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon, and obstructing justice in the beating of a Mr. Pearson. He was acquitted after a trial on March 7, 1950. On July 20, 1949, Niddie Herbert was shot in front of a restaurant on the Sunset Strip, dying six days later. Cohen was wounded in the shoulder and in all probability was the prime target. Harry Cooper, an investigator for the attorney general’s office and Dee David, a call girl were also wounded. Herbert had taken over “Hookey” Rothman’s job with Cohen after Rothman’s killing. A prior attempt had been made on his life at his home on June 22nd.
The common opinion was that Cohen was behind the shooting in an endeavor to teach Herbert a lesson, Herbert having hidden Collins’ bullet-ridden car in his garage while the investigation was being conducted by the sheriff’s offices. Information about the hiding of the car leaked out approximately 2 weeks after the investigation started. Early in August 1949, David Ogul and Frank Niccoli, two of Cohen’s henchmen, disappeared. They were under indictment with Cohen and five of his hoodlums for assaulting a local businessman who had bookmaking connections. Ogul and
Niccoli’s testimony probably would have made the case against Cohen and the other defendants. Cohen was acquitted after the disappearance. At the time of this incident he was trying to smear the police department in a political maneuver by involving them in the case, the attempt being unsuccessful.
Cohen’s home on Morino Drive in Los Angeles.
One of many failed assassination attempts on Cohen’s life. Adversaries bombed Cohen’s home in February of 1950. He is pictured here poking fun at the situation when he commented to reporters: “Them bastards ruined one of my best suits.”
Cohen’s Attorney, Samuel Rummel, was killed with a shotgun in front of his home in Los Angeles on December 11, 1950. He had been Cohen’s attorney for years, but it was known that they had been in disagreement for several months prior to the killing. Cohen’s home at 513 Morino Drive, Los Angeles was bombed on February 6, 1950, which was indicative of the violence surrounding his activities. Residents in the vicinity have petitioned the City Council to have Cohen evicted for public safety reasons.
The Los Angeles Police reports that Cohen’s life story was run in serial form by the Los Angeles Daily News in 1949, which is indicative of the great amount of public interest in his case. His connection with organized crime has been apparent for many years. His contacts and quite possibly his superiors in the underworld include Frank Costello in New York, Anthony Milano in Akron, a member of the Mafia, Jack Dragna of Los Angeles, Mafia chief of the West Coast, and many others of similar background. The list of his gang members, at least some of the members, has been furnished the institution by the prosecuting agency.
According to the prosecuting agency, he has handled betting transactions with many of the biggest betting commissioners in all parts of the states, but acquired a reputation as a welcher. His haberdashery in Los Angeles operated as a blind for his activities, featured a bulletproof steel door, a bulletproof sedan, and a nominal amount of actual sales. Despite his record of professional gangsterism and his intimate association with repeated acts of violence, Cohen has a reputation for aiding needy persons and causes, and for generosity for his friends and relatives.
He is obsessed with a craving for publicity and fine living, indicative by his announcing immediately after he was sentenced for income tax evasion that he planned to write a story of his life as the subject of a motion picture.
Cohen appeared on Mike Wallace’s evening television show Night Beat in May of 1957. He lambasted the Los Angeles Police Department for their conduct and harassment claiming he had taken the road to reform.
“I have killed no men... who in the first place didn’t deserve killing.” Cohen to Wallace.
At this time, Cohen relates that he is been trying to remove himself from his gambling and other illegal interests. He states that this has been brought home to him through his family. His family reports that within the last two years since meeting evangelist Billy Graham, he has shown a sincere interest in religion. His personality has been summarized by his wife and sister as one that takes pride in doing the job well, would rather take the beating, and didn’t want to see another person being hurt in any way. If he witnessed crowd violence or a fight or group activity he would not make a scene by being different or making an issue, but rather keep hands off.
He is not quick to report the errors of others. His wife cited that one time she was having dinner with him at a restaurant when the waiter spilled food on a new suit that he was wearing. Rather than have the man lose his job, he had the suit cleaned. He has also been charitable toward the needy. His wife stated that he sent a considerable sum to Palestine and states that the church officials there have asked him to come to Palestine, which she indicates that she would like to do and that they make so.
The family feels that he is not handicapped because of his lack of education or that Cohen himself feels handicapped because of it, but that he has studied privately to better himself. If he is felt about this he has succeeded well in covering up this wish. They consider his personality winning, that he makes a good salesman, and that everybody likes him because he is kind and considerate. He wants most to be liked by others, and seems to have succeeded in gaining this desire.
The agency reports that it is fortunate for him that he has a family who will stand by him and help him upon release. The wife is now being assisted by relatives, and he can come home to the apartment which his sister Pauline and her husband have furnished. The agency reports that the furnishings are elaborate but lend a homey atmosphere.
PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES:
Cohen’s wife states that she has plans for herself in the sales field and is eager to start work so that her husband can carry on upon his release. She is interested in him studying while at this institution, and that he should be given some work assignment involving keeping accounts because he would have a great deal to contribute in that field. Possible plans include returning to the clothing business, or Cohen may consider assisting Billy Graham in his evangelistic work.
Mention was made to the agency of the fact that Cohen has close ties to his brother, Harry who is planning to move to Chicago soon. Cohen relates that his gunshot wound has caused him considerable trouble and that he was under the care of Doctor Zeiler in Los Angeles, and is receiving treatment. He relates that his arm occasionally becomes numb due to a nerve injury.
He has received encouraging letters from his family. A small amount of fan mail has also been received, which has been returned to non-correspondence because of the eccentric nature. Cohen states that he is fearful because of the attempts on his life, and will endeavor to keep himself in the background while here. He states that he has had some difficulty in warding off the attention of others, while at the same time trying to avoid offending. He has written to his wife and his sister Pauline to contact his attorney, Morris Lavine, in appealing to the sentencing judge for sentence reduction by dropping his pending appeal. He believes that if he doesn’t get bond, his appeal would be foolish.
Cohen sitting in a U.S. Marshal vehicle at the Fort Mason boat pier waiting for the Alcatraz ferry. He is seen reading the book “The Big Bankroll,” a novel based on the life of the late gambler Arnold Rothstein. Dock workers heckled Cohen as he boarded the ferry yelling: “No Champaign for this trip” and “Look at Mickey’s last yacht.”
Mickey being escorted by an Alcatraz officer to the Alcatraz launch.
ALCATRAZ AND AFTER
Cohen served his time quietly at Alcatraz and was considered a model inmate. He worked in the clothing room located in the downstairs basement section of the prison, the same area where Al Capone and Whitey Bulger had held similar job assignments. Cohen would later write in his 1975 memoir In My Own Words:
This Alcatraz is unbelievable in the United States of America... You couldn’t believe the treachery in this place. It was a crumbling dungeon. Like you see in the motion pictures with water dripping down from the ceiling. In Alcatraz, you were sitting in the middle of the ocean. At no time did you ever get away from the clamminess. I don’t remember ever being warm there... I was in charge of the clothing room, which gave me access to take a shower twice or three times a day, or at least once a day for sure – which was the thing that saved my life...
Cohen seen being released from Alcatraz in October of 1961. He was freed on a $100,000 bond appeal, but it would prove to be short-lived. He would return to Alcatraz in May of 1962.
Frankie Carbo arrived at Alcatraz in 1962 and served alongside Cohen. A known enforcer and New York City Mafia solider for outfits like Murder, Inc. and the infamous Lucchese Family, Carbo was rumored to have planned the 1947 murder of Bugsy Siegel in Hollywood, California, one of Cohen’s closest associates. James “Whitey” Bulger who served on Alcatraz with Cohen and Carbo remembered: “Mickey would walk the yard sometimes and talk to Carbo - but only casual talk, not real friendly.”
“When I had to eat the joint’s food, it wasn’t too bad. See, Tony Marcello - String Bean was his nickname - had charge of the kitchen.
He was a good cook, all Italian guys are. So every day I ate there, he’d say to me, ‘What do you feel like eating? What should I cook today?’ And then he had a menu thing done with chaulk put up so you could see it when you walked into the cafeteria. So like after Frank Carbo come there, String Bean put on the menu, Frank Carbo Day - Spaghetti. Then when he’d make corned beef, he’d put Mickey Cohen Day - Kosher Corned Beef. He was a character. He died in my arms later at the Springfield joint.”
Crime mogul James “Whitey” Bulger remembered: “When Mickey arrived he was the talk of Alcatraz. Cohen celled next to Ianelli, a friend of mine from outside Chicago. Mickey was a heavy, loud snorer, and drove Ianelli nuts. Big “I” would bang on Mickey Cohen’s wall and scream “Wake up you fucking Meyer... Roll over!” Ianelli’s rant would resonate throughout the Alcatraz cellhouse. “Mickey was a proud little guy and a survivor. He was very well liked by all the guys at Alcatraz...”
Alcatraz Officer Jim Albright (pictured here at an Alcatraz reunion event in 2012) offered many memories about guarding Cohen. One of those he later recounted in his personal memoir Last Guard Out: “Sam Tiblow kept a pet mouse on a chain and the mouse would sit on his shoulders. He kept it in his cell and carried it under his coat collar. The mouse went missing and was presumed dead. Sam’s cell was next to Mickey’s cell; and Cohen, being a neat freak and not particularly fond of mice, was afraid the mouse would get in his cell at night [Cohen allegedly lined books against the bars at the front of his cell to keep rodents out]. Thus, was a contract put out on the mouse or was this another escape from Alcatraz?”
Letters from Alcatraz Page 12
