Southland Mafia ‘Active and Dangerous’ : Retiring L.A. Crime Strike Force Chief Says Mob Has Reorganized

The Mafia in Southern California is “just as active and even more dangerous” today than it was five years ago when all of its top leaders were convicted of racketeering.

That is the appraisal of James D. Henderson, 38, the prosecutor who obtained those convictions, as he steps down today after seven years as chief of the federal Organized Crime Strike Force in Los Angeles.

“I picked June 3 because it is the 13th anniversary of my joining the Justice Department,” Henderson said.

But he quickly added that he will “still be around the office for awhile to take care of some unfinished business.” That business involves people who have tried to fill the crime vacuum left by the 1980 convictions and jailings of Dominic Brooklier, Samuel Sciortino, Louis Tom Dragna, Michael Rizzitello and Jack LoCicero, Henderson said.

Those men were identified at their trial as, respectively, the boss, underboss, former boss, capodecina (chief aide) and consigliere (counselor) of the Mafia in Southern California.

“As a result of the 1980 convictions,” Henderson said, “the ‘family’ here has undergone a reorganization and is just as active and even more dangerous than before. It is sort of an irony that our success in that case created a vacuum and stimulated a serious effort to fill it by both outsiders and those inside the organization here.”

Will Help Prosecute Spillone

Even though Henderson is retiring as head of the strike force, he will be a co-prosecutor in the upcoming trial of Vito Spillone and other alleged members of the Chicago crime syndicate, who are charged with loan sharking at the California Bell Club, a poker parlor in Bell.

“We can’t talk much about it now,” Henderson said, “but there is another very significant La Cosa Nostra case that I’m also sticking around to help put together.”

Henderson declined to discuss “any of the names or activities” involved in the case but said, “It is going to be a very interesting and important case that will underscore what I’ve said about the reorganized efforts of the La Cosa Nostra here.”

He said the Spillone case is a good example of the outside elements that came into Southern California after the downfall of the earlier group. Spillone, originally from Chicago, now lives in Upland and operates Angie’s Wholesale Groceries, a restaurant supply company in El Monte.

The indictment charges Spillone, who served five years in federal prison before moving to Southern California, and six others with conspiring to supplant local loan sharks and bookmakers at Los Angeles-area poker clubs.

Scheduled to stand trial with Spillone are John James Barro, operator of Barro’s Pizza, an Anaheim-based chain of pizzerias; Frank Serrao of Los Angeles; John Clyde Abel of Chicago; John Meccia of LaSalle, Ill., and Frank Citro and Joseph Bolognese, both of Las Vegas.

Henderson said he hopes to be able to get these “loose ends tied down” by the end of summer.

During his seven years as its chief, Henderson’s staff has obtained more than 150 indictments. He is proud of the fact that only eight of those cases ended in acquittals and describes the convictions of the five Mafia leaders in 1980 as his proudest achievement. He also won the conviction in 1981 of New Orleans crime boss Carlo Marcello for attempting to bribe federal Judge Harry Pregerson. And Henderson played a key role in the so-called “Brilab” prosecutions, a nationwide investigation into bribery of public officials by labor bosses.

He also convicted Aladena (Jimmy the Weasel) Fratianno in connection with the gangland execution of Frank (The Bomp) Bompensiero, a San Diego Mafia leader who became a government informant.

“I am, of course, proud of convicting Fratianno,” Henderson said. “But I think it was an even greater accomplishment to debrief him after he turned government witness and then prepare cases against a lot of other Mafiosi around the country with the information he provided.”

Effective Witness

He described Fratianno as “one of the all-time great characters and also one of the most effective witnesses we’ve ever had against La Cosa Nostra.” He credited Fratianno’s testimony for the convictions “not only of Brooklier here but also New York crime bosses Funzi Tieri and Russell Bufalino.”

Henderson said he has had his share of frustrations in running the strike force, which pulls together prosecutors and investigators from several federal and local law enforcement agencies and channels their efforts against the Mafia.

“Almost all of those frustrations stem from the fact that we have never had the budget to do all the things we could have done against the so-called traditional organized crime,” Henderson said. “This meant that we also did not go after other ethnic organized crime groups that have been emerging in recent years, particularly those with Oriental and South American origins.

“These newer groups don’t have the same sort of superstructure that La Cosa Nostra has. But they have become major problems for law enforcement that could be best handled by the special expertise that the strike force concept develops.”

Target of Investigation

In a more personal way, Henderson’s frustrations have included being the target of an internal Justice Department investigation stemming from accusations made by government informant Jerry Van Hoorelbeke.

Van Hoorelbeke claimed that Henderson worked closely with former strike force chief Richard P. Crane Jr., now in private law practice, to arrange favorable treatment for organized crime figures. Van Hoorelbeke also claimed that Henderson failed to pursue information given to him about political corruption.

Six months ago, the Justice Department issued a report that Van Hoorelbeke’s charges were unfounded and seemed to stem from a vendetta conducted by Van Hoorelbeke against Henderson. Van Hoorelbeke was said to have blamed Henderson when his 16-year sentence for attacking a police officer was not reduced. The reduction was part of a deal that Van Hoorelbeke maintained he made with federal officials in return for testifying against wealthy nightclub owner Adel (Eddie Nash) Nasrallah.

Asked if he had any resentment toward Van Hoorelbeke or the Justice Department, Henderson said: “I wouldn’t say I am bitter about what happened. But I was disappointed, because I think it took too long to get it cleared up. For months and months, not only was I under a cloud but so was the whole office. It wasn’t a happy situation.”

May Have Left Earlier

Henderson said he might have left federal service earlier, “but I sure wasn’t going to go with that hanging over my head.” It has not yet been determined who will be appointed to fill Henderson’s post. Bruce Kelton, a longtime associate of Henderson, will take over as interim chief today.

One of the first benefits of stepping down, Henderson said, is that he will get to spend more time with “another of my loves--baseball.” He served a brief stint with the Kansas City Royals after starring as captain of Northwestern University’s baseball team.

“I’ve got a 16-year-old son who is bigger and better than I was,” Henderson said. “And I’m going to spend some more time trying to help his development.”

As for his future as a lawyer, Henderson said that he has no firm plans to enter private practice after serving 13 years as a government attorney in Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Wants to Stay in L.A.

“What I do know is that I will stay in Los Angeles,” he said, “and that I want to go with a law firm that will let me handle both civil and criminal cases and stay close to the courtroom.

“It would be foolish not to use some of the expertise I’ve developed in criminal law. But I don’t want to go out and start defending the kind of guys that I’ve spent almost all of my adult life trying to put in jail.”