John Roselli

Roselli was born Filippo Sacco on July 4, 1905, in Esperia, Lazio, Italy. == Criminal career ==

1920s On September 14, 1922, Sacco was arrested on narcotics charges in Massachusetts. He first fled to New York for three months Roselli began his California criminal career working for small-time bootleggers, becoming the top truck driver for Tony Cornero. Eventually, Roselli was promoted to working closely with the Cornero brothers to secure liquor imports into Southern California. He was especially important in bribing and securing the loyalty of Orange County officials, opening up their ports for the gang's use. In 1926, Tony Cornero fled to Canada, escaping a two-year bootlegging sentence. As a result of the gang's dissolution, Roselli went independent. He became further involved in several L.A.-area vice rackets, especially prostitution and gambling. Roselli first met Al Capone in 1927 on a trip to Chicago to attend the Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney boxing match. Capone was holding a party that night at his headquarters, Metropole Hotel, where Johnny could briefly meet him and the Chicago Outfit's inner circle. Roselli next met with Capone at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. In 1928, Capone invited Roselli to Chicago, offering him a role in his organization. Roselli was tasked with working with the Los Angeles crime family to monitor Capone's investments and facilitate cooperation between the L.A. and Chicago organizations. The Los Angeles branch of the Mafia was at the time under the leadership of Joseph Ardizzone and Roselli worked closely with Ardizzonne's underboss, Jack Dragna. It was while in the service that Roselli was convicted of the extortion scheme to extort money from Hollywood figures, in 1943, serving a prison sentence until his release in 1947. After the Cuban Revolution in January 1959, Fidel Castro closed down the casinos that the mob operated in Cuba, and attempted to drive the mobsters out of the country. This made Roselli, Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana and Tampa Mafia boss Santo Trafficante amenable to the idea of killing Castro. The CIA's Family Jewels documents released in 2007, detailed how members of the Mafia were involved in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s attempts to assassinate Castro. Roselli had a particular contempt for Castro and felt in some way responsible for the Bay of Pigs invasion failure as he had encouraged individuals to take part. The documents showed that, in September 1960, the CIA recruited Robert Maheu, an ex-FBI agent and aide to Howard Hughes in Las Vegas, to approach Roselli under the pretense of representing international corporations that wanted Castro dead due to lost gambling interests. Roselli's main CIA acquaintance was Bill Harvey, who he developed a friendship with. Harvey's daughter took to calling Roselli "Uncle Johnny". In April 1962, Roselli was contacted by Harvey who wanted to revive the idea of poisoning Castro, however just like the first poison plot, this one also did not get far. Roselli suggested giving poison pills to Tony Varona who would forward the pills to a chef in a restaurant frequented by Castro. This suggestion was adopted, although the chef placed the pills in the freezer, making them unusable. In 1963, singer Frank Sinatra sponsored Roselli for membership in the exclusive Los Angeles Friar's Club. Soon after his acceptance, Roselli discovered an elaborate card-cheating operation run by one of his Las Vegas friends, Maurice Friedman, and asked for his cut. The card cheating was finally discovered in July 1967 by FBI agents tailing Roselli. In the 1960s, Immigration and Naturalization Service had also tried to deport Roselli, although were unsuccessful. 1970s On June 24 and September 22, 1975, Roselli testified before the 1975 U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCIA) led by Idaho Senator Frank Church about the CIA plan to kill Castro, Operation Mongoose. Shortly before Roselli testified, an unknown person shot and killed Giancana in the basement of his Illinois home. This happened just days before Giancana was to testify before the committee. Giancana's murder supposedly prompted Roselli to permanently leave Los Angeles and Las Vegas for Miami. On April 23, 1976, Roselli was called before the committee to testify about a conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy. On August 3, Tennessee Senator Howard Baker, a member of the new SSCIA, requested that the FBI investigate Roselli's disappearance. == Death ==

On 28 July 1976, Roselli was reported missing by his sister, who he had been living with in Plantation, Florida. A few days later his car was found parked at Miami International Airport with his golf clubs in the trunk. His legs were sawed off, and his body was bent in half to fit him into the container. Chains tied to the drum were unsuccessful in preventing it from resurfacing. He had died of asphyxiation. ==JFK conspiracy allegations==

After Roselli's death, journalists Jack Anderson and Les Whitten published an editorial stating that Roselli had told associates that underworld assassins had been discovered by Castro plotting to kill him. Castro, supposedly believing Kennedy responsible for the plot, turned the assassins and sent them to kill Kennedy. Roselli stated that Oswald was framed by these individuals. At the time Roselli was facing racketeering charges and possible deportation. In the 1970s the House Select Committee on Assassinations, set up to reinvestigate the Kennedy murder, concluded that "the public dissemination of the details of the plots correspond remarkably with the efforts of John Roselli to prevent his deportation [and] prosecution…. These coincidences plus other evidence indicate that John Roselli manipulated the facts of the plot into a retaliation theory in efforts to force the CIA to intervene favorably in his legal affair". Bill Bonanno, the son of Cosa Nostra boss Joseph Bonanno, claimed in his 1999 memoir, ''Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story, that he had discussed the assassination of Kennedy with Roselli and implicated him as the primary hitman in a conspiracy instigated by the mob. According to Bonanno, Roselli fired at Kennedy from a storm drain on Elm Street. Based on information in the book Ultimate Sacrifice'' by Lamar Waldron, the program asserted that Roselli was responsible for framing Abraham Bolden who was arrested the day before he was to appear before the Warren Commission. == Popular culture ==

In the CBS television drama Vegas, the character from the Chicago Mob Johnny Rizzo, portrayed by Michael Wiseman, is loosely based on Johnny Roselli, as when Rizzo is introduced. Rizzo is in the Vegas black book and is not allowed to be in any casino. When Sheriff Ralph Lamb catches Rizzo in one, he demands that Rizzo leave. Rizzo, known for his temper, gets into a fight, and is easily subdued by Lamb. This is based on an actual event involving the real Sheriff Lamb and Roselli. Roselli was portrayed by Chuck Shamata in the 2007 TNT miniseries The Company, which portrayed Roselli's role in the CIA's unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. Tony Lo Bianco played Roselli in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995). Roselli and gangster Sam Giancana and their involvement with the CIA are the focus of a 2024 Paramount+ docuseries "Mafia Spies" based on the book by Thomas Maier. John Travolta plays Roselli in the movie November 1963 (2026). == See also ==