Aladena “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno, a longtime Mafia hit man and mob boss before turning FBI informant with a contract on his own head, has died peacefully in his sleep. He was 79.
Mr. Fratianno, shoot-and-tell author and an occasional television talk show guest, died Tuesday at his home in an undisclosed U.S. city where he was living under an assumed name, his wife, Jean Fratianno, told the Los Angeles Times. Phoenix FBI agent James F. Ahearn, who developed Mr. Fratianno as an informant and witness, confirmed the death Wednesday.
Mr. Fratianno, after spending much of his adult life in the mob, turned government witness in 1977, traveling the country to testify against fellow mobsters. For the most part, he was able to live quietly with his wife, whom he married shortly before getting out of the mob.
But his two books, The Last Mafioso and Vengeance is Mine, both ghostwritten, brought him bursts of attention throughout his retirement, as did occasional talk shows and periodic attempts on his life.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Fratianno, who was raised near Cleveland after his family emigrated from Italy, became acting boss for the Los Angeles mob. It was then, he said, he became the target of a murder contract, and the hit man became the songbird.
