Mickey Cohen, The Mobster Who Ruled 1950s Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection/UCLA LibraryMickey Cohen at his arraignment in 1949.
Mickey Cohen is yet another name on the long list of Alcatraz prisoners who were incarcerated for gang-related activities. He was born in New York City on Sept. 4, 1913, and he became involved in the world of underground boxing after moving to Los Angeles as a teenager.
Cohen ended up in Chicago during Prohibition and became involved in organized crime there as an enforcer for the Chicago Outfit. Then, in 1939, he returned to Los Angeles and helped establish the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas while working under Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.
After Bugsy Siegel’s assassination in 1947, Cohen became the head of his Los Angeles-based crime organization. However, he was soon arrested for tax evasion in 1951 and sentenced to four years in prison. Upon his release, Cohen went back to his life of crime, and it wasn’t long before he was arrested once again for failing to pay income tax. This time, he was sent to Alcatraz.
Public DomainMickey Cohen’s file at Alcatraz.
Cohen arrived at the federal penitentiary in 1961, but he soon became the only inmate ever bailed out of Alcatraz. He briefly returned to the prison, but he was transferred to Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in early 1963. Prison guards reportedly remarked that, while he was a good inmate, Cohen was “apt at getting what he wants by any means open to him,” according to his case files.
Cohen was released from prison in 1972 and maintained a relatively clean image until he passed away from surgery complications in July 1976 at the age of 62.
After reading about 11 famous Alcatraz prisoners, dive into 11 of the most unbelievable prison escapes in history. Then, read about Devil’s Island, the world’s most horrifying prison.
