Big John La Rocca Pittsburgh Crime Boss

Big John La Rocca was a somewhat insignificant crime boss as far a big cities are concerned. He got his start as a whiskey runner after he failed running a gas station. The Pittsburgh crime structure is different than New York, Philadelphia or Chicago. For example crime in the city was controlled by ward political machines. Convicted on gun. larceny and lottery charges Big John had an arrest record dating back to 1922. Mafia activities were superimposed on the Pittsburgh crime structure. A Sicilian immigrant the La Rocca family moved to Indiana County, Pennsylvania when John was a youth. He worked in a coal mine in Yatesboro.