Aquilante was allegedly a made member in the San Diego faction of the Los Angeles crime family, not much is known about Aquilante other than he was active under late Los Angeles crime boss Peter Milano who also inducted him into the crime family. Aquilante was said to be very close to fellow Los Angeles family soldier John Joseph Vaccaro, Jr. According to some sources, "Shakes" Milano made Aquilante a capo of the San Diego area. In a sense he took Joseph Adamo and his predecessor Frank Bompensiero's place in San Diego. Aquilante reportedly brought in a lot of income for the family with his Pornography ventures. He was arrested three times for obscenity charges and served time in prison because of it. In 1978, he was sentenced to three years probation. He reportedly operated with a group of