LoCigno was a native of Cleveland, Ohio, where he resided before going to California. He had grown up in Cleveland while Mickey Cohen was there, and after Cohen moved west to serve as muscle for Bugsy Siegel, LoCigno came too. But with only one jail term on his sheet, five days for speeding, he seemed little more than "a flunky and errand boy for Mickey," as a probation officer put it. Lo Cigno once described himself as an unemployed bartender and asphalt salesman to police when caught in a raid on a bookie ring overseen by Cohen gang member Al Levitt, but somehow managed to drive a new Cadillac. LoCigno also allegedly had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, whom he met through his association with Cohen.