Di Ciolla originally lived in Chicago and was aligned with the Genna gang, also known as the Genna crime family, rivals of the Chicago Outfit. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1926 and became a lieutenant of Rosario DeSimone and was the alleged killer of August Palumbo in 1928 to take control of Palumbo's liquor operations, which he had inherited after the imprisonment of Albert Marco. Di Ciolla was formally accused of the gangland slaying of Palumbo, but was acquitted. Palumbo was the seventh bootlegger killed in a six week period during that year, he was allegedly killed for refusing to merge his criminal operations with Rosario DeSimone's, who later became the Don of Los Angeles. Why Di Ciolla moved to the West Coast is something of a mystery, whether he was sent to expand the Genna Gangs i