On this day in 1949 Craig Anthony Fiato who went by the name Tony Rome or The Animal, was born. He is a former Los Angeles Crime Family mobster who later went on to become an FBI informant in which he testified against some 70 other mobsters.

His main role in the LA mob was as an enforcer and street boss, he worked with the likes of Joe Russo, Jimmy Fratianno, Tony Spilotro, Johnny Roselli and Joey Gallo during his time working for the family, and just like Tony Spilotro, Tony Rome had a notorious reputation as a dangerous hitman who was prone to major outbursts over simple things.

In 1984 he turned FBI informant and then entered the Witness protection program.

Born on this day, 31st August 1949, Craig Anthony Fiato — better known on the streets as Tony Rome or simply "The Animal" — would go on to become one of the most feared and ultimately most consequential figures in the history of the Los Angeles Crime Family. A man of fierce physical presence and an even fiercer temper, Fiato carved out a brutal reputation in the underworld that would eventually make him just as valuable to the FBI as he had once been to the mob.

Fiato's rise through the ranks of the Los Angeles Crime Family came during a turbulent era for organised crime on the West Coast. The LA family, though never as powerful as the New York Five Families that had grown from the foundations laid by Lucky Luciano's restructuring of American organised crime in the 1930s, was nonetheless a significant force. Fiato served primarily as an enforcer and street boss, the kind of man the family turned to when a situation required muscle and menace rather than diplomacy. His reputation for explosive violence over seemingly minor provocations drew frequent comparisons to Chicago Outfit associate Tony Spilotro, another enforcer who became notorious for his hair-trigger brutality during the same period.

Throughout his time in the life, Fiato moved in remarkably elevated circles for a West Coast mobster. He worked alongside figures of considerable notoriety, including Joe Russo, the veteran LA family operative, and the legendary Jimmy Fratianno, himself a former acting boss who would later become one of the most significant mob turncoats of his generation. Fiato also crossed paths with Tony Spilotro, the infamous Las Vegas enforcer for the Chicago Outfit, as well as Johnny Roselli, the suave LA and Las Vegas fixer with alleged ties to CIA operations, and the colourful Joey Gallo from the New York Colombo family. The company Fiato kept spoke volumes about his standing in the underworld.

By 1984, however, Fiato made the decision that would define the second chapter of his life. He turned FBI informant, providing federal investigators with detailed testimony that would ultimately be used against approximately 70 fellow mobsters. Following his cooperation, Fiato entered the Witness Protection Programme, effectively closing the door on his criminal past.

His legacy is a deeply complicated one — a man who embodied the savagery of the mob at its most visceral, yet whose testimony helped dismantle significant portions of the very organisation he had served. The story of Tony Rome remains one of the more remarkable tales of loyalty, betrayal, and survival in West Coast organised crime history.