time hood who joined forces with New York gangster  Bugsy Siegel (qv) when Siegel came out to L.A. to run the rackets  (see the film _Bugsy (1991)_ (qv)). After Siegels murder in 1947,  Cohen took over the rackets that Bugsy had built up, including  studio labor union shakedowns, drug trafficking, gambling and  prostitution. He was so hated by the police that he was constantly  arrested for any crime, big or small (he was once busted for using  foul language on the street!). As shown in the movie, he was  eventually locked up for income tax evasion and spent nearly ten  years in prison. After his release, he was semi