Ernest Rupolo was a Mafia informant who started his life of crime in the 1930s as a nineteen-year-old. On May 19, 1934 Rupolo appeared in a Manhattan Police lineup, charged with trying to kill William Gallo. Reportedly the target of a plot to poison him Rupolo received extensive police protection on November 19, 1945. To ensure his safety Ernie the Hawk was transferred from the old Bronx County Jail to the Federal House of Detention in Manhattan. Rupolo's story didn't end until October 1966 when Colombo underboss John Sonny Franzese and accomplices were indicted for murdering Ernie on August 24, 1966.