You’ve probably seen the movie American Me. There’s this character, J.D., played by William Forsythe. He’s the white guy with the prosthetic leg who somehow commands total respect in a world where blood and ethnicity usually dictate everything. Most people think he’s just a Hollywood invention. A way to get a white actor into a Chicano story. Honestly, the truth is way more bizarre.
The real man was Joe Pegleg Morgan.
He wasn't Mexican. He was a Croatian-American kid from San Pedro who ended up becoming one of the most powerful leaders in the history of the Mexican Mafia (La eMe). It sounds like a tall tale, but Morgan was the real deal. He didn't just "join" the gang; he basically architected how they did business on the streets. He was a strategic genius who used a prosthetic leg to smuggle weapons and hacksaw blades.
Who Was Joe Pegleg Morgan?
Born Joseph Međugorac in 1929, his family eventually anglicized their name to Morgan. Why? Because the 1920s weren't exactly a great time to be a Slavic immigrant in California. Anti-immigrant sentiment was peaking. His father, Grgo, was a truck driver, and they lived in a tough, mixed neighborhood of Croatians and Mexicans.
💡 You might also like: Ronnie and Kim Booth: What Most People Get Wrong About the Gospel Power Couple
Joe didn't identify with the "white" kids. He grew up in the Maravilla projects of East L.A. He spoke fluent Spanish. He even learned Nahuatl, the Aztec language. By the time he was a teenager, he was already deep in the Ford Maravilla street gang.
In 1946, things turned dark. A 17-year-old Morgan beat a man to death—the husband of his 32-year-old girlfriend—and buried him in a shallow grave. That’s not a "rebellious phase." That’s a life sentence in the making. He escaped while awaiting trial by stealing another inmate's ID, but they caught him. He ended up in San Quentin at an age when most kids are worrying about prom.
The Legend of the Prosthetic Leg
So, where did the "Pegleg" come from? There are two main stories.
Rene "Boxer" Enriquez, a famous Eme dropout, claims Morgan was shot in the leg during a bank robbery in 1956. Another version from police officer William Dunn says he was shot while hiding from the cops after a murder. Either way, he lost the limb.
Authorities called him "Pegleg," but you’d have to be suicidal to say that to his face. To his associates, he was "Joe" or "Cocoliso."
The leg became a tool. In 1961, he led a massive jailbreak from the L.A. County Jail. How? He hid hacksaw blades inside his prosthetic leg. He and eleven others vanished through a pipe shaft. It was the largest break in the jail’s history at the time. He was caught a week later while shopping, but the legend was already set in stone.
Why Joe Pegleg Morgan Still Matters to Crime History
It’s easy to look at a prison gang as just a bunch of thugs. Morgan changed that. He was the one who realized that if the Mexican Mafia wanted to be more than just a prison clique, they had to control the streets.
Before him, the Eme was mostly about protection and power inside the walls. Morgan had "The Vision." He started taxing the Chicano street gangs. Basically, if you wanted to sell drugs in East L.A., you had to pay a percentage to the Mafia. If you didn't? Well, you wouldn't survive your first night in county jail once you eventually got arrested.
The Great Diplomat
Morgan wasn't just a killer. He was a high-IQ strategist. Think of him more like a CEO of a dark conglomerate. He did things that shouldn't have been possible:
- The Aryan Brotherhood Alliance: He forged a "loose alliance" with the AB because they shared a mutual enemy in the Black Guerrilla Family.
- The Italian Connection: He met Michael Rizzitello of the Los Angeles crime family while in Chino. Suddenly, the Mexican Mafia had a bridge to the traditional Cosa Nostra.
- The Cartel Link: He used his connections to set up massive heroin and cocaine distribution lines from Mexico directly into California prisons and streets.
He was a "gabacho firme"—a solid white guy. He read books on socialism, military history, and war. He wasn't just reacting; he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.
The Fall and the American Me Controversy
In 1977, Morgan was sent away for life. He had tried to arrange a hit on a drug dealer who wasn't paying up. He didn't know that his associate, Ramon "Mundo" Mendoza, had flipped and was working with the feds.
📖 Related: Jen Shah Released: What Really Happened with the RHOSLC Star's Jail Time
Even from behind the glass at Pelican Bay and later Corcoran, he ran things.
When Edward James Olmos made American Me in 1992, Morgan was furious. He felt the movie was disrespectful. Specifically, a scene where a character based on a gang leader is sodomized in juvenile hall. That didn't sit well with the Eme’s "macho" code of honor.
The fallout was real. Two of the film's consultants were murdered shortly after the premiere. Morgan himself filed a $500,000 lawsuit from his prison cell against Olmos and Universal Studios, claiming they used his life story without permission.
He never saw a dime.
💡 You might also like: Aaliyah Singer Died in Plane Crash: The Messy Truth Behind the Tragedy
In late 1993, he was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer. His wife tried to get him out on compassionate release, but the state wasn't about to let Joe Morgan walk free. He died on November 9, 1993, at the age of 64. He even kicked a priest out of his room at the very end. He wanted to die exactly how he lived: a gangster who didn't owe anyone anything.
What We Can Learn From the Morgan Era
The story of Joe Pegleg Morgan isn't just about crime; it's about the strange ways culture and loyalty work in the underworld.
- Identity is Fluid: In the hyper-segregated world of California prisons, Morgan proved that "firme" (solid) behavior mattered more than DNA.
- Power Requires Structure: He turned a disorganized group of inmates into a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise by introducing "taxation" and street-level logistics.
- The Cost of the Code: His life ended in a hospital ward, surrounded by guards, while his legacy was a trail of bodies and a lawsuit that went nowhere.
If you’re researching the history of organized crime in California, you can’t skip him. He’s the bridge between the old-school street gangs of the 40s and the modern, sophisticated prison syndicates we see today.
Next Steps for Research:
If you want to understand the modern landscape of the Eme, look into the 1995 federal RICO indictment against the Mexican Mafia. It was the first major blow to the structure Morgan helped build. Also, check out the book The Black Hand by Chris Blatchford for a deeper look at how the organization functioned under his influence.