Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness (18 page)

The score was huge. Each of the burglars ended up with $80,000. Nick got his ten percent.

Frank and his crew robbed drug dealers outright, but they also used another way to get money out of them. It was called a shakedown.

Frank got a call from Tony that he wanted to meet at the Upper Crust. When they talked, Tony explained the plan. “There’s a big-time drug dealer in town from Chicago named Jack. I want you to put the muscle on him. Grab him. Tell him you’re from Chicago and were sent out here to talk to him. Tell him he’s a fucking cocksucker with no business selling coke out here. Then let him know the guys in Chicago want him to pay them five hundred grand and go out of business. See what he has to say and let me know.”

Frank found Jack, who cried, “I can’t come up with that kind of money. Fifty, maybe, but not five hundred.”

Frank was unsympathetic. “I didn’t set the price. Chicago did. I’ll tell them what you said and get back to you.”

“You’ve got to help me,” Jack pleaded. “Make them understand I’m not fucking around with them; I just don’t have that kind of money.”

“Like I said, I’ll tell them.”

Frank left the shaken drug dealer and talked with Tony Spilotro the next day. Tony got a big kick out of Frank’s description of his meeting with Jack. Then he said, “Tell him Chicago wants three hundred thousand, or else.”

“Jesus, Tony, he said he hasn’t got that kind of money and I believe him. He was too fucking scared to lie. You might be able to get a hundred out of him, but not three hundred.”

Tony didn’t want to hear it. “Bullshit. You tell him just what I told you.”

Frank did as ordered, but the hard-nosed approach drove Jack into a panic and he dropped out of sight. When Tony heard the news, he flew into a rage. “Find that cocksucker and break his fucking head!”

Frank found Jack again. He and Ernie Davino drove to Jack’s place, tied him up, and found the safe. It held about $35,000 in cash, a bunch of jewelry, a pistol, some coke, and other valuables.

The problematic parts of the Las Vegas experience caught up to Frank soon enough.

Although he was married to Eileen, he saw other women as well. There were also many beautiful women at Frank’s fingertips. It wasn’t because of his looks; it was the money and power he had behind him. The ladies were infatuated with Outfit-connected guys and he even had groupies following him around.

The lifestyle Frank was leading caused him to do something he came to regret. He’d never in his life used drugs, but starting sometime in 1980 he began using cocaine.

His motivation was that he thought if he had cocaine, he’d be even more popular with the women. Initially, he just provided the white powder. It was a commodity he got for free by robbing drug dealers, so it was no big thing. But then he started using. He sat down with his girlfriends and snorted a line or two. Starting out with one gram a day, he soon progressed to four.

Frank came to love coke. It was the first thing he did in the morning and if and when he slept, it was the last thing he did at night. And then it started getting bad; he was always looking for cocaine. He knew that he was totally addicted. If he hadn’t been getting it for nothing, he probably would have ended up like the other junkies, robbing anybody he could and snatching purses. He was on it for almost a year and blames no one but himself. But Frank was saved from his drug dependency by one thing: sex. His ever-increasing drug use was affecting his sex life and he decided to do something about it.

Frank went to see a doctor who was on juice with him for six grand. That meant the physician was paying $600 a week in interest. When he took Frank’s blood pressure, the doctor said it was so high he was surprised his patient hadn’t had a stroke. He asked Frank if he was taking any drugs and Frank told him about the cocaine. The doctor said he needed to give it up or face dire consequences.

Frank was fortunate in that he was able to quit drugs cold turkey. Within 30 days his sex drive and blood pressure returned to normal.

To show his appreciation, Frank cut the doctor’s juice in half. But not long afterward he sold the doctor’s account to one of his crew for the original principal of six thousand and the interest went back up. He believed that throwing some easy money at his men helped to keep them happy.

Over the years, Frank and his associates had used explosives many times to blow up cars and buildings. His self-taught expertise led him back to Chicago and a nice payday.

An old friend of Frank’s in the Windy City called him about coming to Chicago to do a dynamite job. “Do you remember that black minister, the one that owned a grocery store?” the friend asked.

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He and some of your Blackstone Ranger buddies you met in Stateville want you to do a job for them. I told them I’d get in touch with you.”

“Any idea what they want me to do?”

“Apparently, the minister’s store is losing a lot of money and he wants to get rid of the place. They know you can flatten it and make it look like an accidental explosion.”

It sounded like a simple job and Frank was interested. He agreed, but with a caveat. “Tell them I’m on for it, but I’ve got to get the okay from Tony first.”

Needing to get Tony’s permission for anything he wanted to do beyond the regular burglaries and robberies annoyed Frank. Getting approval meant Tony would want a cut of the action for himself, and possibly for the Outfit. Frank didn’t like being under that kind of control or having to make extra payouts. Failing to get the okay to handle outside contract work could get him in a lot of trouble, though. So he followed protocol, got Tony’s blessing, and flew to Chicago. His brother arranged a rental car for him.

Frank met up with one of the Blackstone Rangers and was taken to see the minister. He was a little Bible-toting guy who apparently wasn’t as religious as he appeared. As Frank’s friend had reported, the minister’s grocery store was losing money and he’d fallen on hard times. The reverend wanted to get out from under it and was willing to pay a good price to get the job done. He offered Frank $10,000 up front and an equal amount when the job was completed.

Frank rounded up his materials and went to do the job. He was more worried about getting through that black neighborhood at night without being mugged or killed than he was about the cops catching him. Fortunately for him, it was a winter night and he was able to wear a ski mask, gloves, and hood without looking suspicious. Frank set everything up, then hit the freeway. After the bomb detonated, he doubled back. When the smoke cleared, he saw the building had totally collapsed.

The minister was ecstatic when Frank met with him the next day. He said, “You all did a good job, brother, a good job.” The explosion was blamed on a gas leak. Frank collected the other half of his fee and the minister subsequently received a big insurance check.

When Frank got back to Vegas with the $20,000, Tony wanted his cut. Frank didn’t think he deserved anything, but he paid him five grand anyway. He also stroked his crew with a grand each. He felt that just like factory workers, getting a little bonus from the boss made them feel good.

Frank was in the Jubilation, a lounge at Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane, one night when he was introduced to Sherwin “Jerry” Lisner. He disliked Lisner from the start and considered him a flamboyant braggart and a scheming little weasel; his reputation on the street was as a scam artist. To Frank, Lisner wasn’t a real crook, only a wannabe. Personal feelings aside, he kept an open mind regarding possible future business deals.

Lisner soon contacted Frank and asked him to come in on a scam he wanted to work on a man in Florida. “This guy’s got a lot of money,” Lisner said. “I’m sure we can take him in a money-laundering deal.”

Frank was curious. “What kind of money are we talking?”

“I think we can get a hundred and seventy-five thousand out of him.”

“How are you going to do it?”

“Here’s the setup. I’ll tell him I’ve got some money, about four hundred thousand, that I want to wash, because the serial numbers are in sequence. I’ll say I’m willing to swap my cash for a hundred and seventy-five thousand in clean money. Once the guy bites, we’ll pull the scam. I know how to do it and I’ve got a brother-inlaw that’s a cop in Washington, D.C., who’ll work with us.”

Frank digested the information for a few moments. “How do I fit in?”

“You’d help me set it up and then come with me to D.C. to exchange the money. We’ll fix up an attaché case with a row of hundred-dollar bills on top of stacks of singles. You give the guy a quick peek in the case and it’ll look like it holds a lot more money than it does. You’ll swap cases and we’ll leave with the hundred and seventy-five grand. As the other guy is walking away with the case he got from us, my brother-in-law will arrest him. He’ll confiscate the money, then turn him loose. The victim will be thankful he didn’t go to jail. We end up with both cases and the sucker will never even realize what happened. We’ll all be clean.”

Frank liked Lisner’s idea to prepare a case of flash money to deceive the victim. He doubted Lisner had $400,000 to put up for show; he certainly didn’t have that kind of money himself. And even if he’d had the cash, he wouldn’t have put it at risk. Also, Frank knew from experience that things didn’t always go as planned. If an honest cop, or a crooked cop not in on the deal, somehow ended up in possession of the bait case, all the money in it would be lost. If the target insisted on counting the money before switching cases, the best thing would be to simply rob him. Setting up the dummy case was the only way to go. But questions remained. “I still don’t see what you need me for. Why not just do it yourself?”

“This guy in Florida is slightly connected and I know you’re with Tony Spilotro. Having you involved will give me some credibility and make it more likely he’ll go for the deal.”

“What makes you think I’m tied in with Tony?”

“That’s what I hear.”

Frank decided to stall. “Let me think it over and I’ll get back to you.”

Frank went to Tony and filled him in on Lisner’s pitch. “Sounds a little corny, doesn’t it?” Tony said. “On the other hand, some people are so greedy they’d go for a deal like that. But us? As much as I love money, we’re a little sharper than them guys. We wouldn’t go for a deal like that. We’d know right away this guy was trying to fuck us. Here’s what I want you to do. Go back and tell him you thought it over and it sounds like a good idea. Whatever you do, don’t tell him you talked with me about it. Tell him you want seventy-five-thousand dollars, because you have to take care of your people. He can have the hundred and take care of his people. If he don’t want to go for that, tell him to go fuck himself.”

Frank got back to Lisner and told him he was in. He then explained the money situation. Lisner put up an argument initially, but backed off. He said the target, also named Jerry, planned to come to town in a couple of days and would be staying at Caesars Palace. “Why don’t we meet in his room and work out the details?” Lisner suggested.

“I’ll have to pass on that. You never know when a room might be bugged.”

“Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. How about the Jubilation?”

“That sounds better. We’ll meet there.”

Florida Jerry was from New York, the kind who talked out of the side of his mouth. He asked Frank where the $400,000 he wanted to exchange came from. “I can’t tell you,” Frank said. “But it hasn’t been reported as missing yet, so I want to move it as soon as I can. If you want to make the deal, fine. If not, we’ll find somebody else.”

“I’ll have to talk this over with my father and get back to you,” Florida Jerry said. “I’ll let Lisner know what we decide.”

“Do what you gotta do. But I want to get this done within a week,” Frank said.

Florida Jerry agreed to the proposal and the next week, Lisner and Frank were in D.C. They stayed at a big hotel for almost $300 a night waiting for Florida Jerry to arrive. On the second day there, Lisner called Florida to find out what was going on. Florida Jerry was apparently having second thoughts. He gave Lisner the runaround, wanting to put up less money. Lisner went back and forth with him. Frank finally told Lisner, “Tell him we’ll do it the way he wants. We’re not going to give him any money anyway, so what difference does it make?”

Even after they agreed to his terms, Florida Jerry still wouldn’t go for the deal. Frank got him on the phone and told him to go fuck himself. Then he and Lisner flew back to Vegas.

Frank wasn’t happy and Lisner must have sensed it. While they were on the plane, Lisner cried on his shoulder. “I’m real sorry about this thing blowing up on us. I thought for sure we had him.”

Frank masked his anger. “Time is money and we blew a lot of both. But shit happens, so forget about it.”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ve got a Quaalude deal in the works. I can cut you in on that and you’ll at least get your money back.”

“I don’t handle drugs,” Frank said.

Lisner persisted, “There are a lot of outs for them and you won’t have to touch them yourself. I’ll get you five thousand Quaaludes for five grand. You’ll be able to sell them for ten, doubling your money.”

That sounded good to Frank, so he said okay. The next day he had the Quaaludes and told Tony about them. “Get rid of them fuckin’ things quick. I don’t want any drugs around,” Tony said.

Frank sold the Quaaludes to a local kid for $10,000, gave Tony half, and kept the other half for himself. Because Frank had no use for Lisner and didn’t consider him to be a business partner, he decided to stiff him. He told Lisner he had to dump the drugs because the cops were on him. Lisner probably didn’t believe him and resented not getting paid. But there wasn’t much he could do about it, at least not then.

Frank’s duties working for Tony Spilotro included helping connected guys, moving to Las Vegas from Chicago, find employment. He also made sure visiting wiseguys had a good time.