The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. The Mob

“
As a long-time Las Vegas resident and retired Senior Agent of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, I can state that Dennis Griffin has put together the real story of the Spilotro years in Vegas.
”

—Jack Miller

“
Wow ... Dennis Griffin has really captured the Las Vegas I knew; it
’
s an amazing book. If you want to know about Las Vegas in the mob days, this book says it all. It
’
s a great read.
”

—Tru Hawkins

Long-time Las Vegan and host of the “Tru Hawkins Show” on KDWN Radio

“
There has been a lot written and filmed about the days when the mob reigned in Las Vegas, mostly from the point of view of the mobsters and their attorneys. In
The Battle for Las Vegas,
Dennis Griffin has added balance by including the law-enforcement side of things. If you want to know the true story of what it was really like back then, you need to read this book.
”

—Lt. Gene Smith (retired)

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

“
Finally, a book about the mob in Las Vegas from the law-enforcement perspective. Dennis Griffin has thoroughly researched and accurately written the story about how law enforcement fought and won the battle to rid Las Vegas of the influence and control of organized crime. It was a pleasure to live through those times again in the pages of this book.
”

—Dennis Arnoldy (retired)

FBI case agent for the Spilotro investigations in Las Vegas

The Battle for
Las Vegas

Other Books by Dennis N. Griffin

The Morgue

Red Gold

Blood Money

Killer In Pair-A-Dice

One-Armed Bandit

Pension

Policing Las Vegas

Cullotta

The Battle for
Las Vegas

The Law vs. The Mob

Dennis N. Griffin

Huntington Press

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Battle for Las Vegas

The Law vs. The Mob

Published by

Huntington Press

3665 Procyon Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89103

Phone (702) 252-0655

e-mail:
[email protected]

Copyright ©2006, Dennis N. Griffin

ISBN: 978-0-929712-82-X

Cover Design: Laurie Shaw

Interior Design & Production: Laurie Shaw

Photo credits: Dennis Arnoldy, Mike Bunker, Kent Clifford, Jim Erbeck, Lynn Ferrin, Dennis N. Griffin, Tru Hawkins, Gary Magnesen, John McCarthy, Gene Smith, Illinois Department of Corrections,
Las Vegas Review-Journal,
Las Vegas Metropolitian Police Department, Office of Mayor Goodman, UNLV Special Collections

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright owner.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the men and women of law enforcement, sworn and civilian, whose diligence and professionalism make us all more safe and secure. The battles they fight on our behalf—often at great personal risk—warrant our sincerest gratitude.

Acknowledgments

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those current and former law-enforcement personnel who shared their experiences, insights, photos, and time in helping me write this book. They include, but are not limited to, former Clark County Sheriff John McCarthy, Commander Kent Clifford, Detective David Groover and Lt. Gene Smith, former Deputy District Attorney Jim Erbeck, former Strike Force Special Attorney Stanley Hunterton, and former FBI agents Joe Yablonsky, Charlie Parsons, Emmett Michaels, Dennis Arnoldy, Lynn Ferrin, and Gary Magnesen.

The newspaper archives of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District held stories from the
Las Vegas Sun, The Valley Times,
and
Las Vegas Review-Journal
that provided key information regarding events and incidents of the era I was researching. A series of 1983 articles by Michael Goodman of the
Los Angeles Times
proved to be equally beneficial.

The well-researched books
The Green Felt Jungle
(Reid and Demaris),
Of Rats and Men (
John L. Smith), and
The First 100
(A.D. Hopkins and K.J. Evans) provided crucial background information into the history of organized crime’s influence in Las Vegas. I also watched the movie
Casino
—in which actors Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro portrayed characters based on Tony Spilotro and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal—numerous times.

Three former casino insiders, whom I call Sammy, Mario, and Mickey, gave me a feel for what it was like in the gaming establishments and on the Strip during the Spilotro years. A woman, “Connie,” who was employed by the Argent Corporation at that time and worked directly for Frank Rosenthal, shared her memories with me. Tru Hawkins of KDWN Radio and a life-long resident of Las Vegas offered his perceptions of those days, as well.

A bartender, “Joe,” who worked in several Las Vegas clubs and casinos during Spilotro’s reign, offered further insights into the atmosphere of Las Vegas during the days of mob control. “Harry,” a veteran Sin City bail bondsman, provided ideas of how information of law-enforcement activities made its way to the bad guys.

Veteran newsman Bob Stoldal of KLAS-TV, Gwen Castaldi, former KLAS reporter, Andrea Boggs, former KVBC-TV anchor and reporter, and Jane Ann Morrison of the
Las Vegas Review-Journal
provided a look at the Spilotro years from the media perspective.

I also extend my thanks to Nancy and Vincent Spilotro, Tony’s widow and son, for helping out with personal insights about their husband and father.

There are many others who deserve mention, but for various legitimate reasons desire to be anonymous. Respecting their wishes, they will remain nameless, but not unappreciated.

Contents

Introduction

Las Vegas and its ties to organized crime are well-known, the subject of many books, TV documentaries, and movies. In my previous book,
Policing Las Vegas
—
A History of Law Enforcement in Southern Nevada,
I wrote a section called “The Mob’s Man,” concerning the Las Vegas reign of Tony Spilotro, a made man of the Chicago crime family.

Tony and his wife Nancy, both 33 years old at the time, and their five-year-old son Vincent moved to Las Vegas in 1971. Known as a tough and ruthless gangland enforcer, Spilotro allegedly used intimidation, and sometimes murder, to protect Chicago’s criminal interests in Vegas until his own death in 1986. When he wasn’t acting directly on the Chicago family’s behalf, law enforcement believed that Tony ran a gang that committed lucrative street crimes, including loan sharking, robbery, burglary, and fencing stolen goods. Eventually his status required that he be paid a “street tax”—a kickback—from other criminal groups wanting to operate their own illegal enterprises. The word was that nothing happened in Vegas—from loan sharking to contract killings—without Tony’s knowledge and blessing.

The deeper I dug, the more intrigued I became with Tony Spilotro and the battle the law waged against him and his gang. It was a fight with tough men on both sides. I gathered enough information to complete that section of the book, but knew I’d only scratched the surface of the story.

Another area that captured my attention while writing
Policing Las Vegas
was the term of Sheriff John McCarthy. He won election as a reform candidate in 1978, defeating 17-year incumbent Ralph Lamb. However, his term in office was controversial and chaotic. Even before assuming office in January 1979, Sheriff McCarthy was sued by a group of Metro officers for announcing the promotions of several detectives and patrolmen to upper-management positions, over others with more rank, service time, and experience. That rocky start set the stage for what were the most divisive four years in Metro’s brief history.

A review of newspaper articles, records, and interviews with those who knew and worked for McCarthy revealed to me the almost daily turmoil that dogged his term. There were major problems with the jail, an attempt to deconsolidate Metro, and allegations of discrimination, abuse of power by his officers, and corruption within the department. All this was followed by a nasty election campaign in which the incumbent was challenged by his former undersheriff, whom he’d once fired. For Sheriff McCarthy and Metro, these were indeed turbulent times.

What particularly intrigued me about those four years, however, was the juxtaposition of the McCarthy era and the Spilotro reign. One of the first things McCarthy did after being sworn in was to declare war on organized crime. He wanted Tony Spilotro and his kind run out of town, making it one of his priorities. At the same time, the FBI and a Department of Justice Strike Force were increasing the pressure on Spilotro and his men. The battle was joined; the law was after the bad guys.

It was a tale I wanted to tell. But would I be able to make it interesting and informative, rather than simply regurgitate the same stories written over the years? I decided that if I could locate the local and federal lawmen who had actually fought the battles, as well as others in the know, and get them to participate, I’d be able to produce a book that would be satisfying to the reader, perhaps plowing some new ground in the process.

After a few initial disappointments in my search for sources, my luck changed. The list of those willing to cooperate began to grow. In a relatively short time, I was satisfied that I’d find sufficient material to move forward with the project.

I decided early on to concentrate on Spilotro’s alleged street-crime activities, with the well-publicized casino skimming operations receiving somewhat less attention. Then, near the beginning of my research, I learned that Tony had no direct involvement in the skim—except in enforcement matters—and probably didn’t even know the identities of the couriers who delivered the purloined cash to Chicago. Therefore, the discussion of those financial crimes is primarily limited to one section of this book.

The secondary focus of this endeavor is on the term of Sheriff McCarthy and the many wars he fought in addition to the one against organized crime. It’s my hope that the stories go hand in hand and meld together well.

Our journey starts with a brief history of Las Vegas. We then explore organized-crime’s early involvement there, starting with Ben “Bugsy” Siegel and the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. After that is some background on the key figures of the Chicago La Cosa Nostra (LCN) of Tony’s days, the men who sent him to Las Vegas. Next I look at the early lives of Spilotro and his erstwhile pal, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. From there we move on to Tony’s era in Las Vegas and the law’s efforts to remove him.

Denny Griffin