The Sinatra Files (38 page)

F
RANK
S
INATRA

Well-known entertainer was a guest at the Statler Hotel on the night of 1-18-61.
one of the victims in this case, has stated that she went to the Statler Hotel after receiving a telephone call from
and she filled a prostitution date with Sinatra, receiving $110 for her services.

will be interviewed at the request of the Assistant U. S. Attorney, but he (Assistant U. S. Attorney) has stated that interview with Frank Sinatra is not necessary.

The following customers have been interviewed and orally substantiated allegations by victims to the effect that victims filled prostitution dates with them after arrangements for the dates had been made by the subject

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

    In connection with the above individuals, the prostitution dates with them included only the victim and the customer.
is the only customer who allegedly participated in the sex orgies of three or more persons previously referred to.

ACTION

The prosecutive action in this case will be closely followed.

    
Three weeks after the inauguration, Hoover caught wind of another incident involving Sinatra’s visit to Washington that week. This time, he used the incident to inform the president’s brother and new attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy, in a “personal” note that his brother the president was hanging out with an “associate of well-known hoodlums” who also had ties to “communist fronts.” Hoover, always on the lookout for any advantage to make himself hard to fire, wasn’t one for subtlety
.

    I thought you would like to know that recently a highly confidential source in Washington, D.C., stated that Frank Sinatra is regarded as having control of the entertainment industry in Las Vegas, Nevada. The source indicated that when someone in Las Vegas desires entertainment, arrangements must be made through Sinatra who negotiates for this entertainment to his financial benefit.

A confidential informant of our Washington Field Office has advised that on the weekend of January 21, 1961, the Spartan American Club, 1016-A 14th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., was visited by Frank Sinatra and George Raft. The Spartan American Club is operated by Joseph Nesline, a notorious Washington, D.C., gambling figure.

The informant advised that while at the club, both Sinatra and Raft lost heavily at the crap table. Raft was heard to say that he had never seen a larger crap game outside of Las Vegas or Reno, Nevada.

There is enclosed additional information concerning Frank Sinatra which may be of interest to you.

    Enclosure

February 10, 1961

FRANK SINATRA

Sinatra was born December 12, 1915, or December 12, 1916, at Hoboken, New Jersey, and began his singing career in 1935. He has been married and divorced twice, the second marriage to actress Ava Gardner in 1951 ended in approximately two years.

In February, 1944, on the basis of an anonymous complaint alleging he had paid $40,000 to obtain a deferment, the FBI made inquiries concerning Sinatra’s Selective Service status. These inquiries revealed that Sinatra’s rejection for military service was in conformance with Selective Service regulations.

In 1955, the Bureau conducted investigation relative to possible false statements reportedly made by Sinatra in a passport application with regard to membership in subversive organizations. This investigation developed no evidence of Communist Party or front organization membership other than 1946 membership in the Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions, which organization was cited by the California Committee on Un-American Activities as a communist front.

Information available reflects that Sinatra has reportedly been associated with or lent his name to sixteen organizations which have been cited or described as communist fronts.

Information was received during the 1940’s and 1950’s which linked Sinatra’s name as an associate of well-known hoodlums, including Joseph and Rocco Fischetti, members of the Capone Gang; Willie Moretti, former underworld boss of Bergen County, New Jersey; and James Tarantino, an associate of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.