Anthony Spilotro
Encyclopedia
Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro (May 19, 1938 – June 14, 1986) was an Italian-American mobster and enforcer for the Chicago Outfit
in Las Vegas
during the 1970s and 1980s. His job was to protect and oversee the Outfit's illegal casino profits (the "skim
"). Spilotro replaced Outfit member Marshall Caifano in Las Vegas.
agent William F. Roemer, Jr.
referred to Spilotro as "that little pissant
". Since the media couldn't use "pissant", they shortened it to the "Ant". Ant is also short for Anthony. He was also called Tough Tony.
The fourth of six children, Spilotro was born and raised in Chicago
. He attended Burbank Elementary School, and entered Steinmetz High School in 1953. His parents, Pasquale Spilotro, Sr. (who emigrated from Triggiano
, in the Italian province of Bari
, from the southeastern region of Puglia, and arrived at Ellis Island
in 1914) and Antoinette Spilotro, ran Patsy's Restaurant. When Pasquale, Sr. arrived in America, however, he had no money, education, or particular skill. Unlike most Italian immigrants who settled in "The Patch," (Near West Side
, located around Taylor Street
and Halsted Street
, a mile from The Loop
), the Spilotros lived at 2152 North Melvina Avenue
. Mobsters such as Salvatore "Sam" Giancana, Jackie "The Lackey" Cerone
, Gus Alex
and Francesco Nitti
("Frank The Enforcer") regularly dined at Patsy's, which was on the west side at Grand Avenue
and Ogden Avenue
, using its parking lot for mob meetings. In 1954, Patsy, Sr. suffered a fatal aneurysm
and died at age 45.
Along with his brothers John, Vincent, Victor
, and Michael
, Tony became involved in criminal activity early in life. Another of Tony's brothers, Pasquale Spilotro, Jr., went on to college and became a highly respected oral surgeon in the Chicago area. Tony dropped out of Chicago's Steinmetz High School
in his sophomore year and quickly became known for a succession of petty crimes such as shoplifting and purse snatching, with his first arrest occurring on January 11, 1955. He attempted to steal a shirt from a River Forest
store and was charged with larceny
. He was fined $10 and placed on probation
.
Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal
was first linked to Spilotro in 1962, when Spilotro pleaded guilty to attempted bribery of a New York University
basketball player in a game against West Virginia University
. The FBI and New York State authorities also suspected that Spilotro tried to bribe a University of Oregon
football player
, but were never able to find evidence to make a case in that instance.
Spilotro became a marked man to local law enforcement. He was arrested numerous times for mopery
, a vague and and now obsolete criminal charge defined as "walking down the street with no clear destination or purpose". Spilotro befriended Vincent Inserro, who introduced him to Chicago Outfit
higher ups, such as Joseph Aiuppa
("Joey Doves"), James Torello
("Jimmy the Turk"), Joseph Lombardo
("Joey the Clown") and William Daddano, Sr.
("Willie Potatoes"), all of whom were successfully climbing the ranks of the Chicago mob. Spilotro joined the crew led by Sam DeStefano
("Mad Sam") and was also mentored by Felix Alderisio
("Milwaukee Phil") and Charles Nicoletti
("Chuckie"). Spilotro became a "made man
" in 1963 after squeezing a man's head in an industrial vice to get a confession and was assigned to a large bookmaking operation. For a while, Spilotro was a bail bondsman
for reputed mob associate Irwin "Red" Weiner.
, who ran several Outfit-backed casinos, including the Stardust. Spilotro's legal counsel in Vegas was provided by Oscar Goodman
, Las Vegas's former mayor.
Spilotro and Rosenthal worked together to embezzle profits from the casinos (i.e., "the skim"), which were then sent back to The Outfit and other Midwestern Mafia families, such as Kansas City
, St. Louis and Milwaukee. On his own, Spilotro (under the alias Tony Stuart) took over the gift shop at the Circus-Circus Hotel
, a "family" hotel on the Las Vegas Strip
. The hotel offered first-class entertainment for children, while their parents gambled in the casino. In 1971, the hotel was owned by Jay Sarno
, who had purchased the property with a $43 million loan from The Teamsters Central States
Pension Fund
. In 1974, Circus-Circus was sold; for Spilotro's $70,000 investment, he received $700,000. In the early 1970s Spilotro started a loan shark business with Los Angeles crime family
capo
, Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero, in Las Vegas. In 1972, Spilotro was indicted in Chicago for the murder of Leo Foreman, a real estate agent/loan shark, who had made the mistake of throwing Sam DeStefano
out of his office, in May 1963. Foreman was eventually lured to Sam's home to play cards. There, Foreman was tortured by repeatedly being stabbed with an ice pick and had pieces of his flesh cut out, before being shot and killed.
In November 1975, Spilotro, with the help of Los Angeles crime family
capo
, Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero, murdered Tamara Rand, a millionaire real estate broker
and investor from San Diego. At the time, Rand was suing Allen Glick, a mob front man in Las Vegas, to pay back a $2 million loan that she had made to him. Spilotro sneaked into Rand's house and fatally shot her.
In 1976, Spilotro opened "The Gold Rush, Ltd". with Chicago bookmaker
Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein and brother Michael Spilotro
. The Gold Rush, located one block from the Las Vegas Strip
, was a combination jewelry store and electronics factory. Here Spilotro, brother Michael and Blitzstein gained expertise in fencing
stolen goods.
Where Rosenthal was responsible for the actual management of the casinos, Spilotro's primary task was to control casino employees and other personnel involved in the skim/embezzlement scheme. Spilotro's role as enforcer, however, was severely curtailed after he was blacklisted
by the Nevada Gaming Commission
, in December 1979 (then chaired by future United States Senate
Majority Leader
Harry Reid
), a ruling that legally prevented Spilotro from being physically present in any Nevada casino. He was blacklisted as a direct result of court testimony of Aladena "Jimmy The Weasel" Fratianno, following his arrest, in 1977.
, Carl Urbanotti of Chicago, Illinois, Ernest Lehnigg of Addison, Illinois
, Samuel Cusumano, Joseph Cusumano, Ernesto "Ernie" Davino, 34, Las Vegas, "Crazy Larry" Neumann, Wayne Matecki, Salvatore "Sonny" Romano, Leonardo "Leo" Guardino, 47, Las Vegas, Frank Cullotta, 43, Las Vegas, and former Las Vegas detective, Joseph Blasko, 45, Las Vegas, who acted as a lookout and who later worked as a bartender
at the Crazy Horse Too
, a gentleman's club, and died of a heart attack in 2002.
Following the botched burglary at Bertha's Household Products on July 4, 1981, Cullotta, Blasko, Guardino, Davino, Neumann, and Matecki were arrested and each charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted grand larceny and possession of burglary tools. They were locked into the Las Vegas police department's holding cell in downtown Las Vegas. The only members of Spilotro's gang not arrested for the July 4 burglary were Blitzstein, Michael Spilotro, Romano and Cusumano.
By this time, Spilotro's relationship with Rosenthal had collapsed, as Tony had had an affair with Rosenthal's wife, Geraldine McGee Rosenthal. Meanwhile, Cullotta had turned state's witness, testifying against Spilotro. But the testimony was insufficient, and Tony was acquitted.
" Charles "Chuckie" Crimaldi, a former associate of Sam DeStefano
. Crimaldi had been a "juice collector" for DeStefano during the 1950s and 1960s. Crimaldi gave evidence against Spilotro and DeStefano in the murder of real estate agent-loan shark Leo Foreman on November 19, 1963. DeStefano and Spilotro were both acquitted. Crimaldi also provided information on his part in luring William "Action" Jackson to his death. Jackson was another loan shark
and enforcer
who worked for DeStefano and had been indicted on a hijacking
charge. DeStefano suspected Jackson of cutting a deal with the FBI in exchange for a lighter sentence, after Jackson was allegedly spotted with agents in a Milwaukee restaurant owned by Louis Fazio, a DeStefano associate. FBI agent Roemer denied Jackson had cut any deal with the agency.
Later, Sal Romano, a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang that specialized in disabling alarm systems, became a government informant. Romano worked counter-surveillance during the July 4, 1981 burglary at Bertha's jewelry store in Las Vegas. Unbeknown to Spilotro, his brother John, partner Herbie Blitzstein, and the Hole in the Wall Gang burglars, Romano had turned informant several months earlier; federal agents
and police were waiting for the burglars when the heist at Bertha's went down.
Spilotro's boyhood friend, Frank Cullotta, admitted that for many years he'd done "muscle work" on Spilotro's behalf, including setting up the 1962 "M&M Murders" of James Miraglia and Billy McCarthy. Spilotro had been ordered by outfit bosses to track down and kill the two men after they robbed and murdered three people in a suburban Chicago neighborhood where several members of the Chicago Outfit lived, territory that was considered off limits to criminal activity.
After his own arrest in the attempted Bertha's burglary, Cullotta subsequently became a federal witness, or a "snitch" to save himself, after he thought Spilotro was out to kill him. In November 1981, Cullotta was arrested for a previous burglary, in which a woman's home was broken into and her furniture stolen. The furniture was later found in Cullotta's home, which led to his indictment on possession of stolen property. Cullotta also admitted Spilotro ordered him in 1979 to murder Las Vegas mob associate, Sherwin "Jerry" Lisner.
Las Vegas
authorities discovered that Spilotro had ordered Hole in the Wall Gang member Lawrence Neumann ("Crazy Larry"), 53, of McHenry, Illinois
, to murder Cullotta and fellow burglar Wayne Matecki, 30, of Norridge, Illinois
.
Cullotta, who has publicly admitted to being a killer himself, supplied information about the M&M murders. Neumann tried to post bail for Cullotta so he could murder both Cullotta and Matecki, but the police had Cullotta's bail revoked to protect him. Cullotta received eight years on the stolen property charges. In September 1983, Spilotro was indicted in Las Vegas, Nevada
on murder and racketeering
charges based on Cullotta's testimony, but the charges didn't hold up.
Meanwhile, Spilotro was tried before Cook County
Circuit Judge Thomas J. Maloney, in Chicago, for the Miraglia and McCarthy killings, while Cullotta's foiled executioner Neumann was sentenced to life in prison in 1983. Judge Maloney did not accept Cullotta's statements as evidence or as proof "beyond a reasonable doubt
." Maloney, in turn, acquitted Spilotro (in 1992, however, Judge Maloney himself would later be convicted through Operation Greylord
of accepting bribes in several related and unrelated cases)
Cullotta testified before the President's Commission on Organized Crime, the Florida
Governor's Commission on Organized Crime and appeared at a sentencing hearing for the Chicago mobster Joseph Lombardo. Cullotta later served as a technical advisor
for the movie Casino
, and also played a small role as Curly, one of Remo Gaggi's hitmen.
. Most of the upper echelon was there, including Tony Accardo
. He had decided to appoint Joseph Ferriola
as boss. Ferriola told the group that Accardo would stay on as consigliere and would have final say, as well as Gus Alex staying head of the connection guys. He then went onto the first problem: Spilotro, and how things had gone down since he took over Vegas. Rocco Infelice said, "Hit him." Everyone else at the meeting was in agreement. Joe Ferriola closed the meeting with, "OK, that's it, I got nothin' else."
It is suspected that Spilotro and his brother Michael were called by Samuel Carlisi to a meeting at a hunting lodge owned by Spilotro's former mob boss, Joey Aiuppa. Original reports stated the Spilotros were savagely beaten and buried alive in a cornfield in Enos, Indiana. They were identified by their brother Pasquale, Jr. through dental x-ray records. However, in 2007, mob assassin Nicholas Calabrese
testified at the "Operation Family Secrets
" trial in Chicago that the brothers were killed in a Bensenville, Illinois
, basement where the Spilotros believed that Michael would be inducted into The Outfit. According to court testimony, when Tony entered the basement and realized what was about to occur, he asked if he could "say a prayer".
An autopsy performed on the recovered bodies allegedly found sand in the brothers' lungs, leading FBI examiners to speculate that they had been buried alive. Subsequent testimony proved they were killed in a basement and their bodies later dumped in a grave. No arrests were made until April 25, 2005, when 14 members of the Chicago Outfit (including reputed boss James Marcello
) were indicted for 18 murders, including the Spilotros'. As a result of that investigation, the murders of the Spilotro brothers are now thought to have taken place in DuPage County, Illinois
— in Joseph Aiuppa's hunting lodge, where they were beaten and strangled before being buried in a cornfield alongside Highway 41 in northwest Indiana. At the time of Spilotro's murder, Aiuppa was in prison, but Spilotro must have thought the building was still in use as a hunting lodge.
The suspected murderers included caporegime
Albert Tocco
from Chicago Heights, Illinois
, who was sentenced to 200 years after his wife Betty testified against him in 1989. She claimed that the day after the Spilotro murders, she was called to pick up Tocco 1 mi (1.6 km) from where the brothers' bodies would later be found. She said that Tocco was dressed in dirty blue work clothes. Betty Tocco further implicated Nicholas "Nicky" Guzzino, Dominic "Tootsie" Palermo and Albert "Chickie" Rovero in the Spilotro brothers' murders. Tocco died at the age of 77 in an Indiana
prison on September 21, 2005.
Another suspect in the murders was Frank "The German" Schweihs
, a convicted extortionist and alleged Chicago assassin, who was suspected of involvement in several murders including the Spilotros, Allen Dorfman (of the Teamster's Pension Fund), and a former girlfriend. Schweihs was arrested by the FBI on December 22, 2005. At the time, Schweihs was a fugitive living in a Berea, Kentucky
apartment complex. Schweihs had slipped away before prosecutors were able to arrest him and 13 others, including reputed Chicago mob boss James Marcello
.
On May 18, 2007, the star witness in the government's case against 14 Chicago mob figures, Nicholas Calabrese
, pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders, including hits on Anthony Spilotro and Spilotro's brother, Michael, in 1986.
Under heavy security, Calabrese admitted that he took part in planning or carrying out 14 of the murders, including the Spilotro killings. Calabrese became the key witness against his brother, Frank Calabrese, Sr.
, and other major mob figures charged in the government's Operation Family Secrets investigation. The investigation was aimed at clearing up old, unsolved gangland killings and bringing down Chicago's organized crime family.
Nicholas Calabrese
agreed to testify in what became known as the Family Secrets Trial after the FBI showed him DNA
evidence to link him to the murder of fellow hit-man John Fecarotta, who was also allegedly involved in the Spilotro slayings. Frank Calabrese, Sr.
's trial in Chicago's Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse began on June 19, 2007, and ended on September 10, 2007, with the conviction of Frank Calabrese, Sr.
and four other men associated with the Chicago mob: Marcello, Joseph Lombardo, Paul "the Indian" Schiro, and a former Chicago police officer, Anthony "Twan" Doyle.
On September 27, 2007, Marcello was found guilty by a federal jury in the murders of both Spilotro brothers. On February 5, 2009, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders. Spilotro was replaced in Las Vegas by the late Donald "The Wizard of Odds" Angelini
. Spilotro is survived by his wife Nancy, his son Vincent and his remaining brothers.
, near Chicago. They were also in debt to Spilotro's old boss, Sam DeStefano. Their bodies were discovered on May 15, 1962, in the trunk of a car dumped on the Southwest Side of Chicago. Both had been beaten badly and had their throats slit. From McCarthy's injuries, it seems his head was placed in a vise
, popping out his eye, presumably to persuade him to disclose the whereabouts of Miraglia. The murder of Bill McCarthy (re-named "Tony Dogs") is included in Martin Scorsese
's 1995 film Casino
.
Spilotro may have been involved in the attempted car bombing murder of Lefty Rosenthal on October 4, 1982. He was also incriminated in the murder of his onetime mentor "Mad" Sam DeStefano on April 15, 1973, while DeStefano, his brother Mario
and Spilotro were all facing trial for the murder of Leo Foreman, a local collector for the mob, who had been tortured to death in Sam DeStefano's basement. Spilotro is further suspected of murdering San Diego real estate heiress Tamara Rand (an event portrayed in the film Casino); Teamsters Union executive Allen Dorfman
; and Danny Siefert, the manager of the International Fiber Glass Company. Siefert was to be a principal witness in the fraud case but was shot in front of his wife and four-year-old son in September 1974. The fiberglass company was later burned to the ground by arsonists, whereupon they claimed the insurance money.
According to former Willow Springs, Illinois
, police chief Michael Corbitt, rumors on the street implicated Spilotro in the murder of former Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana
. The FBI believes Spilotro was also involved in the torture murder of loan shark enforcer William "Action" Jackson
, who worked for DeStefano in the 1950s and 1960s. The Chicago Outfit thought Jackson had become an FBI informant in 1961. Spilotro allegedly took Jackson to a meat packing plant, where he hung him by a meat hook inside the rectum and then crippled Jackson by smashing his knees with a hammer and poking his genitals with an electric cattle prod. Jackson was left near death for three days before finally succumbing to his injuries.
's 1995 film Casino
is based on the lives of Spilotro and Frank Rosenthal. The character Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro, played by Joe Pesci
, is based on Spilotro. Nicky Santoro and his brother Dominic (Philip Suriano
), based on Tony's brother Michael Spilotro
, are shown being beaten and buried alive by Frank Marino (Frank Vincent
), who collaborated in the murders because he wanted "no more" of their dirty work. Other members of Nicky's previous crew (Clem Caserta, Jed Mills) and Chicago Outfit hitmen (Michael Toney, Steve Vignari), also participate in the beatings.
In the 1980s NBC series Crime Story
, the character of mobster Ray Luca is based on Anthony Spilotro.
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
during the 1970s and 1980s. His job was to protect and oversee the Outfit's illegal casino profits (the "skim
Skimming (casinos)
"In May of 1963...the FBI turned over to the Justice Department a two-volume document called "The Skimming Report," which detailed the illegal siphoning off of gambling profits by Las Vegas casinos to avoid taxes." The report documented how pre-tax profits from casinos were being routed to various...
"). Spilotro replaced Outfit member Marshall Caifano in Las Vegas.
Early career
Born Anthony John Spilotro , he was nicknamed "Tony the Ant" by the media after FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent William F. Roemer, Jr.
William F. Roemer, Jr.
William F. Roemer, Jr. was an FBI agent for 30 years. He is known for his battle against organized crime and being the most highly decorated agent in FBI history. After retirement he became a private attorney for businesses being muscled by the mob...
referred to Spilotro as "that little pissant
Pissant
A pissant, also seen as piss-ant and piss ant, is one or the other of two specific types of ant. Its origin is with pismire, a 14th-century word for ant. The term is also used as an insulting noun, and a pejorative adjective...
". Since the media couldn't use "pissant", they shortened it to the "Ant". Ant is also short for Anthony. He was also called Tough Tony.
The fourth of six children, Spilotro was born and raised in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He attended Burbank Elementary School, and entered Steinmetz High School in 1953. His parents, Pasquale Spilotro, Sr. (who emigrated from Triggiano
Triggiano
Triggiano is a town and comune in the province of Bari, Puglia, Italy.-Overview:Triggiano is a small town in the southern part of the Bari province. The town counts around 30,000 people in 2006. The origins of the modern City are to be defined in the 14th century as "university": the small people's...
, in the Italian province of Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, from the southeastern region of Puglia, and arrived at Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
in 1914) and Antoinette Spilotro, ran Patsy's Restaurant. When Pasquale, Sr. arrived in America, however, he had no money, education, or particular skill. Unlike most Italian immigrants who settled in "The Patch," (Near West Side
Near West Side, Chicago
The Near West Side, one of the 77 defined community areas of Chicago, is located , adjacent to the downtown central business district . The rich history of the Near West Side of Chicago has its genesis in the Hull House phenomenon...
, located around Taylor Street
Little Italy, Chicago
Little Italy is a neighborhood on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The current boundaries of Little Italy are Ashland Avenue on the west and Morgan Street on the east — bracketed by Harrison Street on the north and Roosevelt Road; i.e., 12th Street, on the south...
and Halsted Street
Halsted Street
Halsted Street is a major north-south street in the American city of Chicago, Illinois.-Location:In Chicago's grid system, Halsted street marks 800 West, one mile west of State Street, from Grace Street in Lakeview south to the city limits at the Little Calumet River in West Pullman...
, a mile from The Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
), the Spilotros lived at 2152 North Melvina Avenue
Streets and highways of Chicago
Roads and freeways in Chicago summarizes the main thoroughfares and the numbering system used in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.-Street layout:...
. Mobsters such as Salvatore "Sam" Giancana, Jackie "The Lackey" Cerone
Jackie Cerone
John "Jackie The Lackey" Cerone was a Chicago mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit, during the late 1960s. He was the younger brother of mobster Frank "Skippy" Cerone and father of lawyer, John Peter Cerone and husband to the late Clara Cerone.He was born to John Cerone Sr. and Rose Valant. He...
, Gus Alex
Gus Alex
Gus Alex was a Greek-American mobster and high ranking member of the Chicago Outfit, who succeeded Jake Guzik as the Syndicate's main political "fixer".-Early life:...
and Francesco Nitti
Frank Nitti
Francesco Raffaele Nitto , also known as Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, was an Italian American gangster. One of Al Capone's top henchmen, Nitti was in charge of all strong-arm and 'muscle' operations...
("Frank The Enforcer") regularly dined at Patsy's, which was on the west side at Grand Avenue
Grand Avenue (Chicago)
Grand Avenue is a major east-west arterial surface street in the city of Chicago and nearby DuPage County, although it deviates somewhat from Chicago's grid system, as it is diagonal west of Western Avenue. The street runs from the Kingery Highway Grand Avenue is a major east-west arterial surface...
and Ogden Avenue
Ogden Avenue (Chicago)
Ogden Avenue is an arterial street extending from the Near West Side of Chicago to Aurora, Illinois.The street follows the route of the Southwestern Plank Road, which opened in 1848 across swampy terrain between Chicago and Riverside, Illinois, and was extended to Naperville by 1851.The 1909 Plan...
, using its parking lot for mob meetings. In 1954, Patsy, Sr. suffered a fatal aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
and died at age 45.
Along with his brothers John, Vincent, Victor
Victor Spilotro
Victor P. Spilotro was the older brother of Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro and Outfit wannabe brother, Michael. It was not until the 1980s that Victor started to get public attention.-Biography:...
, and Michael
Michael Spilotro
Michael Peter "Micky" Spilotro was the brother of Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro and was an associate of the Chicago La Cosa Nostra organized crime organization referred to as "The Outfit".-Family background:...
, Tony became involved in criminal activity early in life. Another of Tony's brothers, Pasquale Spilotro, Jr., went on to college and became a highly respected oral surgeon in the Chicago area. Tony dropped out of Chicago's Steinmetz High School
Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre
Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre, formely known as Steinmetz High School, is a public 4-year high school located in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299...
in his sophomore year and quickly became known for a succession of petty crimes such as shoplifting and purse snatching, with his first arrest occurring on January 11, 1955. He attempted to steal a shirt from a River Forest
River Forest, Illinois
River Forest is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park, Illinois. There are significant...
store and was charged with larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
. He was fined $10 and placed on probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
.
Spilotro and Rosenthal
BookmakerBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal
Frank Rosenthal
Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal was a professional sports bettor, former Las Vegas casino executive and organized crime associate. The film Casino is loosely based on his life.-Early years:...
was first linked to Spilotro in 1962, when Spilotro pleaded guilty to attempted bribery of a New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
basketball player in a game against West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
. The FBI and New York State authorities also suspected that Spilotro tried to bribe a University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
football player
History of American football
American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football. Both games have their origin in varieties of football played in Britain in the mid-19th century, in which a football is kicked at a goal and/or run over a line....
, but were never able to find evidence to make a case in that instance.
Spilotro became a marked man to local law enforcement. He was arrested numerous times for mopery
Mopery
Mopery is a vague, informal, and usually humorous name for minor offenses. The word is based on the verb to mope, which originally meant “to wander aimlessly”; it only later acquired the overtones of “bored and depressed”...
, a vague and and now obsolete criminal charge defined as "walking down the street with no clear destination or purpose". Spilotro befriended Vincent Inserro, who introduced him to Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
higher ups, such as Joseph Aiuppa
Joseph Aiuppa
Joseph John Aiuppa , also known as "Doves," "Mourning Doves," "O'Brien," or "Joey Doves," was a Chicago mobster who became a leader of the Chicago Outfit.-Early career:...
("Joey Doves"), James Torello
James Torello
James Vincent "Turk" Torello was an Italian-American mobster who became a caporegime and leading enforcer for the Chicago Outfit during the mid-to-late 1970s....
("Jimmy the Turk"), Joseph Lombardo
Joseph Lombardo
Joseph Patrick “Joey the Clown” Lombardo Sr. , also known as "Joe Padula," "Lumbo," and "Lumpy", is an imprisoned American mafioso and a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit crime organization...
("Joey the Clown") and William Daddano, Sr.
William Daddano, Sr.
William Daddano, Sr. , also known as "William Russo" and "Willie Potatoes," was a top enforcer and loan shark for the Chicago Outfit and a participant in some high-profile robberies.-Early years:...
("Willie Potatoes"), all of whom were successfully climbing the ranks of the Chicago mob. Spilotro joined the crew led by Sam DeStefano
Sam DeStefano
Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano was an Italian-American gangster who became one of the Chicago Outfit's most notorious loan sharks and sociopathic killers. Chicago-based Federal Bureau of Investigation agents such as William F. Roemer, Jr., considered DeStefano to be the worst torture-murderer in the...
("Mad Sam") and was also mentored by Felix Alderisio
Felix Alderisio
Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio was a prominent enforcer, bagman, hitman and burglar for the Chicago Outfit, serving as an underboss to Salvatore Giancana during the 1960s and as boss for a short time from 1967 before being sent to prison in 1969 and dying there.-Early life:Alderisio began his...
("Milwaukee Phil") and Charles Nicoletti
Charles Nicoletti
Charles "Chuckie" Nicoletti, also known as "The Typewriter" "Chuckie Typewriter" , was a top Chicago Outfit hitman under Outfit boss Sam "Mooney" Giancana before and after Giancana's rise and fall.-Early years:...
("Chuckie"). Spilotro became a "made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
" in 1963 after squeezing a man's head in an industrial vice to get a confession and was assigned to a large bookmaking operation. For a while, Spilotro was a bail bondsman
Bail bondsman
A bail bond agent, or bondsman, is any person or corporation that will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of persons accused in court...
for reputed mob associate Irwin "Red" Weiner.
Las Vegas
In 1971, Spilotro succeeded Marshall Caifano as the Mob's representative in Las Vegas. Spilotro reunited with his boyhood friend Frank "Lefty" RosenthalFrank Rosenthal
Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal was a professional sports bettor, former Las Vegas casino executive and organized crime associate. The film Casino is loosely based on his life.-Early years:...
, who ran several Outfit-backed casinos, including the Stardust. Spilotro's legal counsel in Vegas was provided by Oscar Goodman
Oscar Goodman
Oscar Baylin Goodman is an American lawyer and politician. He was the mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada from 1999 to 2011. Mayor Goodman is an Independent and a former member of the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
, Las Vegas's former mayor.
Spilotro and Rosenthal worked together to embezzle profits from the casinos (i.e., "the skim"), which were then sent back to The Outfit and other Midwestern Mafia families, such as Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, St. Louis and Milwaukee. On his own, Spilotro (under the alias Tony Stuart) took over the gift shop at the Circus-Circus Hotel
Circus Circus Las Vegas
Circus Circus Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by MGM Resorts International. Circus Circus features circus acts and carnival type games daily on the Midway...
, a "family" hotel on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. The hotel offered first-class entertainment for children, while their parents gambled in the casino. In 1971, the hotel was owned by Jay Sarno
Jay Sarno
Jay Sarno was a Las Vegas business entrepreneur who owned several high-profile hotels. He was the creator of both the Caesars Palace hotel and Circus Circus, and many credit him with being the father of today's more family-oriented Las Vegas...
, who had purchased the property with a $43 million loan from The Teamsters Central States
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
Pension Fund
Pension fund
A pension fund is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.Pension funds are important shareholders of listed and private companies. They are especially important to the stock market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold...
. In 1974, Circus-Circus was sold; for Spilotro's $70,000 investment, he received $700,000. In the early 1970s Spilotro started a loan shark business with Los Angeles crime family
Los Angeles crime family
The Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Angeles, as part of the American Mafia . Since its inception in the early 1900s, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. family gained power...
capo
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
, Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero, in Las Vegas. In 1972, Spilotro was indicted in Chicago for the murder of Leo Foreman, a real estate agent/loan shark, who had made the mistake of throwing Sam DeStefano
Sam DeStefano
Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano was an Italian-American gangster who became one of the Chicago Outfit's most notorious loan sharks and sociopathic killers. Chicago-based Federal Bureau of Investigation agents such as William F. Roemer, Jr., considered DeStefano to be the worst torture-murderer in the...
out of his office, in May 1963. Foreman was eventually lured to Sam's home to play cards. There, Foreman was tortured by repeatedly being stabbed with an ice pick and had pieces of his flesh cut out, before being shot and killed.
In November 1975, Spilotro, with the help of Los Angeles crime family
Los Angeles crime family
The Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Angeles, as part of the American Mafia . Since its inception in the early 1900s, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. family gained power...
capo
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
, Frank "Bomp" Bompensiero, murdered Tamara Rand, a millionaire real estate broker
Real estate broker
A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...
and investor from San Diego. At the time, Rand was suing Allen Glick, a mob front man in Las Vegas, to pay back a $2 million loan that she had made to him. Spilotro sneaked into Rand's house and fatally shot her.
In 1976, Spilotro opened "The Gold Rush, Ltd". with Chicago bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein and brother Michael Spilotro
Michael Spilotro
Michael Peter "Micky" Spilotro was the brother of Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro and was an associate of the Chicago La Cosa Nostra organized crime organization referred to as "The Outfit".-Family background:...
. The Gold Rush, located one block from the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
, was a combination jewelry store and electronics factory. Here Spilotro, brother Michael and Blitzstein gained expertise in fencing
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
stolen goods.
Where Rosenthal was responsible for the actual management of the casinos, Spilotro's primary task was to control casino employees and other personnel involved in the skim/embezzlement scheme. Spilotro's role as enforcer, however, was severely curtailed after he was blacklisted
Black Book (gaming)
"Black Book" is the nickname frequently used to refer to a list of persons who are unwelcome in casinos. The name comes from the fact that the persons listed in the "book" are essentially "blacklisted"...
by the Nevada Gaming Commission
Gaming Control Board
A gaming control board , also called by various names including gambling control board, casino control board, gambling board, and gaming commission) is a government agency charged with regulating casino and other types of gaming in a defined geographical area, usually a state, and of enforcing...
, in December 1979 (then chaired by future United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Majority Leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
), a ruling that legally prevented Spilotro from being physically present in any Nevada casino. He was blacklisted as a direct result of court testimony of Aladena "Jimmy The Weasel" Fratianno, following his arrest, in 1977.
The Hole in the Wall Gang
Spilotro, in 1976, formed a burglary ring with his brother Michael and Blitzstein, utilizing about eight associates as burglars. The crew became known as the Hole in the Wall Gang because of its penchant for gaining entry by drilling through the exterior walls and ceilings of the buildings they burglarized. The Hole in the Wall Gang operated out of The Gold Rush, Ltd. Other gang members included Peanuts Pancsko, Butch Pancsko and Pops Pancsko, Frank DeLegge, Michael LaJoy, Joseph D'Argento, Gerald Tomasczek, Peter Basile of Wilmette, IllinoisWilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...
, Carl Urbanotti of Chicago, Illinois, Ernest Lehnigg of Addison, Illinois
Addison, Illinois
Addison is a village located west of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,914 at the 2000 census. The estimated population was 36,378 as of 2002.The Village of Addison lies on Salt Creek...
, Samuel Cusumano, Joseph Cusumano, Ernesto "Ernie" Davino, 34, Las Vegas, "Crazy Larry" Neumann, Wayne Matecki, Salvatore "Sonny" Romano, Leonardo "Leo" Guardino, 47, Las Vegas, Frank Cullotta, 43, Las Vegas, and former Las Vegas detective, Joseph Blasko, 45, Las Vegas, who acted as a lookout and who later worked as a bartender
Bartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
at the Crazy Horse Too
Crazy Horse Too
Crazy Horse Too was a strip club located at 2466 Industrial Road in Las Vegas, Nevada, Nevada on Industrial Road a few blocks west of the Las Vegas Strip. The club was patterned after the original Crazy Horse Saloon club on Paradise Road, which was owned by Jack Galardi .The club was owned by...
, a gentleman's club, and died of a heart attack in 2002.
Following the botched burglary at Bertha's Household Products on July 4, 1981, Cullotta, Blasko, Guardino, Davino, Neumann, and Matecki were arrested and each charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted grand larceny and possession of burglary tools. They were locked into the Las Vegas police department's holding cell in downtown Las Vegas. The only members of Spilotro's gang not arrested for the July 4 burglary were Blitzstein, Michael Spilotro, Romano and Cusumano.
By this time, Spilotro's relationship with Rosenthal had collapsed, as Tony had had an affair with Rosenthal's wife, Geraldine McGee Rosenthal. Meanwhile, Cullotta had turned state's witness, testifying against Spilotro. But the testimony was insufficient, and Tony was acquitted.
Government informants
The FBI first "flippedInformant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
" Charles "Chuckie" Crimaldi, a former associate of Sam DeStefano
Sam DeStefano
Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano was an Italian-American gangster who became one of the Chicago Outfit's most notorious loan sharks and sociopathic killers. Chicago-based Federal Bureau of Investigation agents such as William F. Roemer, Jr., considered DeStefano to be the worst torture-murderer in the...
. Crimaldi had been a "juice collector" for DeStefano during the 1950s and 1960s. Crimaldi gave evidence against Spilotro and DeStefano in the murder of real estate agent-loan shark Leo Foreman on November 19, 1963. DeStefano and Spilotro were both acquitted. Crimaldi also provided information on his part in luring William "Action" Jackson to his death. Jackson was another loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
and enforcer
Enforcer
Enforcer may refer to:*A thug who uses physical force or the threat of physical force to coerce others*Enforcer , a role in ice hockey*Enforcer - Gaming :*Enforcer, a units in the Battle Realms video game...
who worked for DeStefano and had been indicted on a hijacking
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
charge. DeStefano suspected Jackson of cutting a deal with the FBI in exchange for a lighter sentence, after Jackson was allegedly spotted with agents in a Milwaukee restaurant owned by Louis Fazio, a DeStefano associate. FBI agent Roemer denied Jackson had cut any deal with the agency.
Later, Sal Romano, a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang that specialized in disabling alarm systems, became a government informant. Romano worked counter-surveillance during the July 4, 1981 burglary at Bertha's jewelry store in Las Vegas. Unbeknown to Spilotro, his brother John, partner Herbie Blitzstein, and the Hole in the Wall Gang burglars, Romano had turned informant several months earlier; federal agents
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
and police were waiting for the burglars when the heist at Bertha's went down.
Spilotro's boyhood friend, Frank Cullotta, admitted that for many years he'd done "muscle work" on Spilotro's behalf, including setting up the 1962 "M&M Murders" of James Miraglia and Billy McCarthy. Spilotro had been ordered by outfit bosses to track down and kill the two men after they robbed and murdered three people in a suburban Chicago neighborhood where several members of the Chicago Outfit lived, territory that was considered off limits to criminal activity.
After his own arrest in the attempted Bertha's burglary, Cullotta subsequently became a federal witness, or a "snitch" to save himself, after he thought Spilotro was out to kill him. In November 1981, Cullotta was arrested for a previous burglary, in which a woman's home was broken into and her furniture stolen. The furniture was later found in Cullotta's home, which led to his indictment on possession of stolen property. Cullotta also admitted Spilotro ordered him in 1979 to murder Las Vegas mob associate, Sherwin "Jerry" Lisner.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
authorities discovered that Spilotro had ordered Hole in the Wall Gang member Lawrence Neumann ("Crazy Larry"), 53, of McHenry, Illinois
McHenry, Illinois
McHenry is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. In 2005, its population was estimated to be 24,631. McHenry was at one time the county seat of McHenry County...
, to murder Cullotta and fellow burglar Wayne Matecki, 30, of Norridge, Illinois
Norridge, Illinois
Norridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,582 at the 2000 census. The current Mayor of Norridge is Ronald A. Oppedisano.The village is completely surrounded by Chicago and Harwood Heights.-Name origin:...
.
Cullotta, who has publicly admitted to being a killer himself, supplied information about the M&M murders. Neumann tried to post bail for Cullotta so he could murder both Cullotta and Matecki, but the police had Cullotta's bail revoked to protect him. Cullotta received eight years on the stolen property charges. In September 1983, Spilotro was indicted in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on murder and racketeering
Racket (crime)
A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...
charges based on Cullotta's testimony, but the charges didn't hold up.
Meanwhile, Spilotro was tried before Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
Circuit Judge Thomas J. Maloney, in Chicago, for the Miraglia and McCarthy killings, while Cullotta's foiled executioner Neumann was sentenced to life in prison in 1983. Judge Maloney did not accept Cullotta's statements as evidence or as proof "beyond a reasonable doubt
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt is a 1956 film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Douglas Morrow. The film, considered film noir, was the last American film directed by Lang.-Plot:...
." Maloney, in turn, acquitted Spilotro (in 1992, however, Judge Maloney himself would later be convicted through Operation Greylord
Operation Greylord
Operation Greylord was an investigation conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division into corruption in the judiciary of Cook County, Illinois...
of accepting bribes in several related and unrelated cases)
Cullotta testified before the President's Commission on Organized Crime, the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Governor's Commission on Organized Crime and appeared at a sentencing hearing for the Chicago mobster Joseph Lombardo. Cullotta later served as a technical advisor
Technical advisor
A technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...
for the movie Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
, and also played a small role as Curly, one of Remo Gaggi's hitmen.
Brutal murder
In January 1986, a meeting was held at the Czech Lodge in North RiversideNorth Riverside, Illinois
North Riverside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,688 at the 2000 census.-Geography:North Riverside is located at ....
. Most of the upper echelon was there, including Tony Accardo
Tony Accardo
Antonino Joseph Accardo , also known as "Joe Batters" or "Big Tuna", rose from small-time hoodlum to the position of day-to-day boss of the Chicago Outfit in 1947, to ultimately become the final Outfit authority in 1972, until his death...
. He had decided to appoint Joseph Ferriola
Joseph Ferriola
Joseph Ferriola , also known as, "Joe Nagall," "Mr. Clean" and "Oscar," was an American mobster who helped run the Chicago Outfit, from 1985 to 1988, after Joseph Aiuppa and John Cerone went to prison for skimming Las Vegas casino profits.- Early life :Joseph Anthony Ferriola was a product of...
as boss. Ferriola told the group that Accardo would stay on as consigliere and would have final say, as well as Gus Alex staying head of the connection guys. He then went onto the first problem: Spilotro, and how things had gone down since he took over Vegas. Rocco Infelice said, "Hit him." Everyone else at the meeting was in agreement. Joe Ferriola closed the meeting with, "OK, that's it, I got nothin' else."
It is suspected that Spilotro and his brother Michael were called by Samuel Carlisi to a meeting at a hunting lodge owned by Spilotro's former mob boss, Joey Aiuppa. Original reports stated the Spilotros were savagely beaten and buried alive in a cornfield in Enos, Indiana. They were identified by their brother Pasquale, Jr. through dental x-ray records. However, in 2007, mob assassin Nicholas Calabrese
Nicholas Calabrese
Nicholas W. Calabrese is the first made man ever to testify against the Chicago Outfit. His testimony and cooperation with federal prosecutors helped result in the 2007 murder convictions of mobsters Joseph Lombardo, James Marcello and Frank Calabrese, Sr.- Early life and work outside of the...
testified at the "Operation Family Secrets
Operation Family Secrets
Operation Family Secrets was an FBI investigation of mob related crimes in Chicago. According to the FBI it was one of the most successful investigations of organized crime done by the FBI ever. The investigation and trial was accurately dubbed "Family Secrets" because of the betrayal within the...
" trial in Chicago that the brothers were killed in a Bensenville, Illinois
Bensenville, Illinois
Bensenville is a village located primarily in DuPage County, Illinois, with a small section near O'Hare International Airport in Cook County, Illinois, overlapping into the city of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 20,703. Bensenville is home to the Edge Ice Arena, home of...
, basement where the Spilotros believed that Michael would be inducted into The Outfit. According to court testimony, when Tony entered the basement and realized what was about to occur, he asked if he could "say a prayer".
An autopsy performed on the recovered bodies allegedly found sand in the brothers' lungs, leading FBI examiners to speculate that they had been buried alive. Subsequent testimony proved they were killed in a basement and their bodies later dumped in a grave. No arrests were made until April 25, 2005, when 14 members of the Chicago Outfit (including reputed boss James Marcello
James Marcello
James J. “Little Jimmy, Jimmy Light” Marcello , also known as Jimmy "the Man" Marcello, is an imprisoned crime boss who was a front boss for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
) were indicted for 18 murders, including the Spilotros'. As a result of that investigation, the murders of the Spilotro brothers are now thought to have taken place in DuPage County, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
— in Joseph Aiuppa's hunting lodge, where they were beaten and strangled before being buried in a cornfield alongside Highway 41 in northwest Indiana. At the time of Spilotro's murder, Aiuppa was in prison, but Spilotro must have thought the building was still in use as a hunting lodge.
The suspected murderers included caporegime
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
Albert Tocco
Albert Tocco
Albert Tocco , also known as "Caesar" , was a high ranking member of the Chicago Outfit during the 1970s and '80s. He allegedly controlled the rackets on the South Side of Chicago, the south suburbs, and parts of Northern Indiana...
from Chicago Heights, Illinois
Chicago Heights, Illinois
Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,373 at the 2005 census. Chicago Heights is nicknamed 'Crossroads of the Nation'.-History:...
, who was sentenced to 200 years after his wife Betty testified against him in 1989. She claimed that the day after the Spilotro murders, she was called to pick up Tocco 1 mi (1.6 km) from where the brothers' bodies would later be found. She said that Tocco was dressed in dirty blue work clothes. Betty Tocco further implicated Nicholas "Nicky" Guzzino, Dominic "Tootsie" Palermo and Albert "Chickie" Rovero in the Spilotro brothers' murders. Tocco died at the age of 77 in an Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
prison on September 21, 2005.
Another suspect in the murders was Frank "The German" Schweihs
Frank Schweihs
Francis John Schweihs, aka "Frank the German" was an alleged hitman who had been known to work for The Outfit, the organized crime family in Chicago. He was under indictment in the Operation Family Secrets case for the crimes of racketeering and extortion...
, a convicted extortionist and alleged Chicago assassin, who was suspected of involvement in several murders including the Spilotros, Allen Dorfman (of the Teamster's Pension Fund), and a former girlfriend. Schweihs was arrested by the FBI on December 22, 2005. At the time, Schweihs was a fugitive living in a Berea, Kentucky
Berea, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,851 people, 3,693 households, and 2,426 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,055.4 people per square mile . There were 4,115 housing units at an average density of 440.9 per square mile...
apartment complex. Schweihs had slipped away before prosecutors were able to arrest him and 13 others, including reputed Chicago mob boss James Marcello
James Marcello
James J. “Little Jimmy, Jimmy Light” Marcello , also known as Jimmy "the Man" Marcello, is an imprisoned crime boss who was a front boss for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
.
On May 18, 2007, the star witness in the government's case against 14 Chicago mob figures, Nicholas Calabrese
Nicholas Calabrese
Nicholas W. Calabrese is the first made man ever to testify against the Chicago Outfit. His testimony and cooperation with federal prosecutors helped result in the 2007 murder convictions of mobsters Joseph Lombardo, James Marcello and Frank Calabrese, Sr.- Early life and work outside of the...
, pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders, including hits on Anthony Spilotro and Spilotro's brother, Michael, in 1986.
Under heavy security, Calabrese admitted that he took part in planning or carrying out 14 of the murders, including the Spilotro killings. Calabrese became the key witness against his brother, Frank Calabrese, Sr.
Frank Calabrese, Sr.
Frank Calabrese, Sr. , also known as "Frankie Breeze," is a made man and a caporegime who ran major loansharking and illegal gambling operations for the Chicago Outfit. He is best known as a central figure in Operation Family Secrets and the subsequent Federal trial.-Early life:Frank Calabrese, Sr...
, and other major mob figures charged in the government's Operation Family Secrets investigation. The investigation was aimed at clearing up old, unsolved gangland killings and bringing down Chicago's organized crime family.
Nicholas Calabrese
Nicholas Calabrese
Nicholas W. Calabrese is the first made man ever to testify against the Chicago Outfit. His testimony and cooperation with federal prosecutors helped result in the 2007 murder convictions of mobsters Joseph Lombardo, James Marcello and Frank Calabrese, Sr.- Early life and work outside of the...
agreed to testify in what became known as the Family Secrets Trial after the FBI showed him DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
evidence to link him to the murder of fellow hit-man John Fecarotta, who was also allegedly involved in the Spilotro slayings. Frank Calabrese, Sr.
Frank Calabrese, Sr.
Frank Calabrese, Sr. , also known as "Frankie Breeze," is a made man and a caporegime who ran major loansharking and illegal gambling operations for the Chicago Outfit. He is best known as a central figure in Operation Family Secrets and the subsequent Federal trial.-Early life:Frank Calabrese, Sr...
's trial in Chicago's Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse began on June 19, 2007, and ended on September 10, 2007, with the conviction of Frank Calabrese, Sr.
Frank Calabrese, Sr.
Frank Calabrese, Sr. , also known as "Frankie Breeze," is a made man and a caporegime who ran major loansharking and illegal gambling operations for the Chicago Outfit. He is best known as a central figure in Operation Family Secrets and the subsequent Federal trial.-Early life:Frank Calabrese, Sr...
and four other men associated with the Chicago mob: Marcello, Joseph Lombardo, Paul "the Indian" Schiro, and a former Chicago police officer, Anthony "Twan" Doyle.
On September 27, 2007, Marcello was found guilty by a federal jury in the murders of both Spilotro brothers. On February 5, 2009, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders. Spilotro was replaced in Las Vegas by the late Donald "The Wizard of Odds" Angelini
Donald Angelini
Donald "The Wizard of Odds" Angelini was a mobster with the Chicago Outfit criminal organization who specialized in gambling operations....
. Spilotro is survived by his wife Nancy, his son Vincent and his remaining brothers.
Suspect in gangland slayings
By the time of his death in 1986, the FBI suspected Spilotro was responsible for at least 22 murders. Spilotro was indicted in 1983 for his role in the murders of Bill McCarthy and James Miraglia, popularized in the press as the "M&M Murders." McCarthy and Miraglia were two young robbers who had robbed and shot two businessmen and a woman in the mobster-populated neighborhood of Elmwood ParkElmwood Park, Illinois
Elmwood Park is a village bordering the northwest side of the City of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,405 at the 2000 census. The community has long maintained a large Italian-American population, with a more recent influx of Polish-American and Hispanic...
, near Chicago. They were also in debt to Spilotro's old boss, Sam DeStefano. Their bodies were discovered on May 15, 1962, in the trunk of a car dumped on the Southwest Side of Chicago. Both had been beaten badly and had their throats slit. From McCarthy's injuries, it seems his head was placed in a vise
Vise (tool)
A vise or vice is a mechanical screw apparatus used for holding or clamping a work piece to allow work to be performed on it with tools such as saws, planes, drills, mills, screwdrivers, sandpaper, etc. Vises usually have one fixed jaw and another, parallel, jaw which is moved towards or away from...
, popping out his eye, presumably to persuade him to disclose the whereabouts of Miraglia. The murder of Bill McCarthy (re-named "Tony Dogs") is included in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's 1995 film Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
.
Spilotro may have been involved in the attempted car bombing murder of Lefty Rosenthal on October 4, 1982. He was also incriminated in the murder of his onetime mentor "Mad" Sam DeStefano on April 15, 1973, while DeStefano, his brother Mario
Mario Anthony DeStefano
Mario Anthony DeStefano was a "made" member of the Chicago Outfit and a leading loan shark.Born Mario Antonio DeStefano, he later anglicized his middle name. DeStefano grew up in Little Italy, Chicago, with his brothers, including future "mob associate" Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano...
and Spilotro were all facing trial for the murder of Leo Foreman, a local collector for the mob, who had been tortured to death in Sam DeStefano's basement. Spilotro is further suspected of murdering San Diego real estate heiress Tamara Rand (an event portrayed in the film Casino); Teamsters Union executive Allen Dorfman
Allen Dorfman
Allen Dorfman was an American attorney, and a leading official of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters . He was a close associate of longtime IBT President Jimmy Hoffa...
; and Danny Siefert, the manager of the International Fiber Glass Company. Siefert was to be a principal witness in the fraud case but was shot in front of his wife and four-year-old son in September 1974. The fiberglass company was later burned to the ground by arsonists, whereupon they claimed the insurance money.
According to former Willow Springs, Illinois
Willow Springs, Illinois
Willow Springs is a village in Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,027 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Willow Springs is located at ....
, police chief Michael Corbitt, rumors on the street implicated Spilotro in the murder of former Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana
Salvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
. The FBI believes Spilotro was also involved in the torture murder of loan shark enforcer William "Action" Jackson
William Jackson (gangster)
William Jackson a.k.a. "Action Jackson" was an enforcer and loan collector for the Chicago Outfit. He was tortured to death by his fellow gangsters on suspicion he had become an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation .-Death:William Jackson was a big man, weighing over...
, who worked for DeStefano in the 1950s and 1960s. The Chicago Outfit thought Jackson had become an FBI informant in 1961. Spilotro allegedly took Jackson to a meat packing plant, where he hung him by a meat hook inside the rectum and then crippled Jackson by smashing his knees with a hammer and poking his genitals with an electric cattle prod. Jackson was left near death for three days before finally succumbing to his injuries.
Film portrayal
Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's 1995 film Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
is based on the lives of Spilotro and Frank Rosenthal. The character Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro, played by Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci
Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
, is based on Spilotro. Nicky Santoro and his brother Dominic (Philip Suriano
Philip Suriano
Philip Suriano is an American actor, probably best known for playing the doomed Dominick Santoro in Martin Scorsese's Casino, based on real-life mobster Michael Spilotro...
), based on Tony's brother Michael Spilotro
Michael Spilotro
Michael Peter "Micky" Spilotro was the brother of Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro and was an associate of the Chicago La Cosa Nostra organized crime organization referred to as "The Outfit".-Family background:...
, are shown being beaten and buried alive by Frank Marino (Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent is an American actor, musician, author and entrepreneur. He is a favorite performer of director Martin Scorsese, having played important roles in three of Scorsese's most acclaimed films: Raging Bull , Goodfellas and Casino . He often plays a gangster and works both in features and...
), who collaborated in the murders because he wanted "no more" of their dirty work. Other members of Nicky's previous crew (Clem Caserta, Jed Mills) and Chicago Outfit hitmen (Michael Toney, Steve Vignari), also participate in the beatings.
In the 1980s NBC series Crime Story
Crime Story (TV series)
Crime Story is an NBC TV drama created by Gustave Reininger and Chuck Adamson. The executive producer was Michael Mann, who had left Miami Vice to oversee Crime Story and direct the film Manhunter. The show premiered with a two hour pilot — a movie which had been exhibited theatrically —...
, the character of mobster Ray Luca is based on Anthony Spilotro.
External links
- FAT HERBIE AND THE HOLE IN THE WALL GANG: The Rise and Fall of a Vegas Mobster by Cathy Scott
- Timeline of Las Vegas Organized Crime (temporary account may be required)
- Chicago Sun-Times: Ex-mobster weighs in on latest case by Robert C. Herguth
- Anthony "Tony The Ant" Spilotoro's FBI File
- The Free Information Society - Biography
- Anthony Spilotro at Find-A-Grave
- "Mob Trial Riles Las Vegas," APBnews.com, May 17, 1999 by Cathy ScottCathy ScottCathy Scott is an American true crime writer and investigative journalist, born and raised in San Diego, United States growing up in nearby La Mesa, California...