Anthony Spilotro

"Tony the Ant"

Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro (May 19, 1938 - June 14, 1986) was a mafia enforcer for the Chicago Outfit who worked in Las Vegas in the 1970s and 1980s. It is generally thought his job was to protect and oversee the mafia's illegal casino profits. Spilotro replaced Chicago mobster Marshall Caifano to run the skim.

Early career

Anthony John Spilotro (pronounced Spil-oh-tro) was known as "Tony the Ant" by the press, after F.B.I. agent William Roemer referred to Spilotro as "that little pissant." One of five children, he was born and raised in Chicago where his parents, Pasquale (who emigrated from Triggiano, Italy, which is in the Province of Bari, in 1914) and Antoinette Spilotro, ran Antoinette's Restaurant where reputed mobsters like Sam Giancana and Frank Nitti dined regularly. It was also the location where a high-ranking Genovese mobster was executed in the 1940s. Along with his brothers John, Victor and Michael, Tony became involved in criminal activity early in life. (Two other brothers avoided the criminal lure: one, Pasquale Jr., ended up a well-respected oral surgeon in the Chicago area.)

Spilotro and Rosenthal

In 1962 Rosenthal was first linked to Spilotro, he pled guilty in attempting to bribe a New York University basketball player in the New York v. West Virginia game. There is also suspicion that he tried to bribe an Oregon football player. A bully at school, Spilotro dropped out of Steinmetz High School in his sophomore year and became quickly known for a succession of petty crimes. Arrested numerous times for mopery, he eventually befriended Vincent "the Saint" Inserro, who introduced him to Chicago underworld figures such as Joseph Aiuppa, Jimmy "the Turk" Torrello, Joseph Lombardo and William Daddano, Sr. all of whom would eventually climb up the ranks of the Chicago mob. Mentored by "Mad" Sam DeStefano, and then both Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio and Charles Nicoletti, Tony became a made member of the Chicago mafia in 1963. Spilotro was then assigned to a large bookmaking operation. Then for a while he became a bail bondsman for reputed mob associate, Irwin "Red" Weiner. He could walk around all the courts in Cook County. The mobsters set it up for him.

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Boyhood friend and partner in crime Frank Cullotta.

Frank Cullotta

The FBI first turned former associate of Sam DeStefano, Charles "Chuckie" Crimaldi who was a loan collector for Sam DeStefano during the 1950s and 1960s. He gave evidence against Spilotro and DeStefano in the murder of real estate agent-loan collector Leo Foreman on November 19th 1963. DeStefano and Spilotro were both accquited. Charles also provided information on his part in luring William "Action" Jackson to his death. Jackson was another loan-shark enforcer who worked for Sam DeStefano who had been indicted on a hijacking charge. To receive a lighter sentence DeStefano suspected Jackson of bargaining with the FBI. Jackson was allegedly spotted with agents in a Milwaukee restaurant owned by Louis Fazio, an associate of DeStefano. Later criminal Sal Romano, a member of The Hole In The Wall Gang that specialized in disabling alarm systems became an informant. Romano had been working counter-survelliance during the botched July 4th robbery. Unbeknownst to Anthony and The Hole In The Wall Gang he had turned informant several months earlier. Anthony waved extradition and spent nine months in Cook County Jail until his trial was set for May 1973.

In 1981 it his right-hand man, Frank Cullotta who did much of the "muscle work" including the "M&M Murders" on behalf of Spilotro turned informant after Anthony ordered him to be murdered. Frank Cullota was fortunately released on bail following the Bertha's Sting. But in November he was arrested for a previous burglary where a woman's home was burglarized and her furniture stolen. Her furniture was later found in Cullotta's home. Frank was indicted for possession of stolen property. Cullotta was also a suspect for the 1979 murder of a Jerry Lisner.

This was in turn followed by mob protocol in Anthony not returning his phone calls and taking care of his family financially while Frank was incarcerated. It was then discovered that Spilotro ordered the homicidal Hole In The Wall Gang member Lawrence Nuemann, 53, of McHenry, Illinois to murder Cullotta and fellow robber Wayne Matecki, 30, of Northridge, Illinois.

Frank was able to supply information on the Miraglia and McCarthy killings that occurred back in Chicago in 1962. Nuemann was attempting to post bail so he could murder Matecki but the police had his bail revoked to protect Cullotta. Frank received eight years for the stolen property charges. In September of 1983 Spilotro was indicted in Las Vegas on murder and racketeering charges from the testimony of Cullotta. Meanwhile, Anthony was on trial before Judge Thomas J. Maloney in Chicago for the Miraglia killing. In 1992 Judge Maloney was disbarred for accepting bribes. Cullotta's foiled executioner Nuemann was later sentenced to life in prison in 1983.

Judge Maloney decided that he could not accept the evidence provided by Frank Cullotta as proof beyond reasonable doubt. Cullotta later appeared at various federal and state grand juries. Frank helped hand down nineteen federal racketeering-related indictments, four Illinois murder indictments and five Nevada burglary and armed robbery indictments. These charges resulted in fifteen federal convictions, one Illinois murder conviction, and each burglary and robbery conviction. Frank also 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 helped as a technical advisor in the movie Casino and was the inspiration for the Frank Vincent character, Frank Marino.

The Hole In The Wall Gang

Spilotro's Hole In The Wall Gang (1976) to July 4th 1982 consisted of Frank Cullotta, age 43, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Joe Blasko, age 45, Leo Guardino, age 47 and Ernest Davino, age 34, all of Las Vegas, were in custody. Also arrested were Lawrence Neumann, age 53, of McHenry, Ill., and Wayne Matecki, age 30, of Northridge, Illinois, Sal Romano. The were all arrested for the July 4th burglary. Cullotta, Blasko, Guardino, Davino, Neumann and Matecki were charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted grand larceny, and possession of burglary tools. They were all lodged in the Clark County Jail. The only members not arrested on the July 4th robbery was Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein a Chicago bookmaker friend of Ted Binion, Michael Spilotro, John Spilotro and Joseph Cusumano who was Anthony's messenger at The Stardust.

Las Vegas

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Spilotro (left) with lawyer Oscar Goodman (center) and mobster "Fat Herbie" Herbert Blitzstein (right).

In 1971, Spilotro was given the task of succeeding Marshall Caifano as the mob's representative in Las Vegas. Spilotro reunited with his boyhood friend Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who ran several mafia-backed casinos, including the Stardust. Spilotro and Rosenthal worked together to embezzle profits from the casinos and send them back to Midwest Mafia families, especially those in Chicago. On his own Spilotro, under the alias Tony Stuart took over the gift shop at The Circus-Circus Hotel, a family hotel on The Strip. The place offered 1st class acts for children to watch while the parents gambled. Parts of the James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever was made there. In 1971, the hotel was owned by Jay Sarno who had purchased the property with a $43 million loan from the Teamster's Central States Pension Fund. In 1974 the Circus-Circus was sold, for Spilotro's $70,000 investment he received $700,000. In 1972 he was indicted back in Chicago for the murder of real estate agent-loan enforcer Leo Foreman, a loan enforcer who made the mistake of ordering Sam DeStefano out of his office in May of 1963. Foreman was lured to the home of Sam's brother, Mario DeStefano to play cards where he was tortured before being shot, pieces of his flesh were cut out and he was repeatedly stabbed with an ice pick. Anthony later opened The Gold Rush Ltd. with Chicago bookmaker Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein and his brother Michael. The Gold Rush LTD that opened in 1976, was one block off the strip, was a combination jewelry store and "electronics factory." Here Anthony, his brother Michael and Herbert Blitzstein gained his 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 embezzlement scheme. Spilotro's role as an enforcer, however, was severely curtailed after he was blacklisted by the Nevada Gaming Commission in December 1979 (chaired then by current Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid), a ruling that legally prevented him from being physically present in any Casino in Nevada. This is as a direct result of Aladena "Jimmy The Weasal" Fratianno's testimony after he was arrested in 1977.

Spilotro formed a burglary ring with his friend Frank Cullotta which came to be known as the Hole in the Wall Gang after their penchant for gaining entry by making holes in shop walls. By this time, his relationship with Rosenthal had collapsed, after Spilotro had an affair with Rosenthal's wife, Geraldine McGee. His life long friend Frank Cullota turned state witness and testified against him. He is portrayed by actor Frank Vincent as Frank Marino and worked as a technical advisor in the film Casino.

Spilotro's Hole in The Wall Gang

Anthony's Hole in The Wall Gang operated out of The Gold Rush Ltd. They were called The Hole in The Wall Gang from their method of entering businesses by going through the wall, or dropping down through the ceiling. The gang consisted of Anthony, his brother John Spilotro, Ernie Davino, Lawrence Nuemann, Wayne Matecki, Salvatore Romano, Leo Guardino, boyhood friend of Spilotro, Frank Cullotta, Herbert Blitzstein, and former Las Vegas Detective Joseph Belasko. Belasko was murdered in 1984.

Death

Getting blacklisted from the Casinos he was supposed to be controlling, generating unwanted media attention through his jewel heists, and breaking the code for a "made man" by sleeping with an associate's wife proved to be a lethal combination for Spilotro. With the accession of a new boss of the Chicago crime family, Joe Ferriola, the decision was taken to have Spilotro murdered. It is suspected the brothers were called to meet at the lodge by Sam "Wings" Carlisi. Along with his brother Michael, Spilotro was savagely beaten and buried in a cornfield in Enos, Indiana, four miles from a hunting lodge owned by Spilotro's former mob boss Joey Aiuppa. The brothers were identified by their brother Pasqaule Jr. through dental records.

An autopsy performed on the recovered bodies found sand in the brothers' lungs, leading FBI examiners to conclude that they had been buried alive. No arrests were made until April 25, 2005, when 14 members of the Chicago Outfit (including reputed head James Marcello) were indicted for 18 murders including that of the two Spilotro brothers. As a result of that investigation, the murders of the Spilotro brothers are now thought to have taken place in DuPage County in Joe Aiuppa's hunting lodge where they were beaten and strangled before being buried in Indiana. At the time of Spilotro's murder Joe Aiuppa was in prison, but he must have thought they were still using the lodge as a hunting place.

The suspected murderers are Albert Tocco. Tocco was sentenced to two-hundred years after his wife Betty testified against him in 1989, saying that the day after the Spilotro murders, she was called to pick Tocco a mile from where the brothers' were found. In his wife's testimony he was reportedly dressed in dirty blue work clothes and implicated Nicholas "Nicky" Guzzino, Domonick "Tootsie" Palermo and Albert "Chickie" Rovero to the Spilotro brothers. Tocco died at the age of seventy-seven in an Indiana prison on September 21st 2005. Another suspect in the murders is Frank "The German" Schweihs, an extortionist, convicted burglar and alleged Chicago assassin with two felony murder charges pending against him while he is suspected of at least seventy-three others including The Spilotros, Allen Dorfman of The Teamster's Pension Fund and a former girlfriend. Frank was arrested by the FBI on December 22nd 2005. Schweihs was living in a Blakewood, Kentucky apartment complex. The Chicago mobster had slipped away before prosecutors were able to prosecute reputed Chicago mob boss James Marcello and thirteen others, including Frank.

Anthony was replaced in Vegas by Don "The Wizard of Odds" Angelini.

Anthony Spilotro was survived by his wife Nancy, his son Vincent, and his remaining brothers.

Murders

Spilotro is known for his involvement in the murders of Bill McCarthy and James Miraglia, known to the public as the "M & M Murders." McCarthy and Miraglia were two young robbers that had robbed and shot dead three businessmen in the mobster populated neighborhood of Elmwood Park, Chicago. They were also in debt to Anthony's old boss Sam DeStefano.Their bodies were discovered on May 15, 1962 in the boot of a car dumped on the South-West side of Chicago. Both were beaten badly and had their throats slit, from Miraglia's injuries it seems his head was placed in a vise popping out his eye, persumably to persuade him to disclose the whereabouts of Bill McCarthy. Spilotro may also have been involved in the attempted car bombing murder of Rosenthal on October 4, 1982.

Spilotro was also incriminated in the murder of his onetime mentor "Mad" Sam DeStefano on April 15, 1973, while Sam, his brother Mario and Spilotro were all facing trial for the murder of Leo Foreman, a local collector for the mob, who had been brutally tortured to death in Sam DeStefano's basement. He is suspected of murdering real estate heiress Tamara Rand, Allen Dorfman who he was indicted alongside with in 1984 and the manager of The International Fiber Glass Company Danny Siefert. 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 of 1974. When he gained control of Vegas, he also murdered Frank “the Bomp” Bompensiero, who was the consigliere of the "Mickey Mouse Mafia" (Cosa Nostra Family in California), but may have been cooperating with the FBI and viewed as an embarrassment to the bosses in the Midwest. (Ironically, before his murder, Bompensiero helped Spilotro locate Tamara Rand, who was pressuring Frank Rosenthal front man Allen Glick to make good on a $2 million loan.)

According to former Willow Springs, Illinois police chief Jim Corbitt, rumors on the street also accuse Spilotro of murdering former Outfit boss Sam Giancana. The FBI believe he was also involved in the murder of loan shark enforcer William "Action" Jackson who worked for Sam DeStefano in the 1950s and 1960s. The Chicago Outfit thought William was being an informant for the FBI in 1961. Anthony took him to a meat factory and hung him by a meat hook in the rectum, where he then crippled Jackson by smashing his knees with hammers and electrocuted his genitals with a cattle prod. William was left near death for three days before finally succombing to his fatal injuries.

Trivia

Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein a Chicago bookmaker who helped run The Goldrush Ltd. Blizstein was the inspiration for the minor character "Bernie Blue" played by Bret McCormick in the film Casino. Blitzstein was a loanshark and worked as a fence for Spilotro's stolen goods at The Gold Rush Ltd. He was the only member of The Hole In The Wall Gang that was not arrested after the July 4th sting operation at Bertha's Household Products. Blitzstein is described by FBI agent William Roemer in his book The Enforcer that he was one of the mobsters tested by the FBI in the early days of the Top Hoodlum Program. Herbert was a six foot, three-hundred pound man who drove a white 1973 Cadillac Eldorado. In 1967 Herbert supposedly ordered the murder of associate loan shark Arthur "Boodie" Cowan who was himself a bookmaker for holding back "street tax." Herbert Blitzstein was not murdered by the Las Vegas police during a botched arrest as portrayed in the film Casino. Although Herbert did not participate in the July 4th robbery, Blizstein was indicted with Spilotro on federal racketeering harges. The charges were later dropped due to two jurors caught discussing the possibility of taking a bribe. Blitzstein fortunately outlived his friend Spilotro. Blitzstein was later arrested and received eight years for counterfeit credit cards, receiving stolen postage stamps and income tax evasion. He was later murdered long after Spilotro by Richard Friedman and Antoine Davi on January 6, 1997, on orders of the Buffalo, New York Mafia.

The M&M Murders reflect the criminal background of Hole In The Wall Member Lawrence Nuemann than the actual murder victims' crimes James Miraglia and Bill McCarthy were murdered in 1962. The actual criminals were Bill McCarthy and James Miraglia, they were murdered by Frank Cullotta for robbing several Mafia business associates in Sherman Oaks, Chicago which was a Mafia populated neighborhood and for being in debt to Sam DeStefano. In the film Casino, "Tony Dogs" is based on fellow robber James Miraglia. Tony Dogs is seen having his head put in a vice and his eye popping out. This is how James Miraglia met his fate. In the film Casino, the fictional "Tony Dogs" is seen shooting up a bar, killing supposedly the bartender, two mafia stooges and a waitress who is said to be working overtime by Tony Dogs. The barroom massacre by "Tony Dogs" and "Charley M" is most likely added for suspense in the movie. But oddly enough, this sounds more like real life Hole In The Wall member, Lawrence Nuemann's criminal background. Nuemann had been convicted of a triple murder in 1956 at a Chicago tavern. Larry had murdered the bartender, the bartender's brother and a waitress. The dispute occurred over Nuemann being supposedly being short changed $2.00. Lawrence was sentenced to 125 years in prison, but was paroled in 1968. In 1983 Nuemann was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The movie Casino though technically listed as fiction is very closely based on the lives of Frank Rosenthal and Spilotro. Joe Pesci portrays "Nicky Santoro" character molded after Spilotro in the film.

Joe Pesci's character, Nicky Santoro, in the film Casino and Anthony Denison's character, Ray Luca, on the TV series Crime Story are both based on Spilotro.

The "John Nance" character based on George Vandermark in recent years was discovered to have been murdered in Costa Rica along with his son, Jeffrey who was murdered shortly after. Nance was found to be living under an assumed name, but his remains have never been found.

Artie Piscano, based on Carl Deluna never died of a heart attack, he was arrested, tried and convicted and sentenced to forty years in prison for his role in the skimming operation.

References

Pileggi, Nicholas. Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, ISBN 0-684-80832-3
Roemer Jr., William F. The Enforcer: Spilotro-The Chicago Mob's Man in Las Vegas, ISBN 0-8041-1310-6

External links