Anthony Spilotro
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Anthony Spilotro (May 19, 1938 Chicago, Illinois - June 14, 1986 St. Anne, Indiana) was a mafia enforcer for the Chicago mob who worked in Las Vegas in the 1970s and 1980s. It is generally thought his job was to protect the "skim", the mafia's illegal casino profits, and to keep local criminals from upsetting the status quo within Las Vegas.
Early Career
Anthony John Spilotro was called "Tony the Ant" by his Mafia friends. He was born and raised in Chicago and was the son of restaraunt owner Pasquale Spilotro (1899-1954) and his wife Antoinette. He had five brothers, Vincent, Victor, Pasquale Jr., John, and Michael. Pasquale Jr. became a respected oral surgeon and dentist in the Chicago area and Vincent lived a law-abiding life. John, Victor and Michael followed Tony into a life of crime. He dropped out of Chicago's Steinmetz High School in his sophomore year after being the school's bully. Tony became a "made member" of the Chicago Mafia family in 1963.
Las Vegas
In Las Vegas, Spilotro became good friends with Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who was ran several casinos with mob backing including the Stardust. Unfortunately, their relationship collapsed when Spilotro started an affair with Frank's wife Geri, becoming her "sponsor," or her boyfriend and breaking the omertà. While they were friends, Spilotro helped Frank protect the casinos from scammers and mobsters looking to rob the place. When he was blacklisted by the Nevada gaming board in December 1979, he started the "Hole in the Wall" gang that had a reputation for making holes in walls to rob jewelry stores. Led by his friend and partner Frank Cullotta, Spilotro allowed his crew to deal drugs, which Tony Accardo, the Outfit boss, was against. Most of what he did in Las Vegas was never consulted with the Outfit back in Chicago.
Spilotro allegedly tried to become a mob boss in his own right, but was brutally murdered along with brother Michael and buried in a cornfield in Indiana, supposedly by the Chicago mob. Spilotro and his brother were pistol-whipped and buried half naked. On April 27, 2005, 14 members of the Chicago Outfit including reputed head of the Chicago mob James Marcello were indicted for 18 murders including that of Spilotro.
Spilotro is known for his murders of "Mad Sam" DeStefano, who at one time was Spilotro's mentor, and his involvement in the murders of Bill McCarthy and James Miraglia, known to the public as the "M & M Murders." Spilotro put McCarthy's head in a vise and popped out his eye.
Joe Pesci's character in the film Casino and Anthony Denison's character on the TV series Crime Story are both based on Spilotro.
External links and References
- Biography and Pictures (http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=110)
- Report on the indictment of mobsters in relation to Spilotro's murder (http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/25/mob.investigation.ap/index.html)
- Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicolas Pileggi ISBN 0684808323
- The Enforcer: Spilotro-The Chicago Mob's Man in Las Vegas by William F. Roemer, Jr. ISBN 0804113106