Anthony Spilotro

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Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro (born May 19, 1938 in Chicago , Illinois , † June 14, 1986 ) was an Italian-American mobster of the Chicago Outfit , an Italian-American mafia family of the American Cosa Nostra in Chicago.

Early years

Anthony was born the fourth of six children in Chicago, where he also grew up. His parents Pasquale and Antoinette Spilotro emigrated to the United States in 1914 from Triggiano , Province of Bari , Italy .

They opened a restaurant ("Patsy's Restaurant") at the intersection of Grand and Ogden Avenues , in which well-known greats of the Chicago outfit soon became regulars; including Sam Giancana , Jackie Cerone , Gussie Alex and Frank Nitti . (In 1929 Tony Domingo - a brother of Sebastiano Domingo whom some believe to be the hit man Buster from Chicago - was shot dead in the restaurant.)

The restaurant parking lot developed into a meeting place for the city's organized crime , and so Anthony and his brothers John, Vincent, Victor and Michael came into contact with the criminal community early on .

Pasquale "Pat" Spilotro Jr. became a successful oral surgeon . He and his brothers grew up in a typical two-story wooden house that was only a few blocks away from Frank Rosenthal's house . Anthony, on the other hand, was kicked out of Steinmetz High School . His first arrest was on January 11, 1955 for stealing a T-shirt ; he paid a $ 10 fine and was released on parole . He was now starting an explosive criminal career. His nickname he received later by the FBI -Agenten William Roemer, who called him did little pissant ( "this little pisser") designated what the press about the ant ( "the ant") mocked .

Member of the Chicago Outfit

The first connection to Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal dates back to 1962; That year Anthony Spilotro was found guilty of attempting to manipulate the basketball game between New York University and West Virginia University by bribing a New York player.

Countless times he was arrested for various crimes and he became a friend of Vincent "the Saint" Insro , who put him in contact with other greats of the underworld like Joseph Aiuppa , Jimmy "the Turk" Torrello , Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and William Daddano Sr. brought.

Spilotro was involved in the large-scale business of (illegal) betting ( bookmaking ) and for a short time even acted as a “bail bondman” for Irwin “Red” Weiner .

"Mad" Sam DeStefano and later Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio became his mentors ; evidently he proved himself to be a debt collector.

In 1962 he was involved in the murders of Billy McCarthy and Jimmy Miraglia . Together with Charles Nicoletti - and their leader Felix Alderisio - he kidnapped the 24-year-old Billy McCarthy because he and Jimmy Miraglia had killed two associates of the outfit. To find out the second name - that of Jimmy Miraglia - they clamped McCarthy's head in a press and squeezed it so hard that one eye popped out.

In particular, his involvement in these two murders was probably the last evidence of his suitability and he was accepted into the Chicago outfit in 1963 as a full member of the Mafia ("Soldato") . He was soon sent to Miami to protect Frank Rosenthal from the influence of other Mafia families or other gangsters . After four years, he returned to Chicago in 1971, where he further built his reputation in the mafia environment.

Las Vegas

Spilotro was sent to Las Vegas in 1971 to take on the vacant position of Marshall Joseph Caifano ; formally he took over the gift shop in the Circus Circus .

Like Caifano , Spilotro was active as an "enforcer" (am: enforcer) who had to use lethal force if necessary if difficulties arose. As z. B. Allen Glick was harassed by Buccierie in 1975 with demands for money and Buccierie tried to enforce his demand even by force, Spilotro received the murder order from Frank Balistieri . Buccierie died a week after meeting Glick , where he physically assaulted Glick . Tamara Rand - a Glick business partner - also became a problem. She was murdered on November 9, 1975, also by Spilotro, with the help of Frank Bompensiero, in the kitchen of her home in Mission Hills, San Diego . Rand himself had received funding from the union's pension fund and was apparently ready to testify as Pentito before the authorities . A week earlier she had an argument with Glick ; It is unclear whether she refused to give Glick a two million US dollar “ kick-back ” (on: illegal cash payment that is made “under the table”) or even to repay the entire loan. Glick informed Joseph Aiuppa from the Chicago Outfit that Rand was willing to give evidence and Spilotro took action.

Frank Rosenthal had already been housed as an unofficial casino manager in the Stardust before Spilotro and the bosses apparently remembered the cooperation between the two in Miami . Spilotro should now take over the protective function for Rosenthal again.

Las Vegas was the only place in the US at the time that allowed gambling and wagering in this form, while remaining banned in other places. The families of La Cosa Nostra had therefore declared Las Vegas to be an “open city” , so to speak . H. here everyone should limit themselves to the illegal skimming of the casinos, any further criminal activities and open disputes were considered to be a threat to this lucrative business.

Hole in the wall

Spilotro was not directly involved in this “skimming” of the casinos and when he was included in the city's “ Black Book ” in 1979 - i. H. he was thus denied entry to the casinos - he began to circumvent the prohibition on other criminal activities.

Instead of leaving the city, he formed a team of burglars with his brother Michael Spilotro and Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein , which was soon referred to as The Hole in the Wall Gang due to its numerous break-ins and the entry method used .

In total, the group consisted of eight people and hid their activities behind the facade of "The Gold Rush Ltd.", which was located near the Las Vegas Strip . Spilotro also took high risks in other respects ; he took drugs himself to a greater extent and began an affair with Frank Rosenthal's wife .

If these circumstances had already become known to his bosses in Chicago at the time, Spilotro would presumably have been murdered immediately; Drug addicts in particular were considered unreliable and affairs with wives of other members or associates were absolutely taboo .

The end

In January 1983, Spilotro was arrested by the FBI in Nevada on charges of the 1962 murders of James Miraglia and Billy McCarthy in Chicago . Attorney Paul Nealis also referred to him as the link between organized crime in Chicago and that in Las Vegas.

His role in the financial skimming of the casinos in Las Vegas thus came into the public focus. Based on the AP report of his arrest , the New York Times identified Spilotro as an associate and friend of Allen M. Dorfman , a key liaison with the Teamsters 'union whose pension fund had funded the mobsters' casinos in Las Vegas.

Bosses Jackie Cerone , Joseph Aiuppa , Carl DeLuna, etc. were convicted of illegally skimming the casinos for two million US dollars. In order to avoid further disclosure, unreliable individuals and potential pentiti (traitors) were murdered on their orders to prevent further charges.

Anthony Spilotro and his brother Michael Peter Spilotro were brutally murdered on June 14, 1986. (Spilotro has probably been on a death list for a long time, because when Anthony Accardo's house was broken into in January 1977 , the former head and consigliere's successor Aiuppa asked to also get rid of Anthony Spilotro. Even then, Aiuppa had an avalanche of brutal murders triggered because everyone who had anything to do with the break-in had been killed.)

The Spilotro murder case

Presumably James “Little Jimmy” Marcello is involved in this murder, which was portrayed in the movie Casino . Michael's two children, Anna and Michelle Spilotro, testified that their father and his brothers were involved in a lawsuit with James Marcello .

Both in reality and in the film, the brothers were brutally beaten and apparently buried alive in a corn field. In contrast to the film version, however, the police now assume that the actual act did not take place at the place where the body was found.

Another possible perpetrator is Albert Tocco , whose wife Betty announced in an interview with the Sun Times in 1990 that she herself helped Tocco in 1986 to bury the Spilotro brothers Tony and Michael in a corn field near Enos, Indiana.

Also frank schweihs has been linked to the murder in connection. From June 2007 he was on trial with James Marcello for various murders, but died on July 23, 2008 without having made a statement at the trial. On September 27, 2007, Marcello was convicted of this murder, but acquitted of the charge of another murder of Nicholas D'Andrea . On February 5, 2009, Judge James Zagel pronounced a life sentence for Marcello .

Movie and movie quotes

literature

  • William F. Roemer, Jr .: The Enforcer: Spilotro, the Chicago mob's man over Las Vegas. Donald I. Fine, New York 1994, ISBN 1-55611-399-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William F. Roemer, Jr .: The Enforcer. 1994, p. 28.
  2. ↑ Associate Indicted New York Times on January 28, 1983 (English)
  3. ↑ www.time.com “Blood Threat”, February 3, 1986
  4. ↑ www.findarticles.com "$ 12.5 million bail offer refused" (English)
  5. ↑ " Murders in Chicago: Aged Mafiosi in Court " by Katja Gelinsky in Washington on www.faz.net of June 21, 2007
  6. ↑ Former top mob boss Marcello gets life on www.chicagobreakingnews.com (English)
  7. ↑ Sentencing dates for Family Secrets 5 ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on blogs.suntimes.com (English)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blogs.suntimes.com
personal data
SURNAME Spilotro, Anthony
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spilotro Tony, Tony the Ant (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American mobster of the Chicago outfit
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1986
Place of death United States