Read Online The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. The Mob by Dennis Griffin - Free Book Online
Authors: Dennis Griffin
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Tony.”
Next up was Morris Shenker. Not some run-of-the-mill novice when it came to legal proceedings, Shenker was a highly successful criminal defense attorney. He represented many of the nation’s top criminals before the Kefauver Committee in the 1950s and was Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa’s chief defense lawyer in the ’60s.
Like Riddle, Shenker claimed to have been ignorant of Spilotro’s identity until recently. Now that he’d been made aware of who Tony was and his criminal associations, he vowed to take immediate action to remove the undesirable gangster from the Dunes.
But Tony wasn’t waiting around to be ousted. He’d already found greener pastures.
Moving On Up
The Las Vegas Country Club and Estates, an exclusive walled community located near the Strip with guard posts at the entrance, was considered the place to belong in Las Vegas. Founded by former Cleveland bootlegger Moe Dalitz, its members included bankers, lawyers, doctors, and casino bosses. Initially, Tony and his associates gained access to the club through the memberships of his friends, such as Lefty Rosenthal. Since only members could sign for food, drinks, and tennis and golf fees, this arrangement proved awkward. Tony decided the only thing to do was join the club himself. He tried, but the membership committee rejected his application in June 1976.
Spilotro was furious. He complained to Rosenthal and others, demanding reconsideration. Under pressure, the membership committee realized the error of its ways and admitted the Ant. He was soon holding court in the card room, conducting meetings in the dining room, and playing gin rummy with some of the town’s leading citizens. His wife Nancy learned to play tennis and became a regular on the courts. Even with all this going for him, it wasn’t long before Tony found an even better deal.
Gold Rush
To accommodate the growing inventory of loot from his thriving burglary ring, Tony decided to open another jewelry store called the Gold Rush in a two-story building located on West Sahara, just off the Strip. It had a front door that could be operated by a buzzer located behind the counter; a private security company regularly swept the building for electronic bugs and monitored the building’s alarm system. The second floor housed communications equipment, including two radio transmitters and receivers and five scanners that monitored police and FBI activities. Gang members with binoculars were sometimes stationed on the roof or parked on the street looking for signs of law-enforcement surveillance operations.
Tony, his brother John, and Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein, a 300-pound convicted bookie from Chicago, operated the store itself. A loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a .45 revolver were kept behind the counter, should anyone be foolish enough to try to rob the robbers.
Tony’s store was staffed and equipped to make it difficult, if not impossible, to be breached by the law or other potential adversaries. But like any good businessman, Spilotro didn’t place all his eggs in one basket. He took other precautions.
Intelligence
For centuries, countries have sought to spy on one another through the use of covert actions and, more recently, advancements in technology. When at war, it’s critical for a nation’s civilian and military leaders to know what their enemies are doing. With the right information, they can initiate defensive actions and countermeasures to prevent an enemy from successfully carrying out his plans.
Even in times of peace, intelligence-gathering activities are a critical piece of the foreign-policy puzzle. The main targets of these efforts are potential adversaries, but cases of friends caught spying on friends aren’t unusual. Spies can be homegrown agents assigned to infiltrate targets or recruited from people already occupying sensitive positions within the opposition government. Over the years, money, blackmail, and sex have proved to be
Next up was Morris Shenker. Not some run-of-the-mill novice when it came to legal proceedings, Shenker was a highly successful criminal defense attorney. He represented many of the nation’s top criminals before the Kefauver Committee in the 1950s and was Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa’s chief defense lawyer in the ’60s.
Like Riddle, Shenker claimed to have been ignorant of Spilotro’s identity until recently. Now that he’d been made aware of who Tony was and his criminal associations, he vowed to take immediate action to remove the undesirable gangster from the Dunes.
But Tony wasn’t waiting around to be ousted. He’d already found greener pastures.
Moving On Up
The Las Vegas Country Club and Estates, an exclusive walled community located near the Strip with guard posts at the entrance, was considered the place to belong in Las Vegas. Founded by former Cleveland bootlegger Moe Dalitz, its members included bankers, lawyers, doctors, and casino bosses. Initially, Tony and his associates gained access to the club through the memberships of his friends, such as Lefty Rosenthal. Since only members could sign for food, drinks, and tennis and golf fees, this arrangement proved awkward. Tony decided the only thing to do was join the club himself. He tried, but the membership committee rejected his application in June 1976.
Spilotro was furious. He complained to Rosenthal and others, demanding reconsideration. Under pressure, the membership committee realized the error of its ways and admitted the Ant. He was soon holding court in the card room, conducting meetings in the dining room, and playing gin rummy with some of the town’s leading citizens. His wife Nancy learned to play tennis and became a regular on the courts. Even with all this going for him, it wasn’t long before Tony found an even better deal.
Gold Rush
To accommodate the growing inventory of loot from his thriving burglary ring, Tony decided to open another jewelry store called the Gold Rush in a two-story building located on West Sahara, just off the Strip. It had a front door that could be operated by a buzzer located behind the counter; a private security company regularly swept the building for electronic bugs and monitored the building’s alarm system. The second floor housed communications equipment, including two radio transmitters and receivers and five scanners that monitored police and FBI activities. Gang members with binoculars were sometimes stationed on the roof or parked on the street looking for signs of law-enforcement surveillance operations.
Tony, his brother John, and Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein, a 300-pound convicted bookie from Chicago, operated the store itself. A loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a .45 revolver were kept behind the counter, should anyone be foolish enough to try to rob the robbers.
Tony’s store was staffed and equipped to make it difficult, if not impossible, to be breached by the law or other potential adversaries. But like any good businessman, Spilotro didn’t place all his eggs in one basket. He took other precautions.
Intelligence
For centuries, countries have sought to spy on one another through the use of covert actions and, more recently, advancements in technology. When at war, it’s critical for a nation’s civilian and military leaders to know what their enemies are doing. With the right information, they can initiate defensive actions and countermeasures to prevent an enemy from successfully carrying out his plans.
Even in times of peace, intelligence-gathering activities are a critical piece of the foreign-policy puzzle. The main targets of these efforts are potential adversaries, but cases of friends caught spying on friends aren’t unusual. Spies can be homegrown agents assigned to infiltrate targets or recruited from people already occupying sensitive positions within the opposition government. Over the years, money, blackmail, and sex have proved to be
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