Read Online The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. The Mob by Dennis Griffin - Free Book Online Page A

effective recruitment tools.
    Intelligence-gathering efforts aren’t limited to the international arena, however. Domestically, business competitors often engage in similar activities. And for years, the law has used undercover operations and informants in their investigations of crime. Being resourceful foes, the criminals also attempt to gain inside information about the law’s plans and strategies. Additionally, they sometimes manipulate the legal system by corrupting lawyers, judges, jurors, and witnesses, usually via financial payoffs. When an offer of money doesn’t do the trick, intimidation and violence, including murder, can be used to achieve the desired results.
    The importance of good intelligence wasn’t lost on Tony Spilotro. He and the other organized-crime families operating in Las Vegas took steps to keep up to speed on the law’s movements.
    Rogues, Bugs, Taps, and Raids
    In the mid-1970s, Joe Blasko was a detective and Phil Leone a sergeant in the police department’s anti-crime unit; they reported directly to Sheriff Ralph Lamb. On the side, they also provided information to Spilotro and other Las Vegas mobsters.
    Blasko had been in trouble previously. In 1966, he and his partner were charged with murder, regarding the death of a cab driver they arrested. A coroner’s inquest determined the man’s death was the result of the use of excessive force by the arresting officers. The charges were later dismissed when a judge ruled the evidence was insufficient to warrant prosecution.
    By March 1978, the FBI had developed sufficient probable cause to obtain warrants authorizing them to monitor the activities of Spilotro and other mobsters through the use of wiretaps and electronic eavesdropping. In addition, the feds had managed to infiltrate the Spilotro operation via an undercover agent. Posing as a diamond fence named Rick Calise, agent Rick Baken was busy getting the scoop about what was going on inside the Gold Rush. Overcoming the best efforts of Tony and his security company, agents were able to bug the store and tap its telephones.
    Suspicions of problems within the police department were quickly confirmed when the voices of Blasko and Leone were heard informing the bad guys of the law’s plans, including surveillance by both the feds and the locals. Blasko’s voice in particular was recorded on a regular basis communicating with the Spilotro brothers and Herb Blitzstein. The FBI heard the detective providing the identities of undercover operatives and informants, descriptions of vehicles used by surveillance personnel, and background information on loanshark customers. Stationed outside the Gold Rush in his police car, Blasko telephoned in such messages as, “It’s clear,” or “They’ve been tailing him,” as the police dispatcher talked in the background. He also made progress reports on his efforts to fix traffic tickets and get charges dropped. These revelations placed a serious strain on the working relationship between the federal and the local cops.
    In addition to Blasko and Leone, agents were picking up other useful and interesting information. Tony Spilotro himself was taped coaching grand-jury witnesses before their appearances and taking calls from organized-crime figures from across the country. He also had contact with celebrities, including actor Robert Conrad and singer Barbara McNair. No evidence was produced of any wrongdoing on their part.
    Interestingly, in 1972, McNair had married a guy named Rick Manzie. Manzie was described by the Chicago press as a “two-bit minor league toady” of the Chicago Outfit. Mobster-turned-informant Jimmy “the Weasel” Fratiano claimed that Tony had “bought a piece of Barbara,” giving him a vested interest in her success. But McNair’s new husband was a heroin addict and the newlyweds were both arrested for possession of drugs later that year. The busts made headlines and the negative publicity posed a threat to the singer’s