Editors Note: For anyone wanting to understand the Mob in Las Vegas and how it worked (and how it failed), you need to read this book.
Dennis Griffin doesn’t pull any punches and he doesn’t take sides in this account of how the Law cleaned up its act as the Vegas Mob was starting to spin out of control. The who, what, why and where is in this book. Not from second hand or third hand accounts. He gets it from the source itself.. The people who lived it and the official records that tell the story in the way only Dennis can do it! You will enjoy this book.
From the 1970s through the mid-1980s, many “families” had an interest in Las Vegas. But the Chicago Outfit dominated organized crime in Las Vegas. Unreported revenue, known as the “skim,” from Outfit-controlled casinos made its way out of Vegas by the bagful, ending up in the coffers of the Windy City crime bosses and their confederates around the Midwest.
To ensure the smooth flow of cash, the gangsters installed a front man with no criminal background, Allen R. Glick, as the casino owner of record, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthaal as the real boss of casino operations, and Tony Spilotro as the ultimate enforcer, who’d do whatever it took to protect their interests. It wasn’t long before Spilotoro, also in charge of Vegas street crime, was known as the “King of the Strip.” Federal and local law enforcement, recognizing the need to rid the casinos of the mob and shut down Spilotro’s rackets, declared war on organized crime.
The Battle for Las Vegas relates the story of the fight between the tough buys on both sides, told in large part by the agents and detectives who knew they had to win.
Product Details
- Paperback: 234 pages
- Publisher: Huntington Press (July 1, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0929712374
- ISBN-13: 978-0929712376
- Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
